- - SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING TEMPERATURE STABILITY OF ACOUSTO-OPTIC BEAM DEFLECTORS AND ACOUSTO-OPTIC MODULATORS DURING USE

摘要

The present invention provides a method of laser processing using a thermally stable acousto-optical beam deflector. The method is a step of generating a sequence of RF pulses corresponding to a sequence of laser pulses having a laser pulse repetition rate, wherein the RF pulses are transmitted at the transmitted RF frequency to cause the sequence of laser pulses to be deflected in respective transmission and non-transmission directions. An RF pulse, and a non-transmitted RF pulse at a non-transmitted RF frequency, each RF pulse having a step having an RF frequency, RF amplitude and duration; Controlling each RF pulse to provide a modulated RF drive signal in which the sequence of RF pulses is modulated to provide a balanced thermal load on the acoustic-optical deflector; Applying the modulated RF drive signal to an acoustic-optical deflector; And deflecting at least one laser pulse with an acoustic-optical deflector that uses the modulated RF drive signal to irradiate a selected target position with a set pulse energy.