Multiple laser source, and systems for use thereof

A radar system, said radar system comprising:

• a chirp signal source, said chirp signal source including:
• a first solid-state laser formed on a chip, said first solid-state laser having a particular optical cavity length, at least a portion of said cavity of said first solid-state laser including electrooptic material;
• a second solid-state laser also formed on said chip, and having said particular optical cavity length, at least a portion of said cavity of said second solid-state laser including said electrooptic material;
• first and second optical pumps having nominally the same pump frequency;
• optical coupling means coupled to said first and second optical pumps and to said first and second solid-state lasers, for pumping said first and second lasers with similar pump light, whereby said first and second lasers produce first and second laser light beams;
• a light-to-electric converter which, in the presence of plural light signals at different frequencies or wavelengths, generates electrical signals at frequencies related to the difference;
• and
• second optical coupling means coupled to said first and second lasers, and coupled to said light-to-electric converter, for coupling said first and second laser light beams to said light-to-electric converter, whereby said light-to-electric converter generates at least one electrical difference signal;
• said radar system further comprising:
• a chirp signal source coupled to said electrooptic material of at least one of said first and second lasers, for causing the frequencies of said first and second laser light beams to relatively change with time;
• means for transmitting said electrical difference signal toward a target:
• means for receiving at least a portion of said electrical difference signal received from said target;
• mixing means coupled to said light-to-electric converter and to said means for receiving, for mixing together said electrical difference signals produced by said light-to-electric converter with said electrical difference signal received from said target, for generating a difference frequency signal indicative of the range of said target;
• and
• processing means coupled to said mixing means for evaluating said difference frequency signal indicative of the range of said target.

A lidar system, said lidar system comprising:

• a chirp signal source, said chirp signal source including:
• a first solid-state laser formed on a chip, said first solid-state laser having a particular optical cavity length, at least a portion of said cavity of said first solid-state laser including electrooptic material;
• a second solid-state laser also formed on said chip, and having said particular optical cavity length, at least a portion of said cavity of said second solid-state laser including said electrooptic material;
• first and second optical pumps having nominally the same pump frequency;
• optical coupling means coupled to said first and second optical pumps and to said first and second solid-state lasers, for pumping said first and second lasers with similar pump light, whereby said first and second lasers produce first and second laser light beams;
• a light-to-electric converter which, in the presence of plural light signals at different frequencies or wavelengths, generates electrical signals at frequencies related to the difference;
• and
• second optical coupling means coupled to said first and second lasers, and coupled to said light-to-electric converter, for coupling said first and second laser light beams to said light-to-electric converter by way of a target, whereby said light-to-electric converter generates at least one electrical difference signal;
• said lidar system further comprising:
• a chirp signal source coupled to said electrooptic material of at least one of said first and second lasers for causing said first and second laser light beams to change in frequency relative to each other;
• means for transmitting said first and second laser light beams toward a target:
• means for receiving at least a portion of said first and second light beams received from said target;
• and
• processing means coupled to said light-to-electric converter for evaluating said difference frequency signal indicative of the range of said target.

A communication system, said communication system comprising:

• a chirp signal source, said chirp signal source including:
• a first solid-state laser formed on a chip, said first solid-state laser having a particular optical cavity length, at least a portion of said cavity of said first solid-state laser including electrooptic material;
• a second solid-state laser also formed on said chip, and having said particular optical cavity length, at least a portion of said cavity of said second solid-state laser including said electrooptic material;
• first and second optical pumps having nominally the same pump frequency;
• optical coupling means coupled to said first and second optical pumps and to said first and second solid-state lasers, for pumping said first and second lasers with similar pump light, whereby said first and second lasers produce first and second laser light beams;
• a light-to-electric converter which, in the presence of plural light signals at different frequencies or wavelengths, generates electrical signals at frequencies related to the difference;
• and
• second optical coupling means coupled to said first and second lasers, and coupled to said light-to-electric converter, for coupling said first and second laser light beams to said light-to-electric converter, whereby said light-to-electric converter generates at least one electrical difference signal;
• said communication system further comprising:
• an information signal source coupled to said electrooptic material of at least one of said first and second lasers for causing said electrical difference signal to be responsive to said information;
• and means for receiving at least a portion of said electrical difference signal, and for extracting said information from said electrical difference signal.