Method of controlling a frequency-converted laser source comprising an external optical feedback component
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsJacques Gollier, Dmitri Vladislavovich Kuksenkov
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Abstract
A method of controlling a frequency-converted laser source is provided where the laser source comprises a laser cavity, an external optical feedback component, a wavelength selective component, and a wavelength conversion device and the method comprises driving a gain section of the laser cavity with a gain signal that comprises a data component and a modulation component. The modulation component of the gain signal comprises a gain modulation amplitude IMOD that is sufficient to shift the available cavity modes in the spectral domain such that lasing at several different cavity modes sequentially is established as the gain signal is modulated.
Claims16
A method of controlling a frequency-converted laser source comprising a laser cavity, an external optical feedback component, a wavelength selective component, and a wavelength conversion device, wherein:
- the laser cavity comprises a gain medium interposed between a relatively high reflectivity rear reflector and a relatively low reflectivity output reflector and is configured to emit light through the output reflector;
- the external optical feedback component is displaced from the output reflector along an optical path of the laser source and is configured to return light to the laser cavity through the output reflector by partially reflecting the emitted light;
- the wavelength conversion device is located along the optical path of the laser source and is characterized by a spectral acceptance curve having a full width at half maximum (FWHM);
- the rear reflector, the output reflector, and the external optical feedback component define available cavity modes, and the wavelength selective component ensures that laser operation can only happen in available cavity modes located within the FWHM of the wavelength conversion device;
- the method comprises driving a gain section of the laser cavity with a gain signal that comprises a data component and a modulation component;
- and
- the modulation component of the gain signal comprises a gain modulation amplitude IMOD that is sufficient to shift the available cavity modes in the spectral domain such that lasing at several different cavity modes sequentially is established as the gain signal is modulated, wherein:
- the wavelength converted output power of the lasing mode is a non-linear function of the gain signal;
- the gain signal is corrected to compensate for the output power non-linearity;
- and
- the gain signal is corrected by establishing the gain signal Ig according to the following relation:
- Ig=(IDATA/k)0.5−IMOD
- where IDATA represents the data component of the gain signal, IMOD represents the modulation component of the gain signal, and k represents a constant.
A method of controlling a frequency-converted laser source comprising a laser cavity, an external optical feedback component, a wavelength selective component, and a wavelength conversion device, wherein:
- the laser cavity comprises a gain medium interposed between a relatively high reflectivity rear reflector and a relatively low reflectivity output reflector and is configured to emit light through the output reflector;
- the external optical feedback component is displaced from the output reflector along an optical path of the laser source and is configured to return light to the laser cavity through the output reflector by partially reflecting the emitted light;
- the wavelength conversion device is located along the optical path of the laser source and is characterized by a spectral acceptance curve having a full width at half maximum (FWHM);
- the rear reflector, the output reflector, and the external optical feedback component define available cavity modes, and the wavelength selective component ensures that laser operation can only happen in available cavity modes located within the FWHM of the wavelength conversion device;
- the method comprises driving a gain section of the laser cavity with a gain signal that comprises a data component and driving a wavelength selective section of the laser cavity with a signal that comprises a modulation component;
- and
- the modulation component comprises a modulation amplitude IMOD that is sufficient to shift the available cavity modes in the spectral domain such that lasing at several different cavity modes sequentially is established as the signal is modulated;
- the wavelength converted output power of a lasing mode is a non-linear function of the gain signal;
- the gain signal is corrected to compensate for an output power non-linearity;
- and
- the gain signal is corrected by establishing the gain signal Ig according to the following relation:
- Ig=(IDATA/k)0.5−IMOD
- where IDATA represents the data component of the gain signal, IMOD represents the modulation component of the modulation amplitude, and k represents a constant.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.