Device for compensating for thermal instabilities of laser diodes

A method of temperature stabilizing the output wavelength of a diode laser which comprises:

• depositing a waveguide comprising a plurality of dielectric layers and having a first layer with a thickness and refractive index using ion-assisted deposition onto at least a portion of a substrate of ultra-low thermal expansion glass;
• depositing a second layer of said plurality of dielectric materials over said first layer, said second layer exhibiting a temperature dependent change in refractive index opposite to that of said first layer;
• forming a Bragg grating in one of said plurality of dielectric layers said waveguide comprising a corrugated region with notches of said corrugated region etched to a depth such that laser light entering said waveguide will penetrate approximately 1 mm to 1 cm;
• and
• assembling said waveguide adjacent to one of two output mirrors of said diode laser with said notches parallel to said output mirror.

A method of temperature stabilizing the output wavelength of a diode laser which comprises:

• depositing a waveguide comprising a dielectric layer using ion-assisted deposition onto at least a portion of a substrate of ultra-low thermal expansion glass;
• forming a Bragg grating in said waveguide comprising a corrugated region with notches formed in said dielectric layer which has a thickness and a refractive index, with notches of said corrugated region etched to a depth such that laser light entering said waveguide will penetrate approximately 1 mm to 1 cm;
• and
• assembling said waveguide adjacent to one of two output mirrors of said diode laser, wherein said notches are parallel to said output mirror.

A method of producing an intensity stabilized signal for free-space optical communications comprising:

• depositing a waveguide comprising a plurality of dielectric layers using ion-assisted deposition onto at least a portion of a substrate of ultra-low thermal expansion glass each layer of said plurality having a thickness and a refractive index, and any two adjacent layers of said plurality having opposite changes in refractive index with temperature;
• forming a Bragg grating in said waveguide comprising a corrugated region with notches formed on a top surface of one of said plurality of dielectric layers, said notches of said corrugated region etched to a depth such that laser light entering said waveguide will penetrate approximately 1 mm to 1 cm;
• assembling said waveguide adjacent to one of two output mirrors of said diode laser with said notches parallel to said output mirror;
• disposing at least one solid state laser having an input end in the optical path of the output of said diode laser;
• and
• disposing a focusing means between said diode laser and each said solid state laser, the focal point of said focusing means being the input end of said solid state laser.