摘要:
A highly stable soliton source uses a bulk Er/Yb glass laser which operates in two longitudinal modes of the laser cavity with substantially identical amplitudes to generate beat modulation. The beat modulation is then passed through a pulse compression fiber which compresses the beat modulation into a train of soliton pulses. Because the beat modulation is between two modes of the same laser cavity, the soliton pulse train generated is highly stable with low timing jitter.
摘要:
A monolithic solid state laser structure is used to construct erbium lasers that are insensitive to external pressure changes and vibrations, and have improved cooling of the gain medium and reduced thermal lensing effect. In the monolithic laser structure, the gain medium is separated from an optically transmissive plate on one side and a wave plate on the other side by spacers to form narrow air gaps which provide effective cooling of the gain medium and reduced the thermal lensing effect. Such an arrangement is further combined with a pressure-insensitive Brewster polarizer, such as a solid Brewster polarizer or a pressure-sealed Brewster plate, to form a pressure-insensitive laser cavity. The wave plate cooperates with the Brewster polarizer to select the wavelength of the solid state laser.
摘要:
A laser is disclosed comprising: a source of optical pumping radiation; a lasant rod; an input mirror; two quarter-wave plates; polarizing means, adjacent to a quarter-wave plate, for polarizing said lasant light radiated from said rod; second harmonic generating means for producing an output at twice the frequency at which said rod lases; and an output coupler.
摘要:
An intracavity frequency-modified laser of improved amplitude stability is obtained by substantially eliminating spatial hole burning in the lasant material and maintaining the optical cavity of the laser at a temperature which results in substantially noise-free generation of output radiation.
摘要:
A multi-functional optical isolator that couples radiation from a plurality of input fibers to a plurality of output fibers such that an optical beam emitted from any particular input fiber is transmitted only to its corresponding output fiber. Additionally, an optical beam emitted in the reverse direction from any output fiber is not transmitted back into any of the input or output fibers. The multi-functional optical isolator includes a first focusing lens that collimates the optical radiation emitted from the input fibers and causes them to pass through an optical isolator. The optical isolator has polarizing elements and a magneto-optic polarization rotator. A second focusing lens focuses the optical beams into the output fibers such that the optical radiation from each input fiber is coupled to its corresponding output fiber. Additional off-axis optical elements at other wavelengths may be used for providing bulk-optic coupling of a pump light into a single-mode or multi-mode core of a doped fiber. A vee-shaped isolator with a high reflector in the isolated beam path is possible and provides for additional beams coupled through the reflector.
摘要:
A laser apparatus and method is disclosed comprising a first lasant material which is located in an optical cavity and which produces laser radiation of a first wavelength, and a second lasant material which is pumped by radiation from the first lasant material, which absorbs laser radiation at the first wavelength in an amount generally comparable to the Optimum Output Coupling, which functions as the output coupler for the optical cavity and which lases at a second wavelength. The first lasant material and the second lasant material are preferably selected to have minimal losses such that there is a net gain in the cavity.
摘要:
Two solid state laser structures are provided which are optimized for multimode operation. The first laser structure has a plurality of normal incidence optically transmissive surfaces in the laser cavity. The most reflective one of those normal incidence surfaces is disposed at the optical center of the laser cavity. The gain medium is centered in the subcavity defined by a cavity mirror and the optical center. In the second laser structure, there are no normal incidence surface in the laser cavity, and the gain medium is disposed at the optical center of the laser cavity. The laser structures are employed to construct erbium glass lasers which are not only optimized for multimode operation but also have effective cooling of the gain medium and minimized thermal lensing effect.
摘要:
Optical radiation from a laser diode is frequency modified through interaction with a nonlinear optical material in an external optical cavity. High efficiency frequency modification is achieved through the use of optical feedback from the external cavity to narrow the linewidth of the laser diode output and frequency lock the laser diode to the external cavity.
摘要:
An efficient, compact source of coherent radiation in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet portion of the spectrum which is capable of modulation rates over the range from O Hz to in excess of 1 GHz. The radiation is produced by optical mixing within an external optical cavity wherein at least one of the interacting beams of light is provided by a solid state device selected from the group consisting of laser diodes, laser diode arrays and diode-pumped solid state lasers.
摘要:
An apparatus for filtering an input beam of light to produce an output beam of light is provided. The apparatus facilitates tuning an input beam of light to a desired wavelength by directing the input beam of light, via a mirror, onto a diffractive optical element and returning the diffracted portion of the input beam of light as an output beam of light. The apparatus may also include a polarization recovery element adapted for receiving the input beam of light and outputting a first and second spatially offset beam of polarized light. The apparatus may also be configured as a tunable receiver by utilizing a detector to detect a characteristic of a filtered output beam. The output beam may be additionally filtered by a spatial filter.