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Optical aberrations in a gas lenses

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dc.contributor.author Mafusire, C
dc.contributor.author Forbes, A
dc.contributor.author Michaelis, MM
dc.contributor.author Snedden, Glen C
dc.date.accessioned 2010-12-08T14:25:59Z
dc.date.available 2010-12-08T14:25:59Z
dc.date.issued 2010-08
dc.identifier.citation Mafusire, C, Forbes, A, Michaelis, MM and Snedden, GC. 2010. Optical aberrations in a gas lenses. Laser Beam Shaping XI, 2010 SPIE Optics + Photonics Annual Conference., San Diego Convention Centre, San Diego, California, 1-5 August 2010, pp 17 en
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4636
dc.description Laser Beam Shaping XI, 2010 SPIE Optics + Photonics Annual Conference., San Diego Convention Centre, San Diego, California, 1-5 August 2010 en
dc.description.abstract Gas lenses work on the basis that aerodynamic media can be used to generate a graded refractive index distribution which can be used to focus a laser beam. Examples of these are the spinning pipe gas lens (SPGL) and the flame lens (FL). The SPGL is a steel pipe which is heated to a preselected temperature and then rotated along the axis to any desired speed to generate a cooler core of incoming air. An FL is a short steel tube into which a strong pencil flame is injected and made to spiral so as to create a cooler core. The FL is presented on a proof of principle basis and therefore its operation cannot, as yet, be altered by changing any aspect of its dimensions. A laser beam propagating through these lenses is focussed in space. However, experimental observation has shown that distortions are generated in the beam. We provide experimental results of the Zernike aberrations measured using a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor which show that they have a deleterious effect on laser beam quality (M2). The effect on the SPGL is that the beam deterioration increases with rotation speed and temperature though the worst M2 measured at speed 20 Hz and temperature 155 ºC was ~5 which is fairly good. The FL caused had an average M2 of ~10. Despite this, gas lenses have a high damage threshold and so have an important part to play in the development of optics for high power laser fields. en
dc.language.iso en en
dc.relation.ispartofseries Conference Presentation en
dc.subject Gas lenses en
dc.subject Laser beams en
dc.subject Aberrations en
dc.subject Beam quality en
dc.subject Optics en
dc.subject Photonics en
dc.title Optical aberrations in a gas lenses en
dc.type Conference Presentation en
dc.identifier.apacitation Mafusire, C., Forbes, A., Michaelis, M., & Snedden, G. C. (2010). Optical aberrations in a gas lenses. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4636 en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitation Mafusire, C, A Forbes, MM Michaelis, and Glen C Snedden. "Optical aberrations in a gas lenses." (2010): http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4636 en_ZA
dc.identifier.vancouvercitation Mafusire C, Forbes A, Michaelis M, Snedden GC, Optical aberrations in a gas lenses; 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4636 . en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Conference Presentation AU - Mafusire, C AU - Forbes, A AU - Michaelis, MM AU - Snedden, Glen C AB - Gas lenses work on the basis that aerodynamic media can be used to generate a graded refractive index distribution which can be used to focus a laser beam. Examples of these are the spinning pipe gas lens (SPGL) and the flame lens (FL). The SPGL is a steel pipe which is heated to a preselected temperature and then rotated along the axis to any desired speed to generate a cooler core of incoming air. An FL is a short steel tube into which a strong pencil flame is injected and made to spiral so as to create a cooler core. The FL is presented on a proof of principle basis and therefore its operation cannot, as yet, be altered by changing any aspect of its dimensions. A laser beam propagating through these lenses is focussed in space. However, experimental observation has shown that distortions are generated in the beam. We provide experimental results of the Zernike aberrations measured using a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor which show that they have a deleterious effect on laser beam quality (M2). The effect on the SPGL is that the beam deterioration increases with rotation speed and temperature though the worst M2 measured at speed 20 Hz and temperature 155 ºC was ~5 which is fairly good. The FL caused had an average M2 of ~10. Despite this, gas lenses have a high damage threshold and so have an important part to play in the development of optics for high power laser fields. DA - 2010-08 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Gas lenses KW - Laser beams KW - Aberrations KW - Beam quality KW - Optics KW - Photonics LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2010 T1 - Optical aberrations in a gas lenses TI - Optical aberrations in a gas lenses UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4636 ER - en_ZA


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