High Power Optical Attenuator.

Abstract

An attenuator for high power laser beams, the attenuator has an annular beam dump through which the beam passes diametrically and in which the beam passes successively through a pair of pivoting transmissive and reflective element. These elements are individually mounted on intermeshed gears so that the elements are adjustable through equal and opposite angles. At each element a portion of the beam is reflected toward the dump and a portion transmitted, the relative energy in each portion being determined by the angle of the elements to the beam so that adjustment of this angle determines the amount of attenuations. The beam is offset oppositely by refraction at each element so that attenuator does not change the beam path. The elements are, preferably, elements commonly used as edge filters, that is, interference filters having an abrupt monotonic transition with wavelength from reflection to transmission. Patents. (RH)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 31, 1988
Accession Number
ADD014197

Entities

People

  • C. D. Marrs
  • William N. Faith

Organizations

  • United States Department of the Navy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Amplifiers
  • Attenuation
  • Attenuators
  • Laser Beams
  • Lasers
  • Light Amplifiers
  • Light Sources
  • Optical Equipment
  • Reflection
  • Refraction
  • Transitions

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy