Patent ID: 6418154
Filing Date: 2002-07-09
Classification: H01S

Abstract:
A laser, comprising:a laser resonator having a solid-state gain medium; a source of pump-light for energizing said gain medium, said pump-light source arranged to provide a series of pump-light pulses for energizing said solid-state gain-medium, each of said pump-light pulses having the same duration, and said pump-light pulses having variable time-periods therebetween; a Q-switch located in said laser resonator, said Q-switch arranged to retard operation of said laser resonator until one of said pump-light pulses is terminated, said termination of said pump-light pulse providing a trigger signal for opening said Q-switch thereby allowing delivery by said laser resonator of a laser output-pulse responsive to said pump-light pulse; and said pump-light source having an essentially constant output throughout each pump-light pulse, and said pump-light source being further arranged to deliver sufficient additional pump-light to said gain-medium, between termination of each said pump-light pulse and initiation of a subsequent pump-light pulse, with said Q-switch arranged to prevent generation of laser radiation in response to said delivery, such that gain in said gain-medium is the same at the initiation of each pump-light pulse independent of the time interval between said pump-light pulses, whereby each laser output-pulse has about the same energy, independent of the time-period between laser output-pulses.