Waveguide optical resonant cavity laser
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorAram Mooradian
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An external cavity semiconductor laser comprising a resonance cavity coupled to a diode laser. The cavity may contain a lens or lens system or may be constructed as an optical waveguide. The external cavity may also contain a nonlinear optical material to produce light of a frequency which is higher than that produced by the semiconductor laser. The use of an external cavity insures the single mode and/or single frequency operation of the semiconductor laser.
Claims30
A waveguide optical cavity resonator system comprising:
- a laser diode having a facet for emitting a beam of light;
- and a cavity resonator comprising;
- a reflective surface for receiving the beam of light;
- and
- a single spatial mode waveguide between the reflective surface and the facet for coupling the beam of light to the reflective surface.
An external resonator laser system comprising:
- a laser diode having a facet for emitting a beam of light;
- an external resonator cavity having a first end and a second end, the first end having beam shaping optics for collimating the emitted beam of light from the laser diode and a second end having a reflective surface for focusing light back through the beam shaping optics to the facet;
- and
- a waveguide between the reflective surface and the facet for coupling the beam of light to the beam shaping optics and to the reflective surface.
A waveguide optical cavity resonator comprising:
- an external cavity formed from a first reflective means and a second reflective means, the first reflective means being opposite from the second reflective means.
- a laser diode positioned between the first and second reflective means, the laser diode having a front end and back end with each end having a facet for emitting a beam of light towards the first and second reflective means;
- and
- a waveguide positioned between the facet and the first and second reflective means for coupling the beam of light to each reflective means.
A waveguide optical resonant cavity laser system, comprising:
- a hollow cavity spacer having a first end and a second end, the hollow cavity spacer having a longitudinal axis coincident with an optical axis;
- a lens assembly mounted to the first end of the hollow cavity spacer, the lens assembly being movable along the optical axis;
- a laser diode placed in the hollow cavity spacer, the laser diode being thermally isolated form the lens assembly;
- and
- a partially reflective mirror mounted to the second end of the hollow cavity spacer wherein the cavity length is constant and resistant to flexing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.