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Procedure to start up and align the IR laser in the laser room.

Assumption is that the oscillator and Regen are running, and that the auto aligner is being used as much as possible.

The auto aligner uses the references recorded here Laser cameras and alignment references. If those change, the values have to be changed in the code as well.


Preparations


  1. Check status of chillers and refill if necessary:
    1. Outside: Regen
    2. Inside: MPA crystal, Oscillator etc.
    3. Chiller load for SAGAs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tVj5wvT-RQI_wx3ykWPv121MkaEuvCQ05LFtRqwuRRc/
  2. Check for any other alarms. Regen and oscillator running.
  3. Check beam out of MPA is blocked with power meter

Start up/warm up


  1. Turn on PreAmp (Flashlamp and Q-Switch)
  2. Turn on both SAGAs (shutters closed)

...

PreAmp and MPA alignment


  1. Open

...

  1. S20 Laser Room Multi Profile Monitor (facet home → Matlab GUIs → S20 Laser Tools → S20 Laser

...

  1. Room Multi Profile Monitor)
  2. Start display and check profiles look fine (cameras are running). Make sure ROIs are set somewhat tightly → set Zoom ROI in Profile Monitor GUI if needed

  3. Open auto align GUI

...

  1. (facet home → Matlab GUIs → S20 Laser Tools → S20 Laser

...

  1. Auto Alignment)
  2. Press 'Stop Alignment' (red button). This will stop any scripts running on other machines.
  3. Check gain settings by clicking the 'Expert...' button. No gain should be above 0.2000. Higher values tend to overshoot too much and affect pointing.
  4. Check maximum tolerances by clicking the 'Expert...' button.
    1. Global value around 5 pixels, MPA Near/Far in the end around 20 but initially much higher ~100.
  5. Tick boxes for first three sets of laser cameras: 'Pulse Picker and Regen Out', 'Preamp Near and Far', 'MPA Near and Far'
  6. Click 'Clear References', then 'Grab References'. This might take a few seconds.
  7. Click 'Start Alignment'. The software will loop through the list of cameras (top to bottom), calculate offsets and then move motors.
    1. Note: For MPA Near and Far the offset is calculated using a 20-shot average. This step takes a bit longer than for the other motors. 
  8. Monitor the log to make sure that the offset tolerances were set appropriately and that the auto aligner does its job.
  9. Reduce max offset tolerance in expert panel once alignment is close.
  10. Open SAGA shutters.


DMNear and Far alignment


Beam transport alignment: HeNe


Beam transport alignment: IR


Image Added

Auto align GUI as of April 2022


Image Added

Expert window for auto align GUI