Laser having reduced coherence via a phaser shifter
AssigneeMicrosoft Technology Licensing, LLC
InventorsShiva Shahin, Dale Eugene Zimmerman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A laser device includes a laser and a controller. The laser has an optical cavity that includes an active gain section and a phase shifter. The controller is configured to excite the active gain section to lase light out of the optical cavity. The controller is further configured to, while the light is being lased out of the optical cavity, modulate a refractive index of the phase shifter to shift an optical phase of lasing modes of the lased light to thereby reduce coherence of the lased light.
Claims18
A laser device, comprising:
- a laser having an optical cavity including an active gain section and a phase shifter;
- a waveguide configured to receive lased light emitted from the laser;
- and
- a controller configured to 1) excite the active gain section to lase light out of the optical cavity and 2) while the light is being lased out of the optical cavity, modulate a refractive index of the phase shifter to shift an optical phase of lasing modes of the lased light to thereby reduce coherence of the lased light and increase an exponential decay rate of a coherence function of the lased light high enough to mitigate fringe interference due to overlap between lasing modes of the lased light and waveguide-defined fringes of the waveguide.
A method for operating a laser device having an optical cavity including an active gain section, a phase shifter, and a waveguide, the method comprising:
- exciting the active gain section to lase light out of the optical cavity;
- while the light is being lased out of the optical cavity, modulating a refractive index of the phase shifter to shift an optical phase of lasing modes of the lased light to thereby reduce coherence of the lased light and increase an exponential decay rate of a coherence function of the lased light high enough to mitigate fringe interference due to overlap between the lasing modes of the lased light and waveguide-defined fringes of the waveguide.
A near-eye display device, comprising:
- a waveguide configured to propagate coherent light towards a user's eye;
- and
- a laser configured to lase light out of the laser and into the waveguide, the laser including an optical cavity having an active gain section and a phase shifter;
- and
- a controller configured to 1) excite the active gain section to lase light out of the optical cavity and 2) while the light is being lased out of the optical cavity, modulate a refractive index of the phase shifter to shift an optical phase of lasing modes of the lased light to thereby reduce coherence of the lased light and increase an exponential decay rate of a coherence function of the lased light high enough to mitigate fringe interference due to overlap between the lasing modes of the lased light and waveguide-defined fringes of the waveguide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.