Abstract

The delivery of high peak power laser beams via optical fibres is important for many practical applications where it is advantageous to site the laser remotely from the work station. Beam delivery using small core optical fibres is particularly important in micromachining applications where beam handling flexibility is required. However, at high peak powers, the alignment of the optical fibre with respect to the laser beam is critical and small misalignment can easily lead to damage at the input face of the optical fibre. We report a new technique for efficient high power fibre optic laser beam delivery which is stable, self aligning and minimises the chance of damage to the input face of the fibre.

© 1998 IEEE