摘要:
Intense optical pumping of the 1S.sigma..sub.g .fwdarw.2P.sigma..sub.u transition of the F.sub.2.sup.+ color center as required for laser action produces a slow orientational bleaching of the F.sub.2.sup.+ color centers that is eventually debilitating to the F.sub.2.sup.+ color center laser action. This bleaching is prevented by periodically or continuously subjecting the color centers to a two-step pumping with polarized radiation such that the centers are all returned to the optimal orientation for absorbing pumping radiation for laser action.
摘要:
Production of F.sub.2.sup.+ color centers in alkali halide crystals with densities high enough for efficient use in lasers is achieved by a two-step, highly selective photoionization mechanism. This mechanism is coupled with the use of suitable divalent metal ions as efficient and stable electron traps to allow nearly 100 percent conversion of F.sub.2 color centers to F.sub.2.sup.+ color centers. The two-step photoionization mechanism comprises photo-exciting the F.sub.2 color center to the first bound state, which requires lower energy than the corresponding transition for F color centers, then photoionizing the F.sub.2 color center from the first bound state, and finally, capturing the electron thus liberated on the divalent metal ions.
摘要:
A method for forming a grating in a photosensitive medium such as a photosensitive optical fiber. The method comprises impinging a pair of interfering, actinic beams onto the medium, and during the impinging step, advancing the illuminated portion of the interference pattern relative to the medium. The advancement is carried out without changing the phase, or registration, of the interference pattern. According to one embodiment of the invention, a grating having a spatially dependent period is produced by varying the wavelength or the intersection angle of the actinic beams during the advancement. According to a second embodiment of the invention, a grating having a spatially dependent refractive index perturbation is produced by varying the dose of actinic radiation received by the medium during the advancement.
摘要:
Timing jitter problems are effectively eliminated in a soliton transmission system realized in accordance with the principles of the present invention by deploying optical filters whose center frequency intentionally differs from the center frequency of adjacent optical filters. The center frequency of the series of optical filters is translated along the desired length of the system in a predetermined manner such as frequency increasing, frequency decreasing, and combinations of both to create a transmission environment which is substantially opaque to noise while remaining perfectly transparent to solitons.
摘要:
A multi-port optical device for transferring optical signals, or portion of optical signals, from one transmission element to another is disclosed. The inventive optical device comprises a pair of graded index lenses having an interposed Fabry Perot etalon. Moreover, the functionality of the device may be modified by varying the transmission characteristics of the etalon, which may be effected by varying the optical path length of the etalon. In operation, the optical device utilizes the graded index lenses as image transfer lenses between transmission elements wherein wavelength selectivity therebetween is afforded by the filtering mechanism associated with the etalon. The optical device may be used as a wavelength multiplexer or as an optical splitter. Moreover, by utilizing a piezoelectric transducer, the optical device may be converted to operate as an optical switch.
摘要:
Near uniform optical amplification is achieved in a lightwave transmission system in which a plurality of short lengths of rare earth doped silica-based fibers and a corresponding plurality of long lengths of substantially undoped silica-based fibers are interleaved to form a fiber span having alternating sections of compensated (moderate gain) and uncompensated lightwave transmission media. Pumping of the amplifying fiber sections is performed remotely from either end of the fiber span. Bidirectional pumping, that is, pumping from each end of the fiber span, enhances the uniformity of the optical amplification for signals over the entire span. Amplifying fiber section lengths are variable in substantially inverse proportion to dopant concentration within the particular section.
摘要:
An external mirror is positioned relative to the output mirror of a laser to form a Fabry-Perot cavity. The light transmitted by this Fabry-Perot cavity is compared to a reference value in order to develop an error signal which in turn is used to adjust the transmission characteristics of the Fabry-Perot cavity. In the embodiment constructed a beam splitter is positioned to deflect light coupled out of the Fabry-Perot cavity to an optical detector. The output of this detector is compared to a reference voltage in a difference amplifier which generates an electrical error signal. The electrical error signal is coupled to a piezoelectric translator which is attached to the external mirror and is capable of moving that mirror in a way so as to change the transmission characteristics of the Fabry-Perot cavity. Specific embodiments using a dye laser and a soliton laser are also disclosed.
摘要:
An optical fiber communications system with Raman amplification of the signal radiation comprises a broadband pump radiation source, or, preferably a multiplicity of pump radiation sources. The sources are selected to result in a pump radiation spectrum such that pump radiation intensity in the fiber core is less than a critical intensity I.sub.c. In particular, the average intensity of pump radiation in a first spectral interval, centered on any wavelength .lambda..sub.p in the pump radiation spectrum and of width equal to the Brillouin line width of the fiber at .lambda..sub.p, is to be less than that average intensity in the first spectral interval that results in conversion of 10% of the radiation in the first spectral interval to stimulated Brillouin radiation. Use of a multiplicity of pump sources not only can reduce pump noise and pump depletion due to stimulated Brillouin scattering, but typically also can result in enhanced system reliability and lower cost. In a preferred embodiment, the invention is a soliton fiber communications system, with pump radiation injected at one or more intermediate fiber locations.
摘要:
An acousto-optic modulator (2) is inserted into a laser cavity so that when the Bragg condition is satisfied, light will be scattered out of the cavity into two beams (101 and 102) at the same angle on opposite sides of an internal laser cavity pulse (100). Detectors (21 and 22) are disposed to intercept the two scattered pulses and yield electrical signals responsive to their intensity. When the internal laser cavity pulse is in phase with the excitation the time average intensities obtained by the detectors will be small and equal. However, should the internal laser cavity pulse be a bit late, the intensity of one of the scattered beams will increase while the other will decrease. If the internal laser cavity pulse is early, the opposite will be observed. The electrical signals are arranged to have opposite signs and their sum is used as an error signal for a closed feedback loop to adjust the optical path length of the laser cavity. A second embodiment for generating the electrical signals using dichroic pulse retarders and product detectors is also disclosed.
摘要:
Apparatus for measuring the dispersion and dispersion parameter of an optical fiber as a function of distance (the dispersion map) by the optical-time-domain reflection technique uses a multi-frequency laser with an extra cavity semiconductor optical amplifier switch to generate the short pulses of two wavelengths to displace the four-wave mixing oscillations away from the origin of the complex plane. Additionally laser power is supplied at both ends of the fiber under test to provide pump power to Raman amplify the backscattered signal being measured. Finally a novel Fast Fourier Transform based algorithm is used to calculate the dispersion map fast and accurately.