Apparatus and method for pumping and operating optical parametric oscillators using DFB fiber lasers

An apparatus comprising:

• a distributed feedback (DFB) fiber laser;
• a continuous-wave optical-parametric oscillator configured to be pumped by the DFB fiber laser, the optical-parametric oscillator further comprising:
• an optical resonator;
• a circulating signal having a circulating signal power traveling in the optical resonator;
• a pump-light input port, optically coupled to receive the pump light from the DFB fiber laser, the pump light having a pump-light wavelength and a pump-light power;
• a signal-light output port configured to output a signal-light beam having a substantially fixed signal-light wavelength and a signal-light power from the optical resonator;
• and
• an idler-light output port configured to output an idler-light beam having an idler-light wavelength and an idler-light power from the optical resonator, wherein the idler-light wavelength varies based on a change in the pump-light wavelength.

An apparatus comprising:

• a distributed feedback (DFB) fiber laser;
• a continuous-wave optical-parametric oscillator configured to be pumped by the DFB fiber laser, the optical-parametric oscillator further comprising:
• an optical resonator;
• a circulating signal having a circulating signal power traveling in the optical resonator;
• a pump-light input port, optically coupled to receive the pump light from the DFB fiber laser, the pump light having a pump-light wavelength and a pump-light power;
• a signal-light output port configured to output a signal-light beam having a substantially fixed signal-light wavelength and a signal-light power from the optical resonator;
• and
• an idler-light output port configured to output an idler-light beam having an idler-light wavelength and an idler-light power from the optical resonator, wherein the idler-light wavelength varies based on a change in the pump-light wavelength, wherein about four percent of the signal light is transmitted through an output mirror and wherein the signal-light power of the output signal-light beam is at least about four Watts, such that the circulating signal power is limited to about 100 Watts.

An apparatus comprising:

• a distributed feedback (DFB) fiber laser;
• a continuous-wave optical-parametric oscillator configured to be pumped by the DFB fiber laser, the optical-parametric oscillator further comprising:
• an optical resonator;
• a circulating signal having a circulating signal power traveling in the optical resonator;
• a pump-light input port, optically coupled to receive the pump light from the DFB fiber laser, the pump light having a pump-light wavelength and a pump-light power;
• a signal-light output port configured to output a signal-light beam having a substantially fixed signal-light wavelength and a signal-light power from the optical resonator;
• and
• an idler-light output port configured to output an idler-light beam having an idler-light wavelength and an idler-light power from the optical resonator, wherein the idler-light wavelength varies based on a change in the pump-light wavelength, and
• an optical filter, wherein the pump light and the idler light are separated using the filter, wherein the filter transmits substantially all of the idler light and reflects substantially all of the pump light.

An apparatus comprising:

• a distributed feedback (DFB) fiber laser;
• a continuous-wave optical-parametric oscillator configured to be pumped by the DFB fiber laser, the optical-parametric oscillator further comprising:
• an optical resonator;
• a circulating signal having a circulating signal power traveling in the optical resonator;
• a pump-light input port, optically coupled to receive the pump light from the DFB fiber laser, the pump light having a pump-light wavelength and a pump-light power;
• a signal-light output port configured to output a signal-light beam having a substantially fixed signal-light wavelength and a signal-light power from the optical resonator;
• and
• an idler-light output port configured to output an idler-light beam having an idler-light wavelength and an idler-light power from the optical resonator, wherein the idler-light wavelength varies based on a change in the pump-light wavelength, wherein the optical-parametric oscillator further includes a wavelength-selective filter operatively coupled to filter the signal-light beam and substantially fix the signal-light wavelength.