The power stability of a fiber amplifier based on a multifunction card and PID control program

The power stability of a fiber amplifier was significantly improved by means of simultaneously controlling the current of a fiber amplifier and the diffraction efficiency of an acousto-optical modulator. The real-time fluctuation of laser power was recorded by a multifunction card and processed by a proportional–integral–derivative (PID) control program. The feedback loop voltage was introduced to the fiber laser amplifier and acoustic-optic modulator through the analog output of the multifunction card. The control method based on a multifunction card and PID program has good scalability, flexibility and reliability for the complex system on the condition in which the frequency and power of the laser need to be precisely stabilized. (paper)