Power supply apparatus for driving laser diode provided with power supply for supplying power to laser oscillator

摘要

A power supply apparatus includes a power supply for supplying power to a laser oscillator. A reactor has one end serially connected to the laser oscillator and another end serially connected to the power supply, and a parallel diode configures a closed circuit for serial connection of the laser oscillator and the reactor. A current detector detects a current flowing in the reactor, and a first switching device is connected in parallel to the laser oscillator and drives the laser oscillator with pulses. An energy consumption circuit prefetches a current command value based on a control signal from a controller upon driving the laser oscillator with pulses, and when the current command value is smaller than a current command value of a previous pulse, the energy consumption circuit consumes energy until the current command value reaches a predetermined target current value.