Voltage-controllable laser output coupler for integrated photonic devices
AssigneesMacquarie University, NewSouth Innovations Pty Limited
InventorsAlex Fuerbach, Christoph Wieschendorf, Francois Ladouceur, Leonardo Silvestri
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Abstract
A voltage-controllable output coupler for a laser, comprising: a liquid crystal cell that provides a change in birefringence in response to an applied voltage; and a polariser oriented with respect to the liquid crystal cell to collectively form a variable reflectance mirror for the laser; wherein output coupling of the laser is controllable by applying voltage to the liquid crystal cell for a switching interval to switch the variable reflectance mirror from high reflectance to low reflectance, and vice versa, thus actively Q-switching or cavity dumping the laser.
Claims20
A voltage-controllable output coupler for a laser, comprising:
- a liquid crystal cell that provides a change in birefringence in response to an applied voltage;
- and
- a polariser oriented with respect to the liquid crystal cell to collectively form a variable reflectance mirror for the laser;
- wherein output coupling of the laser is controllable by applying voltage to the liquid crystal cell for a switching interval to switch the variable reflectance mirror from high reflectance to low reflectance, and vice versa, thus actively Q-switching or cavity dumping the laser.
A method, comprising:
- providing a liquid crystal cell that provides a change in birefringence in response to an applied voltage;
- orienting a polarizer with respect to the liquid crystal cell to collectively form a variable reflectance mirror for the laser;
- controlling output coupling of the laser by applying voltage to the liquid crystal cell for a switching interval to switch the variable reflectance mirror from high reflectance to low reflectance, and vice versa, thus actively Q-switching or cavity dumping the laser.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.