WO2022143066A1

WO2022143066A1 - Laser output system and method, multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate, and laser and processing method therefor

Info

Publication number: WO2022143066A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/136622
Authority: WO
Inventors: 蒋峰; 张浩泰; 杨德权; 吕张勇
Original assignee: 苏州创鑫激光科技有限公司; 深圳市创鑫激光股份有限公司
Priority date: 2020-12-31
Filing date: 2021-12-09
Publication date: 2022-07-07
Also published as: CN114682908A

Abstract

A laser output system (100), comprising: a laser module (110) configured to output pump laser (L1); an optical switching module (120) configured to receive the pump laser outputted by the laser module, divide the pump laser into at least two paths of sub laser, and allocate the at least two paths of sub laser into multiple sub laser channels at different times or at the same time, wherein at least one path of sub laser is signal laser (L2); and multiple laser output heads (130) configured to collimate and focus the laser outputted by the multiple sub laser channels and then output the laser. The output system provides a multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate capable of achieving the laser of two wavelengths by means of single-port input and multi-port output, satisfies the requirements of various processing technologies, and can reduce the processing cost. Further involved are a laser output method, a multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate, a laser, and a laser processing method.

Description

[Title of invention formulated by ISA pursuant to Rule 37.2] Laser output system and method, multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate, laser and method of processing the same

technical field

The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of laser technology, and in particular, to a laser output system, an output method, and a comprehensive processing method.

Background technique

The use of high-power fiber lasers or direct semiconductor lasers for metal and non-metallic materials processing can show very superior performance, but the larger-scale application of high-power laser processing is limited by the high cost of lasers. The multiplexing technology of laser processing is an effective and feasible solution. By using an optical switch or a spatial optical shutter, a main fiber laser is divided into two or multiple sub-laser outputs, and each sub-laser is introduced into a different processing platform. , in this way, a single laser can quickly switch multiple processing platforms to work at the same time or time-sharing by controlling the switch of the optical gate or the optical switch, thereby reducing the application cost.

At present, the most mainstream optical gate solution is to place the optical gate or optical switch behind the fiber laser output component, and the power of each sub-laser is lower than that of the main laser (the power of the time-sharing system will be closer). Considering the image of the optical system of the optical gate Poor and other factors, the spot quality will also be worse than the main laser spot. Therefore, using the traditional mainstream optical gate technology, in principle, the processing performance of the branch laser cannot fully reach the optimal processing performance of the single main laser.

At the same time, since the optical gate is set after the fiber laser, the wavelength and spot characteristics of each branch laser are similar to those of the main optical path fiber laser. For some applications that require high power but relatively low power density and flat top spot, the fiber laser needs to be relatively complex. The customized light spot degradation treatment will not only increase the cost, but also the effect may not be ideal.

In addition, in some applications, such as cladding, special welding, etc., fiber lasers are not suitable, and need to use shorter wavelengths such as semiconductor lasers, higher power, lower power density, and more uniform light spot output.

At present, in the comprehensive processing scenarios such as cutting, drilling, special welding, etc., it is often necessary to configure multiple laser processing equipment using semiconductor lasers and fiber lasers, respectively, resulting in complicated actual processing operations. Stay high.

Therefore, if the semiconductor laser and the fiber laser can be organically combined in one laser, or even a single laser can provide high-power semiconductor laser and high-power fiber laser through a special shutter system, it will not only greatly reduce the customer's operating costs, but also Various processes are easy to integrate and can also significantly reduce operating costs.

Application content

In view of the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, the purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide a laser output method, a laser output system and a processing platform, which are used to solve the problem that the prior art cannot simultaneously provide the multi-port output of direct multi-wavelength lasers, so as to satisfy the Complex processing scenarios, complex processing operations, time-consuming processing and high processing costs.

The purpose of the embodiment of the present application is achieved through the following technical solutions:

In order to solve the above technical problems, a laser output system is provided in the embodiment of the present application, including:

Laser module, used to output pump laser;

an optical switching module, configured to receive the pump laser output from the laser module, and divide it into at least two sub-lasers time-divisionally or simultaneously distribute them to a plurality of sub-laser channels, wherein at least one of the sub-lasers is a signal laser; and

A plurality of laser output heads are used for collimating and focusing the laser beams output by the plurality of sub-laser channels and outputting the laser beams.

The embodiment of the present application provides a processing platform using the above-mentioned laser output system.

The embodiment of the present application provides a laser output method, including:

emit pump laser;

The pump laser light is split and then gained into signal laser light, and the pump laser light and/or the signal laser light are output from at least two split laser channels in a time-division or at the same time.

Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effect of the present application is that the number and optical paths of the output lasers are controlled by the optical path switching module, so that one or more laser beams with two or more wavelengths can be output in time-division or at the same time, thereby realizing the Various laser processing technology requirements, and can significantly reduce processing costs; and the optical path switching module is arranged at the output end of the laser module, which can reduce the impact on each sub-laser in the output multi-beam laser, so as to obtain high quality and good effect. Laser spot.

Description of drawings

One or more embodiments are exemplified by the pictures in the corresponding drawings, and these exemplified descriptions do not constitute limitations to the embodiments, and the elements/modules and steps with the same reference numerals in the drawings represent For similar elements/modules and steps, the figures in the accompanying drawings do not constitute a scale limitation unless otherwise stated.

Fig. 1 is a kind of structural representation of traditional optical gate type fiber laser output system in the prior art;

2 is a structural block diagram of a laser output system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3(a) is a schematic diagram of the optical path of a laser output system provided by an embodiment of the present application (built-in forward gain module);

3(b) is a schematic diagram of the optical path of a laser output system provided by an embodiment of the present application (with an external reverse gain module);

4 is a schematic diagram of a spectrum of a composite laser provided by a laser module in a laser output system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

5 is a schematic diagram of the wavelength division operation of the first optical splitting component in a laser output system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

6 is a schematic diagram of the time-sharing operation of a laser output system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

7 is a schematic diagram of a laser output system providing multiple laser outputs provided by an embodiment of the present application;

8 is a flowchart of a laser output method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

9 is a schematic structural diagram of a processing platform provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a laser processing method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

The present application will be described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments. The following examples will help those skilled in the art to further understand the application, but do not limit the application in any form. It should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, several modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present application. These all belong to the protection scope of the present application.

It should be noted that, if there is no conflict, various features in the embodiments of the present application may be combined with each other, which are all within the protection scope of the present application. In addition, although the functional modules are divided in the schematic diagram of the device, in some cases, the modules may be divided differently from the device.

It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element, or one or more intervening elements may be present therebetween.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in this specification have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the technical field belonging to this application. The terms used in the specification of the present application in this specification are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, and are not used to limit the present application. In addition, the technical features involved in the various embodiments of the present application described below can be combined with each other as long as there is no conflict with each other.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which shows the structure of a conventional laser output system with a fiber laser and a shutter. In the laser output system 101 , the laser module 110 outputs a pump laser L1 , and the pump laser L1 passes through the resonator module 122 The gain output signal laser L2, the signal laser L2 passes through the optical switching unit 120 and splits to output multiple signal laser beams L2.

The above-mentioned laser output system of the fiber laser and optical gate in the prior art can only realize splitting and splitting of laser light of one wavelength, and the splitting quality is not ideal, which can no longer meet the needs of the current multi-processing environment.

In order to solve the above problems, embodiments of the present application provide a laser output system, an output method, a multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate, a laser, and a comprehensive processing.

Referring to FIG. 2 , it shows a structural block diagram of a laser output system provided by an embodiment of the present application, wherein the laser output system 100 includes a laser module 110 , an optical path switching module 120 and a plurality of laser output heads 130 . The laser module 110 is used for outputting the pump laser L1, and the optical path switching module 120 includes an input end and at least two output ends for receiving the pump laser L1 output by the laser module 110, and converting the After the pump laser L1 is split, the gain is the signal laser L2, and the pump laser L1 and/or the signal laser L2 are distributed to different sub-laser channels, and the at least two output ends are time-divisionally or simultaneously output, and multiple lasers The output head is used for collimating and focusing the laser light output by the plurality of sub-laser channels and outputting the laser collimating and focusing the output of the plurality of sub-laser channels.

The laser output system provided by the embodiments of the present application controls the quantity and optical path of the laser light output by the laser module through the optical path switching module, and can output one or more laser beams, and the optical path switching module is arranged at the output end of the laser module, which can reduce the number of laser beams output by the laser module. The influence of each sub-laser in the output multi-beam laser, so as to obtain a laser spot with high quality and good effect.

The laser module 110 may use any one of a semiconductor light source, a solid-state laser light source or a fiber laser light source.

The optical path switching module 120 may be any one of a multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate, a multi-wavelength multiplexing mechanical optical switch or other optical switching components.

The optical path switching module 120 further includes at least one gain sub-module for receiving at least one pump laser L1 after splitting, and gaining it as a signal laser L2. The gain sub-module may be a forward fiber/solid/resonator/MOPA amplifier module that amplifies the gain of the pump laser L1 into a signal laser L2 and then outputs it along the positive axis of the optical axis, or may be a gain of the pump laser L1 into a signal. The reverse fiber/solid/resonator/MOPA amplifier module outputting in the opposite direction along the optical axis after the laser L2.

