Product Code: ICAL05_1504

Novel Focusing Optics for IR Lasers
Authors:
Gary Herrit, II-VI Incorporated; Saxonburg PA USA
Alan Hedges, II-VI Incorporated; Saxonburg PA USA
Herman Reedy, II-VI Incorporated; Saxonburg PA USA
Presented at ICALEO 2005

Traditional focusing optics for IR lasers are refractive lenses and off-axis reflective mirrors. ZnSe and GaAs meniscus and plano-convex lenses dominate the refractive lens types in use today for CO2 laser cutting, welding, marking, engraving systems to name a few of the more common applications. Spherical mirrors used near normal incidence and off-axis parabolic mirrors dominate the type of reflective mirrors used in very high power CO2 lasers for welding and heat treating. These types of mirrors are made with common polishing and diamond turning techniques that are well known. In the last three years, advances in fabrication techniques have allowed optic manufacturers to produce more advanced optical surfaces on metal and refractive materials. This paper will provide details of some of these more novel focusing optics for IR laser applications. The paper will include design details of a ring focus off-axis parabola, focused flattop generator, toroidal lenses and mirrors, faceted integrators, and a long radius off-axis parabola for example. Both design and theoretical performance will be given for the optics. In some cases, laser test data will also be provided.