Thermally Induced Focal Shift in High-Power Laser Focusing Systems
Application ID: 19955
A modern high-power industrial fiber laser system can deliver up to 3kW of single-mode laser radiation on to surfaces to be cut, drilled, welded or marked. Even using highly transmissive materials, the optical component used to focus the laser beam onto target surfaces can be affected by the large amount of power carried by the light.
As the laser beam passes through the optical components, thermal expansion as well as variation of the refractive index of the optical materials can change the system's focus.
This model uses the Structural Mechanics Module as well as the Ray Optics Module to compute the effect of thermal lensing on a high-power fiber laser system.
Reference: O. Maerten et al., The Characterization of Focusing Systems for High-Power Lasers with High Beam Quality, Laser + Photonics, 2009
This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products:
however, additional products may be required to completely define and model it. Furthermore, this example may also be defined and modeled using components from the following product combinations:
- COMSOL Multiphysics® et
- Module Ray Optics et
- soit le Module MEMS, ou Module Structural Mechanics
The combination of COMSOL® products required to model your application depends on several factors and may include boundary conditions, material properties, physics interfaces, and part libraries. Particular functionality may be common to several products. To determine the right combination of products for your modeling needs, review the Grille des Spécifications and make use of a free evaluation license. The COMSOL Sales and Support teams are available for answering any questions you may have regarding this.