At the same time, the gain sub-module can be set inside the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate/optical switch/optical switching component as a highly integrated device, or can be set as an independent external module in the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical Outside the gate/optical switch/optical switching assembly.

In addition, the input end and output end of the optical path switching module 120 may adopt a traditional energy-transmitting optical fiber connection design. The pluggable connection between the end and the laser module is realized, which is convenient for the replacement of different light sources; the output end can be directly plugged and connected with the laser output component, and can also be directly plugged and connected with the external resonator module, which is convenient for multi-wavelength multiplexing. The shutter is used in modular combination with other optics.

It should be noted that the laser output module (not shown) needs to be configured with different types of output head modules according to the type of output laser and energy parameters of the connected output port, such as fiber laser QBH output head, semiconductor QD output head or semiconductor Q+ output head, etc. , it is more convenient to replace through the plug-in port.

It should be noted that, in the embodiments provided in this application, forward fiber resonator modules, forward fiber MOPA amplifier modules, forward solid-state resonator modules, forward solid-state amplifier modules, and reverse fiber resonator modules can be selected. module, reverse fiber MOPA amplifier module, reverse solid-state resonant cavity module or reverse solid-state amplifier module, using built-in or external multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gates, optical switches or other optical switching components. Any of the various combinations of setting methods, the embodiments provided in this application only select several of these combinations for illustration. In practical applications, other combinations of modules and setting methods can also be used as needed, and do not need to be bound by this application. Limitations in the Examples.

Example 1

Please refer to FIG. 3 a , which shows a schematic diagram of an optical path structure of a laser output system with an inverse gain module provided in Embodiment 1 of the present application. In the laser output system 100 , the laser output system 100 includes a laser module 110 , a multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 and an inverse resonant cavity module 123 . The reverse resonant cavity module 123 is connected to the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 as an external module.

The multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 is provided with an input end 130a and at least two output ends 130d, c, e, f, the input end 130a of the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 and the output of the laser module 110 The output terminals 130c, d, e, and f of the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 are connected to the laser output components for outputting the split pump laser L1 and Signal laser L2.

The multi-wavelength multiplexing optical shutter 120 is provided with a spectroscopic component, and the spectroscopic component is composed of a plurality of movable or rotatable spectroscopic mirrors or total reflection mirrors. The beam splitter can reflect or transmit the incident light in different proportions by setting different coating systems, and the beam splitter is also provided with a rotating device to drive the beam splitter or total reflection mirror to rotate to a specific position.

Specifically, the light-splitting component includes: a first light-splitting component 121, which is disposed on a side close to the input end 130a of the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical shutter 120, and the first light-splitting component 121 includes a first light-transmitting lens and a first light-transmitting lens. A reflective lens, the first light-transmitting lens can transmit the pump laser L1, and the first reflective lens can reflect the pump laser L1.

The light-splitting component further includes: at least one fourth light-splitting component 126, which is disposed on the side of the first reflecting lens close to the first light-splitting component 121, and the fourth light-splitting component 126 includes a fourth light-transmitting lens and a fourth light-splitting lens. Reflecting lens, the fourth light-transmitting lens can transmit the pump laser L1, the fourth reflecting lens can reflect the pumping laser L1, and the pumping laser L1 reflected by the first light splitting component 121 The split output can be achieved through the control of at least one fourth optical splitting component 126 . In this embodiment, only two fourth

light splitting components

126a, 126b are shown, and the reflected pump laser L1 can be distributed to three split laser channels for output. The number of the fourth optical splitting components can be set according to the number of pump lasers L1 to be branched, and does not need to be bound by the limitations of the embodiments of the present application.

The light-splitting component further includes: a second light-splitting component 124, which is disposed on the side of the first light-transmitting lens close to the first light-splitting component 121, and the second light-splitting component 124 includes a second light-transmitting lens and a second reflector. A mirror, the second transmission surface can transmit the pump laser L1 partially transmitted through the first beam splitting component 121 , and the second reflection mirror can reflect the signal output by the gain and output of the reverse resonator module 123 Laser L2. At the same time, the second light-transmitting lens and the second reflecting lens can also be replaced by a lens coated with an anti-reflection film, so that the lens can transmit the pump laser L1 partially transmitted through the first beam splitting component 121 , can also reflect the signal laser L2 output by the gain of the reverse resonator module 123 .

