High-quality near-field beam achieved in a high-power laser based on SLM adaptive beam-shaping system

Abstract

We demonstrate a high-power laser system with a high-quality near-field beam by using a liquid-crystal spatial light modulator (SLM). An efficient spatial beam shaping algorithm is discussed which can improve the output nearfield beam quality effectively. Both small-signal and large-signal amplification situation of the laser are considered in the beam shaping algorithm. The experimental results show that the near field fluence modulation of output is improved from 1.99:1 to 1.26:1 by using the liquid-crystal SLM. Obvious uniform spatial fluence distribution and near-field beam quality improvement are observed.