August 1996 REPORT FOR
W. CHARLES SYMONS, III
The past month was primarily spent setting up the Nd:YAG pumped OPO
laser system as well as its corresponding optical table. This project had
previously been delayed by the fact that the optical table arrived missing
several key air hose components and also by the fact that an appropriate
plug could not be located to fit the unusual three phase power outlet
installed for the laser power system. The first aspect of this project
involved installing a 25 gallon Sears air compressor to provide an
appropriate air supply for the table. Once the compressor was installed,
the air hose for the optical table was installed. As mentioned previously,
the optical table was missing several connectors. In order to alleviate
this problem, connectors were fabricated from parts available at any local
hardware store as seen by the fabricated T-connector shown in Figure 1
below. Finally, once the air supply to the table was completed, the
leveling hardware was installed and adjusted.
Figure 1: Fabricate T-Connector.
Once the optical table was properly setup, the Nd:YAG laser system was
connected. Once it was determined that it was nearly impossible to
locate an appropriate plug for the installed three phase power outlet, both
a new three phase plug and a matching outlet were purchased and installed
along with an appropriate plug for the laser's water cooling unit. Finally,
once the laser system was completely connected, it was refilled with
deionized water and roughly aligned for testing purposes. As expected,
the laser currently requires extensive aligning before it is completely
operational.
Figure 2: Nd:YAG Pumped OPO Laser Setup.