The light-splitting component further includes: at least one third light-splitting component 125, which is disposed on one side of the second reflective lens close to the second light-splitting component 124, and the third light-splitting component 125 includes a third light-transmitting lens and a first light-transmitting lens. Three reflective mirrors, the third translucent mirror can transmit the signal laser L2, the third reflective mirror can reflect the signal laser L2, and the reflected signal laser L2 is controlled by at least one third beam splitting component 125 Split output can be achieved. In this embodiment, only two third

light splitting components

125a and 125b are shown, and the reflected pump laser L1 can be distributed to the outputs of the two split laser channels. The number of the third optical splitting components can be set according to the number of the signal laser light L2 to be branched, and does not need to be bound by the limitations of the embodiments of the present application.

The multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 further includes at least one control module, the control module includes a driving device and a light splitting controller, wherein the driving device is respectively connected with the first light splitting component 121 and/or the second light splitting component 124 and/or or the third beam splitting assembly 125 and/or the fourth beam splitting assembly 126 are connected; the beam splitting controller is connected to the driving device for controlling the driving device to drive the first beam splitting assembly 121 and/or the second beam splitting assembly 124 and /or the third light splitting component 125 and/or the fourth light splitting component 126 adjust the exit angle of the split light.

The multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 further includes: a collimating lens 127, which is arranged on the side of the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 close to the input end 130a, for collimating the beam expanding the pump output of the laser module 110 Laser L1.

The multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 further includes: a focusing lens 128, which is arranged on the side of the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 close to the output end, and is used for the pump to realize the split output through the fourth optical splitting component 126. The laser light L1 or the signal laser L2 that is output by splitting through the third optical splitting component 125 is focused and then output through the at least two output ends. The number of the focusing lenses can be set according to the number of branched lasers, and does not need to be bound by the limitations of the embodiments of the present application. It can be known that the number of the output ends is the same as the number of the focusing lenses.

For convenience of description, only six of the focusing

lenses

128a, 128b, 128c, 128d, 128e and 128f are shown in the embodiment of the present application, and six

output ports

130b, 130c, 130d, 130e, 130f and 130f are shown correspondingly. 130g.

The focusing lens 128a receives the pump laser L1 transmitted from the second beam splitting component 124, focuses and transmits it to the reverse resonator module 123, and is amplified into the signal laser L2 by the reverse resonator module 123 and sent back to the signal laser L2. After being collimated by the focusing lens 128a, it enters the second reflector of the second beam splitting component 124, and then enters the third beam splitting component 125a after being reflected; the focusing lens 128b receives the reflection from the third beam splitting component 125a and then divides it into a branch. The output signal laser L2, after being focused, outputs the split signal laser L2 through the output end 130c, and the focusing lens 128c receives the signal laser L2 transmitted by the third beam splitting component 125a and then reflected by the third beam splitting component 125b, After focusing, the split signal laser L2 is output through the output end 130d.

The focusing

lenses

128d, 128e, and 128f respectively receive the pump laser L1 that is transmitted/reflected from the fourth

light splitting components

126a, 126b and output in a split way, and after focusing, the pump laser light L1 is output through the

output terminals

130e, 130f and 130g respectively. Pump laser L1.

Embodiment 2

Referring to FIG. 3b, the second embodiment of the present application provides a laser output system, which shows a schematic diagram of the optical path structure of a laser output system built in a forward gain module. In the laser output system 100, the laser output The system 100 includes a laser module 110 , a multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 , and a forward resonant cavity module 122 , which is integrated in the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 in a built-in manner.

The multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 further includes a first optical splitting component 121 and at least one fourth optical splitting component 126a, b.

Specifically, the first light splitting component 121 is disposed on the side close to the input end 130a of the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical shutter 120. The first light splitting component 121 includes a first light-transmitting lens and a first reflecting lens. The first light-transmitting lens can transmit the pumping laser light L1, and the first reflecting lens can reflect the pumping laser light L1.

The at least one fourth beam splitting component 126 is disposed on the side of the first reflecting lens close to the first beam splitting component 121 . The fourth beam splitting component 126 includes a fourth translucent lens and a fourth reflecting lens. The light-transmitting lens can transmit the pump laser L1, the fourth reflecting lens can reflect the pump laser L1, and the pump laser L1 reflected by the first beam splitting component 121 passes through at least one fourth beam splitting component 126 control can realize shunt output. In this embodiment, only two fourth

light splitting components

126a and 126b are shown, and the pump laser L1 can be distributed to the output of three split laser channels. The number of light splitting components can be set according to the number of pump lasers L1 to be branched, and does not need to be limited to the limitations of the embodiments of the present application.

The multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 further includes: a control module connected to the

light splitting components

121, 126a, 126b; for controlling and driving the

light splitting components

121, 126a, 126b to change the output type and output angle of the adjusted light.

