Amplification with chalcogenide glass fiber
OwnerL. Brandon Shaw, Jasbinder S. Sanghera +2inventors
InventorsL. Brandon Shaw, Jasbinder S. Sanghera, Peter Thielen, Ishwar D. Aggarwal
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Abstract
This invention pertains to an optical device and method for using a chalcogenide glass waveguide to amplify a pump light beam by means of stimulated Raman scattering and obtaining a depleted pump light beam and an amplified beam at a wavelength higher than the wavelength of the depleted pump light beam.
Claims18
An optical device comprising a coupler for coupling pump and signal light beams, a chalcogenide gain medium connected to said coupler for allowing said light beams to interact and to have at least one of said signal light beam amplified in intensity by means of stimulated Raman scattering, wherein said gain medium is a selenide glass waveguide selected from the group consisting of optical fibers, planar waveguides, containing at least 25 mole % of selenium.
An optical device comprising a chalcogenide gain medium, at least two spaced reflectors associated with said gain medium forming a cavity there between for reflecting at least one light beam whereby interaction of said at least one light beam creates at least one amplified light beam, at least one of said reflectors having reflectivity lower than 100% so that at least one of said amplified light beams can exit said cavity, wherein said gain medium is a selenide glass waveguide containing at least 25 mole % of selenium.
A method for amplifying a light beam comprising the steps of passing into a selenide glass gain medium at one end thereof a pump light beam and a signal light beam of a higher wavelength than the wavelength of the pump light beam wherein the pump light beam interacts with the gain medium and imparts intensity to the signal light beam to thus amplify the signal light beam by means of stimulated Raman scattering caused by the interaction of the pump light beam and the gain medium, and issuing at the other end of the gain medium as intensity depleted pump light beam and an amplified in intensity signal beam at the same wavelength as the signal light beam entering the gain medium.
A method for amplifying a light beam over the wavelength region of about 1-15 μm comprising the steps of passing into one end of a selenide glass waveguide, a pump beam of wavelength λ1 which generates a Stoke's signal beam at wavelength λ2, reflecting the signal beam in the waveguide between spaced reflectors numerous times, and issuing from the other end of the waveguide a depleted pump light at wavelength λ1 and an amplified signal beam at wavelength λ2, wherein λ2 is greater than λ1;
- wherein the waveguide contains at least 50 mole % and less than 90 mole % of selenium.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.