Abstract: A method and apparatus for precisely controlling and determining the location of the interaction point of a surgical laser beam, and for controlling the shape of the cornea during ophthalmic surgery. A transparent applanator plate is placed in contact with the cornea of a patient's eye. The applanator plate creates a fixed positional frame of reference from which a laser beam control system can determine the desired point or points at which to focus the surgical laser beam. A surgical tip at the distal end of an articulated arm having flexible joints is placed in contact with the applanator plate and follows any motion of the patient's eye and directs the laser beam to the surgical tip. The applanator plate also provides a means to control the contour of the index of refraction boundary between the corneal epithelium of the patient's eye and the air.

Abstract: A single-grating method and apparatus is described for a laser pulse stretcher and compressor. The method and apparatus exploits a two-layer vertical structure. One layer for the stretcher, and the other, for the compressor. Such a stretch-compressor is particularly suitable for using in a chirped-pulse or regenerative laser amplifier where laser wavelength tuning is desirable. When a change in the wavelength is applied, only one rotational adjustment is required to resume the alignment of the whole stretcher and compressor. This apparatus shows significant simplification in structure and alignment over the existing stretcher and compressor systems.