• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.708-713
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• 2023

A robust all-fiber nonlinear amplifying loop-mirror-based mode-locked femtosecond laser is demonstrated. Power-dependent nonlinear phase shift in a Sagnac loop enables stable and power-efficient mode-locking working as an artificial saturable absorber. The pump power is adjusted to achieve the lowest intensity noise for stable long-term operation. The minimum pump power for mode-locking is 180 mW, and the optimal pump power is 300 mW. The lowest integrated root-mean-square relative intensity noise of a free-running mode-locked laser is 0.009% [integration bandwidth: 1 Hz-10 MHz]. The long-term repetition-rate instability of a free-running mode-locked laser is 10^-7 over 1,000 s averaging time. The repetition-rate phase noise scaled at 10-GHz carrier is -122 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz Fourier frequency. The demonstrated method can be applied as a seed source in high-precision real-time mid-infrared molecular spectroscopy.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.9
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• pp.3293-3298
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• 2022

Removing radioactive contaminated metal materials is a vital task during the decommissioning of nuclear power plants to reduce the cost of the post-dismantling process. The laser decontamination technique has been recognized as a key tool for a successful dismantling process as it enables a remote operation in radioactive facilities. It also minimizes exposure of workers to hazardous materials and reduces secondary waste, increasing the environmental friendless of the post-dismantling processing. In this work, we present a thorough and efficient laser decontamination approach using a single-mode continuous-wave (CW) laser. We subjected stainless steels to a surface-removal process that repetitively exposes the laser to a confined region of ~75 ㎛ at a high scanning rate of 10 m/s. We evaluate the decontamination performance by measuring the removal depth with a 3D scanning microscope and further investigate optimal removal conditions given practical parameters such as the laser power and scan properties. We successfully removed the metal surface to a depth of more than 40 ㎛ with laser power of 300 W and ten scans, showing the potential to achieve an extremely high DF more than 1000 by simply increasing the number of scans and the laser power for the decontamination of primary circuits.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.600-605
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• 2002

The keyhole formed by high energy density laser-material interaction periodically collapses due to surface tension of the molten metal in partial penetration welds. The collapse sometimes traps a void at the bottom of the keyhole, and it remains as welding defects. This phenomenon is seen as one cause of the instability of the keyhole during laser beam welding. Thus, it seems likely that improving the stability of the keyhole can reduce voids and uniform the penetration depth. The goal of this work is to develop techniques for controlling laser weld keyhole dynamics to reduce weld defects such as voids and inconsistent penetration. Statistical analysis of the penetration depth signals in glycerin determined that keyhole dynamics are chaotic. The chaotic nature of keyhole fluctuations and the ability of laser power modulation to control them have been demonstrated by high-speed video images of laser welds in glycerin. Additionally, an incident leading beam angle is applied to enhance the stability of the keyhole. The quasi-sinusoidal laser beam power of 400Hz frequency and 15$^{\circ}$ incident leading beam angle were determined to be the optimum parameters for the reduction of voids. Finally, chaos analyses of uncontrolled signals and controlled signals were done to show the effectiveness of modulation on the keyhole dynamics. Three-dimensional phase plots for uncontrolled system and controlled system are produced to demonstrate that the chaotic keyhole dynamics is converted to regular periodic behavior by control methods: power modulation and incident leading beam angle.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.203-208
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• 2004

The laser welding process is one of the most advanced manufacturing technologies owing to its high speed and deep penetration. Welding characteristics of Inconel 600 Alloy using a continuous wave Nd:YAG laser are experimentally investigated. The major process parameters studied in the present laser welding experiment were position of focus, laser power, travel speed. The gap and offset maintained as small as possible. Optical microscope were used to investigate the microstructures of the welded zone. The follow conclusions can be drawn the laser power and travel speed have a pronounced effect the fusion zone size and shape.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.11-22
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• 2022

This paper presents the development process for a high-power diode laser for metal surface hardening. To combine the emissions from several laser bars, it is necessary to collimate the emitted light using an optical lens. Thus, to achieve a suitable power density and uniform beam profile, several optical layouts were proposed. To estimate the laser beam for a flat-top distribution, a numerical analysis was performed using the ZEMAX software, and the results were compared with the experimental results. With a focal lens assembled in a serial diode stack source, the design can utilize the advantage of compacting the overall beam size. Experimental results for a robotic system demonstrated the processing ability of this diode laser module in industrial laser hardening.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.58-63
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• 2010

A laser beam welding and an electric arc welding were combined, and the positive points of each welding method are drawn such as high speed, low thermal load, deep penetration, and high productivity. The fiber laser-MIG conjugated welding. namely the hybrid welding has been studied mainly for the automation industry of a pipeline welding. In this study, the MIG welding was combined with a fiber laser welding to make up the hybrid welding. The weld shapes, microstructures and mechanical properties for weld zones after the hybrid welding or only fiber laser welding were investigated on the 700 MPa grade Ultra Fine Grained(UFG) high strength steel. The amount of acicular ferrite in weld metals and HAZ(heat affected zone) was observed larger after hybrid welding compared with after only laser welding. The Vickers hardness of the top area of the fusion zone after fiber laser welding was higher compared with after hybrid welding.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.147-150
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• 2014

In this paper, pulse current type power supply for laser diode dirver is discussed. High speed high power laser has been using widely because it becomes using on medical or manufacturing equipment, but researches have not being occurred actively. Current profiling method is proposed for improved lifetime expectancy of laser diode(LD). The current waveform of driving LD is most important factor of the performance and lifetime of LD. The proposed method improves shape and stability of current waveforms, thus will effect right direction of lifetime expectation.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.705-711
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to develop the model to estimate the penetration rate of metal under a high power continuous wave laser irradiation. To estimate it, an empirical modeling is more practical when the penetration phenomena of metal by laser irradiation is too complex to be analyzed by the numerical simulation. When several methods published earlier were applied to our results, we found out that their methods were not appropriate as the model. Therefore, we suggested the new empirical method considering effective intensity as a key variable. As a result, we confirmed that the new method was effective to model the penetration rate of SUS304 metal and expected that it could be available to other metals.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.732-737
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• 2023

A high-power Yb-doped femtosecond (fs) fiber laser at a repetition rate of 1.83 GHz is reported. By employing a 5-stage repetition rate multiplier, the repetition rate of the mode-locked master oscillator was multiplied from 57.1 MHz to 1.83 GHz. The ultrashort pulse output at 1.83 GHz was amplified in a two-stage Yb-doped fiber amplifier, leading to >100 W of fs laser output with a pulse duration of 290 fs. The theoretical pulse width along the fiber was simulated, showing that it was in good agreement with experimental results. Further improvement in power scaling is discussed.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.33-38
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• 2008

Laser micromachining has increasingly been adopted in various advanced industries where the high-precision machining of large-area, high-density and multi-layered components is in a strong demand. To effectively meet the requirements, the laser micromachining process must be carefully monitored. In order to facilitate the development of a new laser micromachining process and/or a new system, we have fabricated a UV laser micromachining platform that is equipped with optical modules for monitoring the process online. They include a laser power stabilizing module, a module for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, and an auto-focusing module.