Degradation detection for a pulsed laser

1. A device, comprising:

one or more memories; and

one or more processors, communicatively coupled to the one or more memories, to:

determine a set of build-up time metrics for a set of laser pulses of a Q-switched laser,

wherein the build-up time metrics correspond to a build-up time that is defined, for a corresponding laser pulse, as a time from the Q-switched laser releasing stored energy to cause the corresponding laser pulse to when the corresponding laser pulse satisfies a threshold intensity;

determine, based on the set of build-up time metrics, a condition for the Q-switched laser,

wherein the one or more processors, when determining the condition, are to:

compare a first subset of the set of build-up time metrics associated with even laser pulses of the set of laser pulses to a second subset of the set of build-up time metrics associated with odd laser pulses of the set of laser pulses;

determine, based on comparing the first subset to the second subset, that a threshold is satisfied between the first subset and the second subset; and

determine the condition based on determining that the threshold is satisfied; and

indicate the condition for the Q-switched laser.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the condition is a present condition or a predicted future condition.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, when determining the condition, are to:

determine a standard deviation for values of the set of build-up time metrics;

determine that the standard deviation satisfies a threshold; and

determine the condition based on determining that the standard deviation satisfies the threshold.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, when determining the condition, are to:

compare the set of build-up time metrics to a baseline value associated with another set of laser pulses occurring before the set of laser pulses.

5. A method, comprising:

determining, by a device, at least one metric related to a plurality of laser pulses associated with a Q-switched laser, the at least one metric including:

a build-up time metric,

wherein the build-up time metric corresponds to a build-up time that is defined, for a corresponding laser pulse, as a time from the Q-switched laser releasing stored energy to cause the corresponding laser pulse to when the corresponding laser pulse satisfies a threshold intensity;

dividing, by the device, the plurality of laser pulses into a first subset of pulses and a second subset of pulses,

wherein the first subset of pulses are even laser pulses and the second subset of pulses are odd laser pulses;

determining, by the device, a statistical metric for the build-up time metric related to the plurality of laser pulses,

wherein determining the statistical metric comprises:

determining the statistical metric for the first subset of pulses and for the second subset of pulses;

determining, by the device, that the statistical metric satisfies a threshold level of deviation of the build-up time metric related to the plurality of laser pulses from a baseline value for the build-up time metric; and

indicating, by the device, laser degradation of the Q-switched laser based on determining that the statistical metric satisfies the threshold level of deviation.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the statistical metric is at least one of:

a minimum value,

a maximum value,

a standard deviation,

an average value, or

a median value.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

storing information identifying the baseline value for the build-up time metric; and

wherein determining that the statistical metric satisfies the threshold level of deviation comprises:

comparing the statistical metric to the stored information identifying the baseline value.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the threshold level of deviation relates to a difference between the first subset of pulses and the second subset of pulses.

9. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

recalibrating the Q-switched laser based on determining that the statistical metric satisfies the threshold level of deviation.

10. A system, comprising:

at least one measurement device to measure a build-up time associated with a plurality of laser pulses of a Q-switched laser,

wherein the build-up time is defined for a corresponding laser pulse as a time from the Q-switched laser releasing stored energy to cause the corresponding laser pulse to when the corresponding laser pulse satisfies a threshold intensity;

a controller to divide the plurality of laser pulses into a first subset of pulses and a second subset of pulses,

wherein the first subset of pulses are even laser pulses and the second subset of pulses are odd laser pulses;

the controller to determine, for the first subset of pulses and for the second subset of pulses, a statistical metric for the build-up time; and

the controller to predict an error associated with the Q-switched laser based on the statistical metric indicating a threshold deviation of the build-up time relative to a baseline value for the build-up time.

11. The system of claim 10 , further comprising:

the Q-switched laser.

12. The system of claim 10 , further comprising:

a photodiode to receive the plurality of laser pulses and provide a voltage output corresponding to the plurality of laser pulses,

wherein the measurement device is to measure the build-up time based on the voltage output.

13. The system of claim 10 , further comprising:

a gain module to receive a voltage output corresponding to the plurality of laser pulses and amplify the voltage output to enable the measurement device to measure the voltage output to measure the build-up time,

wherein the gain module is to apply a fixed gain or a variable gain.

14. The system of claim 10 , further comprising:

a comparator to receive a voltage output corresponding to the plurality of laser pulses and provide a waveform corresponding to the voltage output to enable the measurement device to measure the voltage output to measure the build-up time.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the measurement device comprises at least one of:

a voltage measurement device, or

a timer.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the controller is to predict the error with receiving information identifying a measurement of a pulse amplitude of the plurality of laser pulses.

17. The device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, when determining the condition for the Q-switched laser, are to:

determine the condition based on the set of build-up time metrics satisfying a metric threshold for a threshold period of time.