Tempest Nd:YAG Laser Operator’s Manual
28
The laser may then be started using the procedure given above in the
section “Starting the Laser.”
The process to fire the Tempest laser requires two steps. The first step is
triggering the flashlamp, and the second is triggering the Q-switch. Both
the flashlamp and the Q-switch can be triggered either internally or
externally, resulting in four operating modes. The trigger mode is
determined by the position of the toggle switches on the back of the
power supply. The laser can also be controlled using the external TTL
control, with input through the DB25 connector on the back of the power
supply. The inputs, outputs and implications of the triggering mode are
discussed in this section.
Four external BNC connectors are located on the back of the power
supply. Two of the connectors are inputs for triggering the laser. The
other two are outputs used for synchronizing the laser to other
equipment. The location of the BNC I/O connectors is shown in Figure
3-1, with detail in Figure 4-2.
Figure 4-2: Power Supply BNC input/output Connections
• Fire Flashlamp – A positive 5 volt, 10 millisecond, 5 mA pulse. This
input will fire the flashlamp. The Q-switch will be fired after the
default Q-switch delay if the Q-switch toggle switch is set to the
“INT” position.
• Fire Q-switch – A positive, 5 volt, 10 millisecond, 5 mA pulse. This
input will fire the Q-switch at a user defined time if the Q-switch
toggle switch is set to the “EXT” position.
• “Lamp Sync Out” – A 5 volt, 20 microsecond pulse. A positive
transition from 0 volts to +5 volts occurs when the flash lamp is
fired. With the default Q-switch delay, the laser pulse exits the laser
head approximately 180 microseconds after the lamp synch out
signal.
Triggering and
Timing
Inputs and
Outputs
INT
EXT
FLASHLAMP Q-SWITCH
FIRE
LAMP
LAMP
SYNC
INT
EXT
FIRE
-SW
Q-SW
SYNC
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