摘要:
An optical amplifier pumping system with built-in redundant reliability for lightwave communication system provides plural levels of redundancy. A first level of redundancy deals with redundancy in the form of plural primary laser diode sources in the lightwave communication system. A second level of redundancy deals with redundancy of multiple single mode laser emitters on the same chip or bar sufficiently segmented so as not to interfere with operation of or cause failure to adjacent or neighboring emitters on the same chip or bar. A third level of deals with redundancy of a plurality of fiber pump sources for pumping a plurality of serially connected injection signal fiber amplifiers.
摘要:
A travelling-wave semiconductor laser amplifier having suppressed self-oscillation is provided. When incorporated into a master oscillator power amplifier device, such a device has improved light output versus amplifier current characteristics. Also provided is a method for suppressing self-oscillation in travelling-wave semiconductor laser amplifier structures for improving the characteristics of the device into which the amplifier is incorporated.
摘要:
An upconversion fiber laser uses a pump source which may be another fiber laser, such as a high power, diode-laser-pumped, fiber laser. The upconversion fiber laser includes an optical fiber whose core region is doped with an active lasing ionic species capable when optically pumped of undergoing upconversion excitation, such as certain rare earth ionic species, and which is embedded in a cladding of the optical fiber. Use of a fiber pump laser can improve coupling of pump light into the optical fiber, thereby achieving higher pump intensities in the core region and improved upconversion efficiency. The upconversion fiber laser's resonant laser cavity is defined by feedback means which can include at least one reflective grating formed in the optical fiber, as well as a reflective end face of the optical fiber. Any portion of the optical fiber that lies outside of the resonant laser cavity, such as any portion beyond the integral reflective grating, may act as an optical power amplifier for the upconverted laser output. The disclosure includes other embodiments in which pump brightness can be further increased with multiple pump sources.
摘要:
A semiconductor laser having a light amplifying diode heterostructure with a flared gain region in an external resonant cavity. The flared gain region has a narrow aperture end which may be coupled to a single mode waveguide and a wide output end. A light emitting surface of the heterostructure proximate to the wide end of the flared gain region is partially reflective and combines with an external reflector to form a resonant cavity that is effectively unstable. The intracavity light-emitting surface proximate to the narrow aperture end is antireflection coated. The external reflector may be a planar mirror or a grating reflector. A lens or an optical fiber may couple the aperture end of the flared gain region to the external reflector. Frequency-selective feedback is provided by orienting the grating reflector or providing a prism in the cavity in front of the external planar mirror. Other filtering elements may also be placed in the external cavity. The flared gain region and waveguide may be differentially pumped or modulated with current provided by separate contacts.
摘要:
An optical system and method for detecting the presence and location of multiple objects in a field. The optical system has at least one light source to generate a beam, which beam is scanned by at least one first reflecting surface to generate at least three sets of beams. A first and second set of beams are overlapped across the field by at least one second reflecting surface and a third set overlaps the field without the second reflecting surface. The beam intensity is measured by at least one detection means.
摘要:
A compact semiconductor laser light source providing short wavelength (ultraviolet, blue or green) coherent light by means of frequency doubling of red or infrared light from a high power diode heterostructure. The high power diode heterostructure is a MOPA device having a single mode laser oscillator followed by a multimode, preferably flared, optical power amplifier. A tunable configuration having an external rear reflector grating could also be used. A lens could be integrated with the MOPA to laterally collimate the light before it is emitted. Straight or curved, surface emitting gratings could also be incorporated. An astigmatism-correcting lens system having at least one cylindrical lens surface is disposed in the path of the output from the MOPA to provide a beam with substantially equal lateral and transverse beam width dimensions and beam divergence angles. A nonlinear optical crystal or waveguide is placed in the path of the astigmatism-free symmetrized beam to double the frequency of the light. Single pass or multipass configurations with reflectors could be used, as well as external resonator and segmented, periodically poled waveguide configurations.
