Thermal lensing from near-infrared laser radiation in an artificial eye

A confocal imaging system mounted to a micrometer stage was used to image the thermal lens induced into a water filled Cain-cell artificial eye. A dual-beam pump-probe geometry was used to quantify the 633-nm visible wavelength probe beam's transient response when exposed to the near-infrared pump-beam source. The infrared laser radiation wavelengths tested were 1110, 1130, 1150 and 1318 nm for 1-s exposures to 450-mW of power. Analysis of video data revealed the amount of refractive shift, induced by the thermal lens, as a function of time. Data demonstrate how the formation and dissipation of the thermal lens follow a logarithmic excitation and exponential decay in time respectively. Confocal imaging showed that thermal lensing was strongest for the 1150-nm wavelength followed by 1130, 1318 and 1110-nm.

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