Modeling Beam Apodizers in VirtualLab Fusion

Beam apodization plays a key role in designing high-energy solid-state systems. Beams with steep edge profiles are more prone to develop diffraction ripples and these diffraction ripples are then intensified in optical systems such as amplifiers which may result in undesired effects such as self-focusing. To alleviate such unwanted effects caused by the diffraction ripples, beam apodizers are employed to produce beam profiles with uniform energy distribution.

Beam apodizers may be fabricated via different techniques, however, due to their constant exposure to intense radiation, they are prone to deteriorate. To address this issue, amplitude-only serrated beam apodizers were suggested by Jerome M. Auerbach and Victor P. Karpenko back in 1994.

In this newsletter, we seek to illustrate VirtualLab Fusion’s capability to model such customized aperture thanks to its highly customizable environment and cross-platform solvers. The results are then compared with that of the literature and are shown that they are in complete agreement with the lab results.

Circularly Serrated Aperture for Beam Apodization

Beam apodization plays a key role in the design of high-energy lasers and beam-delivery systems. Thanks to VirtualLab Fusion’s highly customizable environment, a serrated beam apodizer is modeled using a plug-in transmission function.

Laser Beam “Clean-Up” with Spatial Filter

With the advanced propagation technology in VirtualLab Fusion, we calculate the diffraction patterns for apertures with different shapes and study the property of diffraction.

 

Increase Your VirtualLab Fusion Skills.



Increase Your VirtualLab Fusion Skills.