摘要:
An optical crossbar switch matrix for use in switching optical signals from a first set of optical fibers to a second set of optical fibers, in any order, which is characterized by having a matrix of rows and columns of diffraction gratings formed in a semiconductor heterostructure. Each grating is independently biased with either a forward or reverse bias voltage to switch the grating between a reflective state and a transmissive state. The gratings are oriented at an angle relative to the rows and columns so that when the Bragg condition for the light received from an optical film is met, a portion of the light is diffracted from the row in which it is propagating into a column toward another optical fiber. The heterostructure may include optical amplifiers to restore the optical signal to its original power level. Beam expanding, collimating and focussing optics may also be integrated into the heterostructure.
摘要:
A semiconductor laser that includes at least one grating reflector with a grating period selected to diffract at a nonperpendicular angle within the plane of the laser waveguide. This allows dispersal of laser light, eliminating filamentary multimode operation of broad area lasers. In one embodiment, the grating reflector couples light between a single transverse mode waveguide portion of the optical cavity and a second, broad area, portion that is not collinear with the single mode waveguide. In another embodiment, the cavity favors a ring mode of oscillation. One or more grating reflectors form part of the feedback mechanism which forms a resonant optical cavity with noncollinear portions. Other reflectors in the feedback mechanism include facet reflectors which can be cleaved or ion milled, or semiconductor material refractive index boundaries. Laser embodiments with two or more grating reflectors can be independently tuned to provide a high rate of amplitude modulation. Spatial beam deflection and wavelength tuning are also achieved. A stable unidirectional ring laser is also described. Multiple ring laser cavities can also be coupled together by partially reflecting grating reflectors to form a laser array.
摘要:
Arrangements for efficiently coupling light between a laser diode and a second-harmonic generator which feature external resonant cavities that include a feedback grating fabricated on the second-harmonic generator. The feedback grating reflects light of a first frequency that matches the frequency doubling band of the second-harmonic generator, thereby establishing stable laser oscillation at that first frequency. Preferably, the second-harmonic generator has a periodically-poled waveguide formed in the surface of the nonlinear material body. The laser diode may be butted against the harmonic generator or coupling optics may be positioned between the two. In one arrangement, a polarizer is placed in the resonant cavity, either between an external back reflector and the back facet of the laser diode or between the antireflection coated front facet of the laser diode and the harmonic generator, to provide loss to the TE polarization mode and enhance oscillation in the TM polarization mode. In another arrangement, a half-wave plate is positioned between the antireflection coated front facet of the laser diode and the input end of the harmonic generator to cause TE mode oscillation in the laser diode, while coupling TM polarized light into the harmonic generator. The laser diode may be a monolithic laser diode array with multiple emitters, with the second-harmonic generator having multiple waveguides for receiving and doubling the frequency of light received from a corresponding diode emitter. The diode array may be a multiple wavelength array.
摘要:
A semiconductor monolithic transmitter photonic integrated circuit (TxPIC) comprises two different situations, either at least one signal channel in the PIC having a modulated source with the channel also extended to include at least one additional element or a plurality of modulated sources comprising N signal channels in the PIC of different transmission wavelengths, where N is equal to or greater than two (2), which may also approximate emission wavelengths along a standardized wavelength grid. In these two different situations, a common active region for such modulated sources and additional channel elements is identified as an extended identical active layer (EIAL), as it extends from a single modulated source to such additional channel elements in the same channel and/or extends to additional modulated sources in separate channels where the number of such channels is N equal to two or greater. The emission wavelength of laser sources in the modulated sources have different positively detuned offsets of the laser emission wavelength relative to the laser active region wavelength, i.e., (λL,i−λPL,L,j>0), and their emission wavelengths form a wavelength grid which may substantially conform to a standardized wavelength grid, such as the ITU grid. These laser sources in the modulated sources with an EIAL are preferentially detuned in the range, for example, of about 20 nm to about 70 nm, preferentially from about 25 nm to about 50 nm, from the active region wavelength of the modulated sources.