Alignment control system for lasers

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In accordance with a first aspect of the subject invention, an approach is disclosed for compensating for lateral alignment variations in a beam created by varying thermal lens effects in a solid state gain medium.
More particularly, a feedback system is disclosed wherein the variations in the position of the beam, outside of the resonator are monitored.
These variations are then used to adjust the angle of one of the resonator mirrors of the laser to compensate for the lateral misalignment of the beam.
By this arrangement, the position of the beam and thus many other operating parameters of the laser can be stabilized.
In another aspect of the subject invention, an approach is disclosed for monitoring variations in the position of the beam in a manner such that the separate effects of lateral and angular alignment deviations can be isolated.
Once the separate effects are isolated they can be independently corrected.
In the preferred embodiment, the angle of both resonator mirrors is varied to independently correct for both alignment errors.
Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which: