Isolated ring cavity resonator
AssigneeArete Associates
InventorMicah Boyd
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Described herein are isolated ring cavities that have refractive and heat-generating components physically separated and mechanically held by flexure mounts that are adapted to function in combination with the physically separated structure to moderate the thermal expansion effects of the heat generated by the refractive and other heat-generating elements (e.g., gain element) of the optical cavity. The flexure mounts may be configured as thinned portions of connective elements, reducing the effects of thermal expansion of the baseplate and allowing a thermal isolation from the baseplate. Multiple flexure mounts may be arranged to minimize further the effects of thermal expansion of the baseplate.
Claims8
A laser system, comprising:
- a baseplate;
- an optical ring cavity comprising a gain medium, wherein laser light propagates from the gain medium through the optical ring cavity substantially in a plane of the optical ring cavity;
- an output coupler optically coupled to the gain medium to output the laser light;
- a support structure mounted to the baseplate such that the plane of the optical ring cavity is substantially orthogonal to a top plane of the baseplate, wherein the support structure is operable to maintain propagation of the laser light in the plane of the optical ring cavity;
- and
- a plurality of flexure mounts operable to mount the support structure to the baseplate, and to thermally isolate the baseplate from the support structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.