The multi-wavelength multiplexing optical shutter 120 further includes a focusing lens 128, which is disposed on the side of the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical shutter 120 close to the output end. In this embodiment, only four focusing

lenses

128a, 128d, 128e, 128f are shown, wherein the focusing lens 128a is used to focus the pump laser L1 transmitted and output through the first beam splitting component 121 and output it to the forward resonator The module 122 is amplified into the signal laser L2 by the gain and then output through the output end 130b; the focusing

lenses

128d, 128e, 128f are used to focus the three pump laser beams L1 that are split and output by the fourth optical splitting component 126 and then respectively pass through the output.

Terminals

130e, 130f, 130g output.

The difference between the second embodiment of the present application and the above-mentioned first embodiment is that because the forward gain module is adopted, the signal laser L2 after gain amplification does not return to the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 for optical splitting.

It should be noted that, if the forward gain module is externally connected to the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate, the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 described in the first embodiment can also be directly selected, and the original reverse The gain module can be directly replaced with the required forward gain module.

Embodiment 3

In the third embodiment provided in the present application, combined with the optical path structure of FIG. 3 a and schematic diagrams with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 , a dual-wavelength fiber laser that can output two wavelengths simultaneously is provided. For example, the output pump laser L1 includes both a semiconductor laser and a fiber laser, and the beam splitter of the first beam splitting component 121 is provided with a coating layer that can reflect the semiconductor laser and also transmit the fiber laser, so that the incident laser is The included semiconductor laser L1 is split into the signal laser L2 through the reverse fiber laser resonator module and enters the split laser channel of the third splitting component 125; at the same time, the semiconductor laser L1 contained in the incident laser is split into the fourth splitting component 126 after splitting. Dividing the laser channel, the above setting realizes the splitting and branching of the composite laser containing two different wavelengths.

Embodiment 4

Further, in another embodiment provided by the present application, a laser output system capable of outputting split-beam lasers with different powers is provided. When the driving device drives the spectroscope to rotate or move different spectroscopes to the laser incident position, the incident laser can be configured to enter the reflection channel and transmission channel according to different proportions due to the different coating systems of the different spectroscopes. The laser system can simultaneously output multiple laser beams with different powers, thereby improving the power utilization rate of the laser system and increasing the application scenarios of the laser system.

Embodiment 5

In the fifth embodiment of the present application, a time-sharing laser output system is provided. With reference to FIG. 3 a and FIG. 6 , a schematic diagram of the time-sharing output of a single laser beam in a laser output system with reverse gain is shown. .

When the pump laser L1 output from the laser module 100 is reflected by the first beam splitting assembly 121 to the fourth beam splitting assembly 126a, the driving device drives the total reflection mirror of the fourth beam splitting assembly 126a to rotate, and adjusts the reflection during the first time period. The exit angle of the light makes the pump laser L1 reflect to the focusing lens 128d through the fourth beam splitting component 126a, and output from the output end 130e; in the second time period, adjust the exit angle of the reflected light, so that the pump laser L1 passes through the fourth beam split Component 126a is reflected to focusing lens 128e, which is output from output 130f. The first time period and the second time period are different time periods, and the output power of the pump laser L1 output from the output end 130f and the pump laser light L1 output from the output end 130g is the same.

When the pump laser L1 is transmitted and emitted by the first beam splitting component 121 and the second beam splitting component 124, it is gained into the signal laser L2 by the inverse resonator module 123, and is reflected and emitted to the third beam splitting component 125a through the second beam splitting component 124. , the driving device drives the total reflection mirror of the third beam splitting assembly 125a to rotate, and adjusts the exit angle of the reflected light in the third time period, so that the signal laser L2 is reflected from the third beam splitting assembly 125a and then enters the focusing lens 128b, from the output end 130c Output; in the fourth time period, the exit angle of the reflected light is adjusted, and the signal laser L2 is reflected from the third beam splitting component 125a and then enters the focusing lens 128c and is output from the output end 130d. The third time period and the fourth time period are different time periods, and the output power of the pump laser L1 output from the output end 130c and the pump laser light L1 output from the output end 130d is the same.

