US 2001/0050930 A1 · Continuously grating-tuned external cavity laser with automatic suppression of source spontaneous emission and amplified spontaneous emission

Abstract

Disclosed is an external cavity diode laser system including a dispersive unit; a gain element producing coherent light incident upon the dispersive unit, and the dispersive unit dispersing the incident coherent light into dispersed light, the dispersed light comprising a reflected diffraction beam and at least one of angularly-separated source spontaneous emission or angularly-separated amplified spontaneous emission; a tuning reflector rotably mounted with respect to the dispersive unit wherein rotation of the tuning reflector tunes the dispersed light; and a coupling unit located along a beam path of the reflected diffraction beam. Also disclosed are methods for generating a low-noise laser beam.

Claims35

Dependent claims

An external cavity diode laser system comprising:

a dispersive unit;
a gain element producing coherent light incident upon the dispersive unit, and the dispersive unit dispersing the incident coherent light into dispersed light, the dispersed light comprising a reflected diffraction beam and at least one of angularly-separated source spontaneous emission or angularly-separated amplified spontaneous emission;
a tuning reflector rotably mounted with respect to the dispersive unit wherein rotation of the tuning reflector tunes the dispersed light;
and
a coupling unit located along a beam path of the reflected diffraction beam.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application

09/816,532Filed 23 Mar 2001

Priority

23 Mar 2000

Published

13 Dec 2001

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification7 codes

H01S 5/141
External cavity lasers: using a wavelength selective device, e.g. a grating or etalon
H01S 3/0812
Incorporating a dispersive element, e.g. a prism for wavelength selection: using a diffraction grating
H01S 3/105
Controlling the intensity, frequency, phase, polarisation or direction of the emitted radiation, e.g. switching, gating, modulating or…
H01S 3/1051
By controlling the mutual position or the reflecting properties of the reflectors of the cavity , e.g. by controlling the cavity length: one of…

Continuously grating-tuned external cavity laser with automatic suppression of source spontaneous emission and amplified spontaneous emission

Life of this patent

Continuously grating-tuned external cavity laser with automatic suppression of source spontaneous emission and amplified spontaneous emission

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims35