System for Measuring Energy and Peak Power of Low-Level 1.064 Micrometer Laser Pulses

摘要

For the first time, transfer standards have been developed for measuring 1.064 micrometer laser pulses of duration about 10-100 ns, peak irradiance of about 10 to the -8th power - 10 to the -4th power W/sq cm, and fluences of about 10 to the -16th power - 10 to the -11th power J/sq cm. These energy and power measurement devices use PIN and APD silicon detectors, respectively, and can be used as stable transfer standards with total uncertainties (random errors computed at the 95 percent confidence level) of 10 to 15 percent. The system for calibrating these transfer standards is also described and consists of a cw Nd:YAG laser beam acousto-optically modulated to provide low-level laser pulses of known peak power and energy. A detailed evaluation of systematic and random errors is also shown.