Diode pumped alkali vapor fiber laser
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsStephen Payne, Raymond Beach, Jay Dawson, William Krupke
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Abstract
A method and apparatus is provided for producing near-diffraction-limited laser light, or amplifying near-diffraction-limited light, in diode pumped alkali vapor photonic-band-gap fiber lasers or amplifiers. Laser light is both substantially generated and propagated in an alkali gas instead of a solid, allowing the nonlinear and damage limitations of conventional solid core fibers to be circumvented. Alkali vapor is introduced into the center hole of a photonic-band-gap fiber, which can then be pumped with light from a pump laser and operated as an oscillator with a seed beam, or can be configured as an amplifier.
Claims24
An apparatus, comprising:
- a length of a solid dielectric photonic band-gap fiber material having holes;
- a core located within said length;
- and
- a gain medium located within said length, wherein said gain medium comprises a mixture of at least one buffer gas and an alkali atomic vapor having a D1 transition, wherein said at least one buffer gas has the dual purpose of collisionally broadening a D2 transition of said alkali atomic vapor and collisionally transferring pump excitation from the upper level of said D2 transition to the upper level of said D1 transition at a rate larger than the radiative decay rate of either of these two levels;
- and
- means for holding said gain medium at a temperature T1, wherein said length comprises a hollow fiber optic that is contiguously connected to two ovens, one at each end held at temperature T2 and T3 respectively, wherein T1>T2, T3.
(canceled)
24-26. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.