Abstract:
An imaging element may include volume Bragg grating (VBG) within a material, where the material has an input face, and where the VBG is formed as a periodic distribution of curved surfaces of refractive index variation with chirped periodicity in a volume of the material. The periodic distribution of curved surfaces of refractive index variation forming the VBG may be selected to image different object planes oriented parallel to the input face onto different lateral locations of a single image plane with different wavelengths via the Bragg diffraction.
Abstract:
A phase transformation device may include a solid photosensitive material having a planar input facet and one or more reflective holographic phase masks (RHPMs) within a volume of the solid photosensitive material, where a particular one of the one or more RHPMs is formed as a periodic refractive index variation of the photosensitive material along a particular grating vector and further with a particular non-planar lateral phase profile, where at least one of a period of the refractive index variation along the grating vector or an orientation of the grating vector for each of the one or more RHPMs are arranged to reflect via Bragg diffraction light incident on the input facet that satisfies a Bragg condition, and where a phase distribution of the reflected light from a particular one of the one or more RHPMs is modified by the associated non-planar lateral phase profile.
Abstract:
A method of reversible spatial mode selection and conversion between waveguides and free space is presented using a multiplexed volume Bragg grating (MVBG). The MVBG has an inherent angular selectivity, providing different losses for different transverse modes and converting a higher order mode in waveguide to a single fundamental mode in free space. Using the device in a resonator allows for a pure higher order mode to be guided and amplified in the gain medium, to increase the mode area, to extract accumulated excitation more efficiently, and, therefore, to increase gain of the amplifier. In the same resonator, the device is able to convert the higher order mode to a high brightness Gaussian beam in free space or to a fundamental mode in a waveguide.
Abstract:
A phase modulation device may include two rotated chirped volume Bragg gratings (r-VBGs), where the two r-VBGs are spatially separated along a separation direction oriented at a nonzero degree angle to the grating vectors, and further includes a phase modulator between the two r-VBGs with a spatially non-uniform phase distribution in a plane orthogonal to the separation direction. A first of the two r-VBGs may reflect portions of an input beam propagating towards the phase modulator as spectrally-spread beam. A second of the two r-VBGs may reflect portions of the spectrally-spread beam satisfying the Bragg condition into the incidence direction, where the second r-VBG is positioned to provide that the Bragg condition is satisfied for different wavelengths at different locations of the first r-VBG along the incidence direction to provide that the spectrally-spread beam is spectrally recombined into an output beam.
Abstract:
A spectrometer may include a rotated volume Bragg grating (r-VBG) within a volume of a material having an input face, where the r-VBG reflects portions of input light propagating through the input face that satisfies a Bragg condition for wavelengths within a spectral band, where a period of the r-VBG along the grating vector is chirped to vary along the grating vector to provide that the Bragg condition is satisfied for different wavelengths at different depths, and where a spectrum of the input light is spatially resolved in the reflected portions of the input light by the r-VBG. The spectrometer may further include a multi-pixel detector configured to receive the reflected portions of the input light from the r-VBG, where the multi-pixel detector is configured to output spectral data indicative of the spectrum of the input light within the spectral band.
Abstract:
A phase converting device capable of use over a broad wavelength range, which may be used for optical beam transformations and combining, conversion of resonator and waveguide modes, correction of aberrations in optical systems, and selection of photons with specific phase profile. This provides significant advantages in high power laser systems. Large-mode-area fibers can be used to provide higher incident powers than can be achieved by single-mode fibers, reducing the number of elements in a system necessary to achieve the desired output. The profiles of these LMA fiber modes can then be converted from the undesired modes into the desired mode while combing their total power into a single beam.
Abstract:
A phase-shifted longitudinally-chirped volume Bragg grating (PS-LCVBG) may be formed as a solid block of photosensitive material having a planar input face, where the photosensitive material includes a VBG formed as a periodic volumetric refractive index distribution characterized by a grating vector direction. A period of the VBG may longitudinally chirped to vary linearly along the grating vector direction. The VBG may further include a spatially-varying distribution of longitudinal phase shifts providing a spatially-varying distribution of reflectivity in a transverse plane normal to the grating vector direction, where light incident on the planar input face is at least partially reflected based on the spatially-varying distribution of reflectivity.
Abstract:
A laser device may include two rotated volume Bragg gratings (r-VBGs), where periods of the two r-VBGs are chirped along the respective grating vectors to vary along the respective grating vectors, where the two r-VBGs are spatially separated along a separation direction oriented at a non-zero angle to the grating vectors, and a gain medium between the two r-VBGs. A first of the two r-VBGs may reflect portions of an input beam from a seed laser source propagating along an incidence direction as a spectrally-spread beam. The gain medium may amplify the spectrally-spread beam when pumped. A second of the two r-VBGs may reflect portions of the spectrally-spread beam satisfying the Bragg condition into the incidence direction, wherein the second r-VBG is positioned to provide that the spectrally-spread beam is spectrally recombined into an output beam.
Abstract:
A beam combiner may include one or more light sources providing two or more input beams along two or more incidence paths and one or more rotated volume Bragg gratings (r-VBGs), where each of the r-VBGs is formed as planes of refractive index variation with periodicity along a respective grating vector at a respective non-zero angle relative to a respective one of the incidence paths of a respective one of the input beams, where the r-VBGs direct the two or more input beams along a common output path through at least one of transmission or reflection via Bragg reflection, and where at least one of the r-VBGs reflects a portion of at least one of the input beams satisfying a Bragg condition and having a polarization normal to a diffraction plane formed by a respective incidence path and the respective grating vector.
Abstract:
A phase converting device capable of use over a broad wavelength range, which may be used for optical beam transformations and combining, conversion of resonator and waveguide modes, correction of aberrations in optical systems, and selection of photons with specific phase profile. This provides significant advantages in high power laser systems. Large-mode-area fibers can be used to provide higher incident powers than can be achieved by single-mode fibers, reducing the number of elements in a system necessary to achieve the desired output. The profiles of these LMA fiber modes can then be converted from the undesired modes into the desired mode while combing their total power into a single beam.