# US 11,906,875 B2 · Systems, devices, and methods for optical frequency combs > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,906,875 B2 - Document ID: US11906875B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/814,678 - Filed: 2022-07-25 - Published: 2024-01-25 - Granted: 2024-02-20 - Earliest claimed: 2022-07-25 - Assignees: Honeywell International Inc. - Applicants: Honeywell International Inc. - Inventors: Matthew Puckett; Chad Hoyt; Jianfeng Wu; Karl Nelson - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11906875B2 ## CPC - G02F 1/353: {Frequency conversion, i.e. wherein a light beam is generated with frequency components different from those of the incident light beams} - G02B 6/29341: {Loop resonators operating in a whispering gallery mode evanescently coupled to a light guide, e.g. sphere or disk or cylinder (evanescent coupling for sensing fluorescence G01N21/648)} - G02B 6/29395: {configurable, e.g. tunable or reconfigurable (switching G02B6/35)} - G02B 6/29316: {Light guides comprising a diffractive element, e.g. grating in or on the light guide such that diffracted light is confined in the light guide (G02B6/02057, G02B6/29332, G02B6/29356 take precedence)} - G02F 2201/307: Reflective grating, i.e. Bragg grating - G02F 2203/15: involving resonance effects, e.g. resonantly enhanced interaction - G02F 2203/56: Frequency comb synthesizer - G02F: OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS - G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS ## Abstract A method may comprise: generating an optical frequency comb; applying a filter in a first configuration to the generated optical frequency comb to select a first frequency of the optical frequency comb, wherein, in the first configuration, the first frequency aligns with a first pass-band of the filter, and a second frequency of the optical frequency comb does not align with a second pass-band of the filter; altering the filter to a second configuration to shift the first pass-band and the second pass-band to a shifted first pass-band and a shifted second pass-band; and applying the altered filter to the generated optical frequency comb to select the second frequency of the optical frequency comb, wherein the second frequency aligns with the shifted second pass-band of the filter, and the first frequency of the optical frequency comb does not align with the shifted first pass-band of the filter. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for generating and using an optical frequency comb, the method comprising: generating an optical frequency comb; applying a filter in a first configuration to the generated optical frequency comb to select a first frequency line of the optical frequency comb, wherein, in the first configuration, the first frequency line aligns with a first pass-band of the filter, and wherein, in the first configuration, a second frequency line of the optical frequency comb does not align with a second pass-band of the filter; altering the filter to a second configuration to shift the first pass-band and the second pass-band to a shifted first pass-band and a shifted second pass-band; and applying the altered filter in the second configuration to the generated optical frequency comb to select the second frequency line of the optical frequency comb, wherein, in the second configuration, the second frequency line aligns with the shifted second pass-band of the filter, and wherein, in the second configuration, the first frequency line of the optical frequency comb does not align with the shifted first pass-band of the filter. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein altering the filter includes heating the filter. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the optical frequency comb is a first optical frequency comb, and the filter is a first filter, the method further comprising: generating a second optical frequency comb; applying a second filter in a first configuration to the second generated optical frequency comb to select a first frequency line of the second optical frequency comb, wherein, in the first configuration, the first frequency line of the second optical frequency comb aligns with a first pass-band of the second filter, and wherein, in the first configuration of the second filter, a second frequency line of the second optical frequency comb does not align with a second pass-band of the second filter; altering the second filter to a second configuration of the second filter to shift the first pass-band of the second filter and the second pass-band of the second filter to a shifted first pass-band of the second filter and a shifted second pass-band of the second filter; and applying the altered second filter in the second configuration to the generated second optical frequency comb to select the second frequency line of the second optical frequency comb, wherein, in the second configuration, the second frequency line of the second optical frequency comb aligns with the shifted second pass-band of the second filter, and wherein, in the second configuration of the second filter, the first frequency line of the second optical frequency comb does not align with the shifted first pass-band of the second filter. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein each of the first pass-band of the first filter and the second pass-band of the first filter has a higher frequency than the shifted first pass-band of the first filter and the shifted second pass-band of the first filter, respectively. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein each of the first pass-band of the second filter and the second pass-band of the second filter has a lower frequency than the shifted first pass-band of the second filter and the shifted second pass-band of the second filter, respectively. