Abstract: Apparatus for steering a beam of radiation includes a thermally anisotropic element configured such that the shape of the optical element can be varied by varying the temperature of the element. The beam is reflected from or transmitted through the element in a manner such that the direction of the beam on leaving the element can be varied by the change of shape resulting from the temperature variation.

Abstract: Apparatus for steering a beam of radiation includes a thermally anisotropic element configured such that the shape of the optical element can be varied by varying the temperature of the element. The beam is reflected from or transmitted through the element in a manner such that the direction of the beam on leaving the element can be varied by the change of shape resulting from the temperature variation.

Abstract: The output of a mode-locked solid-state NIR laser having a pulse duration less than 50 picoseconds at a pulse-repetition frequency is frequency doubled in a nonlinear crystal to provide green radiation. The green radiation is type-I frequency doubled in a BBO crystal to provide UV radiation. The green radiation is focused into an elliptical spot in the BBO crystal with the major axis of the spot in the walk-off plane of the crystal. The length of the crystal is chosen to be much less than the Rayleigh range of the green radiation in the walk-off plane of the BBO crystal.

Abstract: A pulsed, solid laser having a solid-state gain-medium and Q-switch is optically-pumped by a diode-laser array controlled to deliver pump-light pulses to the gain-medium. The Q-switch and the diode-laser array are cooperatively controlled by a controller such that laser output-pulses produced in response to pump-light pulses have the same energy independent of the time-interval between laser output-pulses. Pump-light pulses may be provided by the controller operating a switchable current supply which supplies current-pulses to the diode-laser array for causing pump-light pulses to be delivered to the gain-medium. A controller may also be arranged to drive the diode-laser to provide continuous pump-light output and to operate a light modulator located between the diode-laser array and the gain-medium to cause pump-light pulses to be delivered to the gain medium.