Position sensitive detectors in wavelength monitoring

Abstract

Particular embodiments of the present invention relate generally to wavelength monitoring in frequency doubling and other optical applications. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system for monitoring the wavelength of a light source is provided. The system comprises a light directing section, an optical vector generator, and one or more position sensitive detectors. The optical vector generator comprises a grating coupled waveguide configured to exhibit a reflective or transmissive optical resonance effect in response to variable wavelength input light. The optical resonance effect comprises a wavelength-dependent output vector that is generated from a localized output vector area of the grating coupled waveguide in response to variable wavelength input light. The position of the localized output vector area along a dimension of the grating coupled waveguide varies with the wavelength of the variable wavelength input light. The position sensitive detector is positioned in the optical path of the wavelength-dependent output vector and is configured to facilitate generation of a signal indicative of the position of the localized output vector area along the dimension of the grating coupled waveguide. Additional embodiments are disclosed and claimed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.