Embodiment 6

In the sixth embodiment of the present application, a laser that can output a specific wavelength laser is provided. As shown in FIG. 7 , a direct semiconductor module is selected as the input light source, and a pump laser L1 is emitted, and the pump laser L1 is multiplexed by multiple wavelengths. The input port of the optical gate 120 enters, and is divided into two beams of sub-pumped laser light L1 through the first optical splitting component 121, one of which is transmitted through the second optical splitting component 124 and enters the pluggable connection to the output port 130b of the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120. The reverse fiber resonator 123a, the gain is that the signal laser L2 is reversely output to the second optical splitting assembly 124, reflected by the third optical splitting assembly 125a to the sub-molecular laser channel through the output port 130c and transmitted to a specific fiber laser processing platform for use;

A part of the pump laser L1 after another sub-pump laser L1 is split by the fourth optical splitting component 126a is reflected to the sub-channel and transmitted to a specific semiconductor laser processing stage for use through the output port 130e;

A part of the pump laser L1 after being split by the fourth optical splitting component 126a is projected to the fourth optical splitting component 126b, and after being reflected, it enters the fourth optical splitting component 126c and transmits into the pluggable connection to the output port 130f. The inverse solid-state resonator 123b, the gain is the signal laser L2, and then reversely input to the fourth optical splitting component 126c, and then reflected by the fourth optical splitting component 126d to the sub-molecular laser channel and transmitted to the specific solid-state laser processing stage through the output port 130g use.

Among them, the reverse fiber resonator 123a is composed of a low-reflection grating, a high-reflection grating and a gain fiber with a wavelength of 1080nm. The laser module 110 emits a semiconductor laser beam that resonates through the resonator and outputs a divergent 1080nm laser beam through the low-reflection beam. The solid resonator 123b is composed of an output mirror, a laser crystal, and a high-reflection mirror, wherein the output mirror has a low reflection to the 1080nm beam, the laser crystal is pumped by a semiconductor laser beam and outputs a 1080nm laser beam, and the high-reflection mirror has a high reflection to the 1080nm laser beam. If the output beam is collimated light, a collimating beam expanding module 140 will be added inside the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical shutter 120 to expand the laser beam to a collimated beam with a specific spot diameter.

Preferably, the laser module further includes a voltage control module 112, and the voltage control module 112 is connected to the light source 111 in the laser module. The specially doped gain fiber in the reverse fiber resonator 123a or the specially doped laser crystal in the reverse solid resonator 123b can be used as a passive saturable absorber. When the light intensity is high enough, it is allowed to pass through, and the input current of the semiconductor light source is adjusted in pulse mode through the voltage control module 112, so that the pulse width and pulse peak value of the output semiconductor laser beam can be changed. Since the laser energy input to the laser crystal or gain fiber does not reach the saturable absorption state, the leading edge of the semiconductor optical pulse is attenuated and absorbed. When the peak instantaneous power of the pulse input by the semiconductor is high enough, the saturable absorber can reach its ability to generate a laser beam. Threshold, the laser beam passes through instantaneously, and the peak energy of the output laser beam is much higher than the peak energy of the laser beam input by the original semiconductor, which is equivalent to the realization of pulsed laser output with high peak energy through this method.

Preferably, if the power is relatively high, the optical fiber resonator 123a or the reverse solid resonator 123b may have a built-in heat dissipation module, and the built-in air duct and water channel are used to cool the cavity to increase the power used.

The embodiments of the present application propose a low-cost pluggable gain module, which can generate various laser beams of specific wavelengths, specific modes, and even continuous and pulsed modes without substantially changing the input light source. . For example, a 1080 nm laser with relatively good beam quality is generated by a 915 nm semiconductor with poor beam quality, and a laser beam with relatively high single-pulse energy is output through the 915 nm pump laser. On the client application side, customers only need to purchase specific low-cost modules to achieve various laser effects. Compared with the current direct purchase of lasers, the cost is greatly reduced.

Embodiment 7

Embodiment 7 of the present application further provides a laser output method. Please refer to FIG. 8 , which shows a laser output method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The laser output method includes:

emit pump laser;

receiving the output pump laser, and dividing the pump laser into at least two paths;

Amplify the gain of at least one channel of the pump laser into a signal laser;

The pump laser light and/or the signal laser light are output from the at least two sub-laser channels in time-division or simultaneously.

Specifically, the laser module 110 transmits the pump laser L1 and inputs it to the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120, and controls the first optical splitting component 121 of the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 to partially or fully transmit the pump laser L1, The transmitted pump laser L1 is gain-amplified into the signal laser L2 by the gain module, and when the gain module is a reverse gain module, at least one third beam splitting component 125 is controlled to reflect and/or transmit the second beam splitter The signal laser L2 reflected by the component is distributed to different sub-laser channels to realize time-sharing or simultaneous output of the signal laser L2; when the gain module is a forward gain module, the signal laser L2 can be directly output from the sub-laser channel.

At the same time, the first optical splitting component 121 of the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate 120 is controlled to reflect part or all of the pump laser L1 to one of the fourth optical splitting components 126, and the at least one fourth optical splitting component is controlled to reflect and /or transmit the main laser light, and distribute the pump laser light L1 to different sub-laser channels, so as to realize the time-division or simultaneous output of the pump laser light L1.

Embodiment 8

Referring to FIG. 9, the eighth embodiment of the present application provides a laser processing platform 200. The processing platform 200 adopts the laser output system 100 shown in the embodiment of the present application. Switch between semiconductor laser processing, solid state laser and/or fiber laser processing.

Specifically, the processing platform 200 adopts the above-mentioned laser output system 100, and the processing platform 200 can provide the pump laser L1 and/or the signal laser L2 provided by the above-mentioned laser output system for time-sharing or simultaneous processing of the workpiece to be processed. When the workpiece to be processed needs multiple processing processes to be implemented at the same time, the pump laser L1 and the signal laser L2 emit light from different directions at the same time to complete the processing; when the workpiece to be processed requires multiple processing processes to be implemented successively, the pump laser L1 or The signal laser L2 emits light from one azimuth or multiple azimuths successively to complete the processing. The processing platform 200 further includes a laser processing head adapted to be connected with the laser output head to process the workpiece to be processed. It should be noted that, the number of the output ends of the laser output system 100, the laser output heads, and the laser processing heads can be configured according to actual needs.

Embodiment 9

The ninth embodiment of the present application also provides a laser processing method. Please refer to FIG. 10 , which shows a flowchart of the laser processing method provided by the embodiment of the present application. The laser processing method includes:

Launch the main laser;

The multi-wavelength laser is divided into at least two sub-laser outputs, and the at least one sub-laser is obtained by gain amplification of the main laser;

Each sub-laser is introduced into a different processing platform by controlling the switch of the optical path;

Each of the sub-lasers can be quickly switched to work between multiple processing platforms at the same time or time-sharing.

The output power and spot quality of the sub-laser are the same as those of the main laser.

To sum up, an embodiment of the present application provides a laser output system, including: a laser unit, an optical switching module and a gain module, wherein the laser module is used for outputting laser light, and the optical switching module is used for receiving the output of the laser module The pump laser is split into a signal laser, and the pump laser and/or the signal laser are distributed to different split laser channels, time-division or output at the same time.

The laser output system provided by the embodiment of the present application controls the quantity and optical path of the output lasers through an optical switching module, and can output one or more laser beams in time-division or at the same time, and the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate is arranged at the output end of the laser module , which can reduce the influence on each sub-laser in the output multi-beam laser, so as to obtain a laser spot with high quality and good effect. The laser output system provided by the embodiments of the present application also realizes various laser beam outputs through limited laser modules, greatly expands the types of laser beams, and achieves coverage of various application manufacturers at extremely low cost. For example, in the future, customers can purchase only one semiconductor light source, two pluggable gain modules and a multi-wavelength multiplexing optical shutter to realize the output of conventional optical shutters with different powers and different core diameters, and the additional realization Including the output of different types of laser beams such as semiconductor laser output, fiber laser output, solid laser output, pulse laser output, etc., the cost of lasers that output the above various beams needs to be purchased separately in traditional processing, and the cost is significantly reduced. Therefore, this application provides A modular, low-cost creative solution for the future of lasers.

It should be noted that the device embodiments described above are only schematic, wherein the units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physically separated unit, that is, it can be located in one place, or it can be distributed over multiple network units. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution in this embodiment.

Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, but not to limit them; under the thinking of the present application, the technical features in the above embodiments or different embodiments can also be combined, The steps may be carried out in any order, and there are many other variations of the different aspects of the present application as described above, which are not provided in detail for the sake of brevity; although the present application has been The skilled person should understand that it is still possible to modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or to perform equivalent replacements on some of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the implementation of the application. scope of technical solutions.

Claims

A laser output system includes:

Laser module, used to output pump laser;

an optical switching module, configured to receive the pump laser output from the laser module, and divide it into at least two sub-lasers time-divisionally or simultaneously distribute them to a plurality of sub-laser channels, wherein at least one of the sub-lasers is a signal laser; and