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, further comprising, in the first configuration of the first filter and the first configuration of the second filter, generating a radio frequency using the first frequency line of the first optical frequency comb and the first frequency line of the second optical frequency comb. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the radio frequency is a first radio frequency, the method further comprising, in the second configuration of the first filter and the second configuration of the second filter, generating a second radio frequency using the second frequency line of the first optical frequency comb and the second frequency line of the second optical frequency comb. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the second radio frequency is larger than the first radio frequency. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein a free spectral range (“FSR”) of the filter is offset relative to a repetition rate of the optical frequency comb. ### Claim 10 A method for generating and using an optical frequency comb, the method comprising: generating an optical frequency comb; applying a filter in a first configuration to select a first frequency line of the optical frequency comb, wherein applying the filter in the first configuration does not select a second frequency line of the optical frequency comb; heating the filter such that the filter has a second configuration; and applying the filter in the second configuration to select the second frequency line of the optical frequency comb, wherein applying the filter in the second configuration does not select the first frequency line of the optical frequency comb. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the optical frequency comb is a first optical frequency comb, and the filter is a first filter, the method further comprising: generating a second optical frequency comb; applying a second filter in a first configuration to select a first frequency line of the second optical frequency comb, wherein applying the filter in the first configuration does not select a second frequency line of the second optical frequency comb; heating the second filter such that the second filter has a second configuration; and applying the second filter in the second configuration to the generated second optical frequency comb to select the second frequency line of the second optical frequency comb, wherein applying the second filter in the second configuration does not select the first frequency line of the second optical frequency comb. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the first filter includes a first pass-band and a second pass-band, and wherein each of the first pass-band of the first filter and the second pass-band of the first filter has a higher frequency before the first filter is heated. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the second filter includes a first pass-band and a second pass-band, and wherein each of the first pass-band of the second filter and the second pass-band of the second filter has a lower frequency before the second filter is heated. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising, in the first configuration of the first filter and the first configuration of the second filter, generating a radio frequency using the first frequency line of the first optical frequency comb and the first frequency line of the second optical frequency comb. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the radio frequency is a first radio frequency, the method further comprising, in the second configuration of the first filter and the second configuration of the second filter, generating a second radio frequency using the second frequency line of the first optical frequency comb and the second frequency line of the second optical frequency comb. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the second radio frequency is larger than the first radio frequency. ### Claim 17 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein a free spectral range (“FSR”) of the filter is offset relative to a repetition rate of the optical frequency comb. ### Claim 18 A method for generating and using an optical frequency comb, the method comprising: generating an optical frequency comb; applying a filter in a first configuration to the generated optical frequency comb, wherein the filter has a first pass-band having a first frequency and a second pass-band having a second frequency, to select a first frequency line of the optical frequency comb corresponding to the first frequency of the first pass-band, and wherein, in the first configuration, a second frequency line of the optical frequency comb does not correspond to the first frequency of the first pass-band or the second frequency of the second pass-band; altering the filter to a second configuration, raising a frequency of the first pass-band to a third frequency and raising a frequency of the second pass-band to a fourth frequency; and applying the altered filter in the second configuration to the generated optical frequency comb to select the second frequency line of the optical frequency comb corresponding to the fourth frequency of the second pass-band, wherein, in the second configuration, the first frequency line of the optical frequency comb does not correspond to the third frequency of the first pass-band or the fourth frequency of the second pass-band. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein altering the filter includes heating the filter. ### Claim 20 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein a free spectral range (“FSR”) of the filter is offset relative to a repetition rate of the optical frequency comb.