Femtosecond pulse stretching fiber oscillator
AssigneeLumentum Operations LLC
InventorsMartin H. Muendel, Simonette Pierrot
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A pulse stretching fiber oscillator (or laser cavity) may comprise a chirped fiber Bragg grating (CFBG) and an optical circulator arranged such that a first portion of a beam that is transmitted through the CFBG continues to propagate through the laser cavity while a second portion of the beam that is reflected from the CFBG is stretched and chirped by the CFBG and directed out of the laser cavity by the optical circulator. Accordingly, a configuration of the CFBG and the optical circulator in the laser cavity may enable pulse stretching contemporaneous with outcoupling, which may prevent deleterious nonlinear phase from accumulating prior to stretching.
Claims20
A pulse stretching laser cavity, comprising:
- an active fiber configured to transmit a pulse,
- wherein the pulse propagates in a forward direction through the pulse stretching laser cavity and experiences gain in a first pass through the active fiber;
- a chirped fiber Bragg grating that comprises an input end arranged to receive the pulse after the pulse passes through the active fiber,
- wherein the chirped fiber Bragg grating is configured to transmit a first portion of the pulse out a distal end of the chirped fiber Bragg grating where the first portion of the pulse continues to propagate in the forward direction to complete a round trip to the active fiber while a second portion of the pulse is reflected and thereby stretched, and
- wherein the second portion of the pulse propagates in a reverse direction where the second portion of the pulse experiences gain in a second pass through the active fiber;
- and
- an optical circulator arranged to receive the second portion of the pulse after the second pass through the active fiber and output the second portion of the pulse.
A laser cavity, comprising:
- an active fiber configured to transmit a pulse,
- wherein the pulse propagates in a forward direction through the laser cavity and experiences gain in a first pass through the active fiber;
- a pulse-stretching element that is configured to receive the pulse after the pulse passes through the active fiber,
- wherein a first portion of the pulse continues to propagate in the forward direction to complete a round trip to the active fiber while a second portion of the pulse is reflected and thereby stretched, and
- wherein the second portion of the pulse propagates in a reverse direction where the second portion of the pulse experiences gain in a second pass through the active fiber;
- and
- an optical circulator arranged to receive the second portion of the pulse after the second pass through the active fiber and output the second portion of the pulse.
A laser cavity, comprising:
- an active fiber configured to transmit a pulse,
- wherein the pulse propagates in a forward direction through the laser cavity and experiences gain in a first pass through the active fiber;
- and
- a pulse-stretching element that is configured to receive the pulse after the pulse passes through the active fiber,
- wherein a first portion of the pulse continues to propagate in the forward direction to complete a round trip to the active fiber while a second portion of the pulse is stretched, and
- wherein the second portion of the pulse propagates in a reverse direction where the second portion of the pulse experiences gain in a second pass through the active fiber and is thereafter output by an optical circulator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.