a plurality of laser output heads, used for collimating and focusing the laser beams output by the plurality of sub-laser channels and outputting;
The laser output system according to claim 1, wherein the optical switching module further comprises a gain sub-module, which is used to gain at least part of the pump laser into a signal laser.
The laser output system according to claim 2, wherein the gain sub-module is an inverse resonant cavity module or an inverse amplifier module.
The laser output system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the light switching module comprises a control unit and a plurality of dichroic mirrors, the dichroic mirrors are respectively coated with a specific film system for transmitting or reflecting the incident laser light of a specific wavelength , the control unit distributes the incident sub-lasers to the corresponding sub-laser channels by controlling the movement of the different dichroic mirrors.
The laser output system according to claim 4, wherein the dichroic lens comprises a first translucent lens and a first reflection lens arranged on the outgoing light path of the laser module, and the first translucent lens is used for The specific wavelength laser light in the incident pump laser light is transmitted, and the first reflecting lens is used for reflecting the specific wavelength laser light in the incident pump laser light.
The laser output system according to claim 5, wherein the dichroic mirror further comprises a second mirror set between the first transmission mirror and the gain sub-module, for transmitting the pump laser light that is incident on the specific wavelength of laser light and reflect the signal laser light.
The laser output system according to claim 6, wherein the dichroic mirror further comprises a plurality of groups of third light-transmitting mirrors and third reflective mirrors disposed on the reflection light path of the second mirror, the third light-transmitting mirrors being used for The incoming signal laser light is transmitted, and the third reflecting lens is used for reflecting the incoming signal laser light.
The laser output system according to claim 5, wherein the dichroic mirror further comprises a plurality of groups of fourth translucent mirrors and fourth reflective mirrors disposed on the reflected light path of the first reflective mirror, the fourth translucent mirrors The fourth reflective sheet is used for transmitting the specific wavelength laser light in the incident pumping laser light, and the fourth reflecting mirror is used for reflecting the specific wavelength laser light in the incident pumping laser light.
The laser output system according to claim 1, wherein the laser module comprises one or more of a solid-state laser light source, a semiconductor laser light source or a fiber laser light source, and the laser output head comprises a semiconductor laser output head, a fiber laser output head and one or more of solid-state laser output heads.
The laser output system according to claim 2, wherein the optical switching module further comprises a collimation beam expansion sub-module for expanding the signal laser beam output by the gain into a collimated beam with a preset spot diameter.
A laser output method, comprising:

Output pump laser;

receiving the pump laser, and amplifying at least part of the pump laser gain into signal laser;

The pump laser and the signal laser are time-divisionally or simultaneously distributed into a plurality of sub-laser channels and output after collimation and focusing.
The laser output method according to claim 11, wherein the pump laser is a multi-wavelength laser beam, and the specific wavelength laser in the pump laser is time-divisionally or simultaneously distributed to different sub-laser channels by means of transmission or reflection output.
A multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate, comprising:

a casing, which is provided with an input port and a plurality of output ports;

The optical splitting component is used for receiving the main laser beam incident from the input end, dividing the main laser beam into multiple sub-lasers with different wavelengths, and then outputting from the corresponding output port in time-division or at the same time.
The multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate according to claim 13, further comprising a gain module, the gain module is arranged between the optical splitting component and the output port, and is used to gain the input sub-laser. After amplification, it is returned to the spectroscopic component in reverse.
The multi-wavelength multiplexing optical shutter according to claim 13, wherein the spectroscopic component further comprises a plurality of spectroscopic mirrors, and the spectroscopic mirrors are respectively coated with optical films of a specific film system, which are used to detect the light of a specific wavelength in the incident beam. Transmit or reflect.
A laser comprising:

Laser module, used to output pump laser;

a multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate, the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate is provided with an input port and a plurality of output ports, the input port is connected with the laser module, and is used for receiving the pump laser output by the laser module, and splitting the pump laser light and outputting from the corresponding multiple output ports respectively;

a gain amplifier, the gain amplifier is connected to the optical gate, and is used to gain one of the shunt pump lasers into a signal laser; and

A plurality of output heads, the laser output heads are respectively connected with the multiple output ports of the optical gate, and are used for respectively receiving the pump laser or the signal laser output from the multi-wavelength multiplexing optical gate.
The laser according to claim 16, wherein the gain amplifier is any one of a forward resonant cavity, a forward MOPA amplifier, an inverse resonant cavity or an inverse MOPA amplifier, and the gain amplifier is pluggably connected to the the output port of the shutter.
The laser according to claim 16, wherein the laser module comprises one or more of a solid-state laser light source, a semiconductor laser light source or a fiber laser light source, and the laser output head comprises a semiconductor laser output head, a fiber laser output head and a solid-state laser output head One or more of the laser output heads.
A laser processing method, comprising:

Launch the main laser;

The multi-wavelength laser is divided into at least two sub-laser outputs, and the at least one sub-laser is obtained by gain amplification of the main laser;

Each sub-laser is introduced into a different processing platform by controlling the switch of the optical path;

Each of the sub-lasers can be quickly switched to work between multiple processing platforms at the same time or time-sharing.
The laser processing method according to claim 19, wherein the output power and spot quality of the at least one sub-laser are the same as the output power and spot quality of the main laser.