Abstract: Surgical devices and methods of operation thereof are provided herein. The surgical devices include interior walls defining a cavity that extends along a first axis and having an aperture at a first end of the surgical devices. The surgical devices include a backstop spaced apart from the aperture and having a surface opposing the aperture. The surgical devices include an arm that extends from the surgical device. The surgical devices are configured to receive a fiber waveguide into the cavity at a second end. The surgical devices of some embodiments include a surface for reflecting laser light from the fiber waveguide.

Abstract: Surgical devices and methods of operation thereof are provided herein. The surgical devices include interior walls defining a cavity that extends along a first axis and having an aperture at a first end of the surgical devices. The surgical devices include a backstop spaced apart from the aperture and having a surface opposing the aperture. The surgical devices include an arm that extends from the surgical device. The surgical devices are configured to receive a fiber waveguide into the cavity at a second end. The surgical devices of some embodiments include a surface for reflecting laser light from the fiber waveguide.

Abstract: RF excited gas laser consists of a laser tube having external surfaces; a power supply compartment having elongated external fins and a pair of endplates on its opposite ends and wherein laser tube is placed between and is flexibly attached to the endplates; a sheet-metal cover mounted to the endplates and to power supply compartment and forming a laser assembly and having at least one pair of intake openings and at least one pair of exhaust openings for the cooling air to flow through the laser assembly by entering the laser assembly through the intake openings and flowing over power supply external fins and over laser tube external surfaces and then exiting through the exhaust openings. Present invention is characterized by lower cost and more efficient forced air cooling laser tube and RF power supply.

Abstract: A flexible hollow waveguide for high efficiency transmission of laser light, comprising: (a) metal cladding tube having interior surface; and (b) elongated bent ribbon of a substrate material; said ribbon having concave interior surface and convex exterior surface and first and second edges therebetween; said ribbon is positioned in said metal cladding tube; said interior surface of the metal cladding tube engaging the said convex exterior surface of the ribbon to hold said first and second edges together and to define an elongated seam therebetween; and (c) first metal layer on the said concave interior surface of the said ribbon; said first metal layer having a elongated discontinuity defined by the said seam; and (d) seamless light reflective second metal layer formed on top of the first metal layer; and (e) seamless light-reflectivity enhancing dielectric layer formed on top of the said second metal layer.

Abstract: RF excited gas laser according to present invention consists of an elongated electronics compartment having elongated external fins; an RF power supply placed inside electronics compartment; a pair of endplates attached to the opposite ends of the electronics compartment; a sealed laser tube comprising of a metal tube having an external surface, a pair of endcaps at the opposite ends of the metal tube forming a vacuum envelope for containing a laser gas, a pair of elongated electrodes inside of the metal tube configured for coupling to said RF power supply through RF coupling means; laser resonator mirrors placed on the endcaps at the opposite ends of the tube forming a laser resonator aligned with the RF gas plasma discharge produced between said electrodes; a sheet-metal cover enclosing the laser tube and the electronics compartment forming a laser assembly having at least one pair of intake openings and at least one pair of exhaust openings for the cooling air to flow through the laser assembly; and at lea

Abstract: Truncated ridge waveguide for all-metal gas laser excitation according to present invention consists of a metal tube and a pair of endplates forming a vacuum envelope for containing a laser gas, a laser resonator mirrors placed on the endplates at the opposite ends of the tube and at least one elongated metal ridge electrode located within and conductively connected to the metal tube by at least one metal post to define a truncated ridge waveguide. The tube and the ridge electrode are shaped and positioned so as to define at least one elongated laser bore channel and a low thermal resistance and high capacitance ridge-to-tube gap therebetween. The ridge electrode and metal posts form truncated ridge to increase the ridge waveguide structure inductance, which together with high capacitance of the electrode-to-tube gap decreases the resonant frequency from the microwave band into the VHF band (30-300 MHz), which is the most suitable for CO2 laser excitation.

Abstract: Truncated ridge waveguide for all-metal gas laser excitation according to present invention consists of a metal tube and a pair of endplates forming a vacuum envelope for containing a laser gas, a laser resonator mirrors placed on the endplates at the opposite ends of the tube and at least one elongated metal ridge electrode located within and conductively connected to the metal tube by at least one metal post to define a truncated ridge waveguide. The tube and the ridge electrode are shaped and positioned so as to define at least one elongated laser bore channel and a low thermal resistance and high capacitance ridge-to-tube gap therebetween. The ridge electrode and metal posts form truncated ridge to increase the ridge waveguide structure inductance, which together with high capacitance of the electrode-to-tube gap decreases the resonant frequency from the microwave band into the VHF band (30-300 MHz), which is the most suitable for CO2 laser excitation.

Abstract: A stable multi-fold telescopic resonator is applied to a slab laser to provide a high power laser beam of a high optical quality. The current invention could be applied to both waveguide and free-space slab lasers with either gas or solid-state active media. A reduced sensitivity to misalignment is achieved through the use of two short-radii concave folding mirrors forming a nearly-confocal or confocal optical resonator. In order to obtain a nearly-symmetrical output beam profile from the large thickness slab lasing medium, the resonator includes a slit diaphragm(s), positioned between the slab and resonator mirrors and aimed to eliminate higher order laser modes in the direction transverse to the plane of the slab. Furthermore, a three mirror multi-fold telescopic resonator is provided by substituting one of the resonator mirrors with a surface of one of the folding mirrors.

Abstract: The present invention provides a novel and improved technique for achieving a combined RF-DC gas discharge in the optical cavity of the gas laser. The combination of the fast pre-ionization with the transverse RF discharge and the high power excitation with the highly-efficient longitudinal DC discharge allows for a high-speed laser gain modulation of the active medium of the high-power gas laser. At the same time, the all-metal electrode system allows for a very compact, reliable and low cost design of the gas laser.

Abstract: A gas laser includes a plurality of electrically conductive electrodes contained within a hollow housing that contains a laser gas medium. The electrodes surround and define a laser bore in which a plasma is excited by the electrodes. Each of the electrodes defining the laser bore has an ungrounded electrical potential that provides improved laser gain at a lower gas temperature. Each of the electrodes may be driven with a controlled, varying electrical potential, such as a radio frequency electrical potential.

Abstract: A laser includes a split-wave hybrid resonator that produces a high quality laser beam from a low gain laser medium. The split-wave hybrid resonator includes a resonator cavity formed by a pair of resonator mirror surfaces positioned at opposite ends of the laser medium and a pair of resonator walls positioned on opposite sides of the resonator cavity. The resonator walls are separated from each other by a separation distance such that the resonator cavity has a Fresnel number between approximately 0.5 and 1.5. At least one of the resonator walls includes a first ring oscillation filter adjacent to the lasing medium to filter out ring oscillations within the laser medium. One or more of the resonator walls may include first and second wall portions angled with respect to each other to form a wave-front splitting interferometer. The resonator mirrors are tilted off-axis with respect to the resonator walls.

Abstract: A diffusion-cooled laser has a lasing region shaped to provide a high power output laser beam of a high optical quality. The lasing region, which contains a lasing medium, has a narrow-aperture section and a free-space section. The narrow-aperture section is defined by resonator walls spaced apart a sufficiently small distance that enables effective excitation and cooling of the lasing medium. The free-space section is defined by resonator walls spaced apart a sufficiently larger distance that enables the laser beam to expand without restriction from the resonator walls in the free-space section. The narrow-aperture section enables the laser to generate a high power laser beam using a relatively low (40 MHz) ISM frequency. The free-space section allows the laser beam to expand sufficiently to exit the lasing region with a shape that is easily focused by inexpensive optical elements.