Stabilized non-reciprocal fiber-ring brillouin laser source
First Claim
1. A laser source comprising:
- (a) a fiber-ring optical resonator including an optical circulator and an optical coupler, wherein the fiber-ring optical resonator is characterized by a Brillouin shift frequency ν
B, and wherein the optical circulator is arranged so as to (i) limit to a single round trip propagation of an optical signal around the fiber-ring optical resonator in a forward direction, and (ii) permit resonant propagation of an optical signal around the fiber-ring optical resonator in a backward direction;
(b) a pump laser source that arranged so as to (i) produce a pump optical signal characterized by a pump optical frequency ν
1, (ii) launch into the fiber-ring optical resonator via the optical circulator a first input portion of the pump optical signal to propagate in the forward direction, and (iii) launch into the fiber-ring optical resonator via the optical coupler a second input portion of the pump optical signal to propagate in the backward direction; and
(c) a frequency-locking mechanism coupling the pump laser source and the fiber-ring optical resonator, wherein the frequency-locking mechanism is arranged so as to control the pump optical frequency ν
1 to maintain resonant propagation of the second input portion of the pump optical signal around the fiber-ring optical resonator in the backward direction,wherein;
(d) the fiber-ring optical resonator is arranged so as to produce from the first input portion of the pump optical signal a Brillouin laser optical signal, at a Brillouin laser frequency ν
1S=ν
1−
ν
B, that resonantly propagates around the fiber-ring optical resonator in the backward direction; and
(e) the optical coupler is arranged so as to direct out of the fiber-ring optical resonator (i) an output portion of the second input portion of the pump optical signal, at the pump optical frequency ν
1, to act as an optical feedback signal to the frequency-locking mechanism, and (ii) an output portion of the Brillouin laser optical signal, at the Brillouin laser frequency ν
1S, to act as optical output of the laser source.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A stabilized laser source includes a fiber-ring Brillouin laser that incorporates a circulator for non-reciprocal operation and for launching of a pump optical signal. Most of the pump optical signal is launched in a forward direction and drives Brillouin laser oscillation in the backward direction, a portion of which exits via an optical coupler as the optical output of the laser source. A small fraction of the pump optical signal is launched in the backward direction via the optical coupler, and a fraction of that backward-propagating pump optical signal exits via the optical coupler as an optical feedback signal. A frequency-locking mechanism receives the optical feedback signal and controls the pump optical frequency to maintain resonant propagation of the backward-propagating pump optical signal. A second pump optical signal can be launched in the forward direction to generate a second Brillouin laser oscillation.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A laser source comprising:
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(a) a fiber-ring optical resonator including an optical circulator and an optical coupler, wherein the fiber-ring optical resonator is characterized by a Brillouin shift frequency ν
B, and wherein the optical circulator is arranged so as to (i) limit to a single round trip propagation of an optical signal around the fiber-ring optical resonator in a forward direction, and (ii) permit resonant propagation of an optical signal around the fiber-ring optical resonator in a backward direction;(b) a pump laser source that arranged so as to (i) produce a pump optical signal characterized by a pump optical frequency ν
1, (ii) launch into the fiber-ring optical resonator via the optical circulator a first input portion of the pump optical signal to propagate in the forward direction, and (iii) launch into the fiber-ring optical resonator via the optical coupler a second input portion of the pump optical signal to propagate in the backward direction; and(c) a frequency-locking mechanism coupling the pump laser source and the fiber-ring optical resonator, wherein the frequency-locking mechanism is arranged so as to control the pump optical frequency ν
1 to maintain resonant propagation of the second input portion of the pump optical signal around the fiber-ring optical resonator in the backward direction,wherein; (d) the fiber-ring optical resonator is arranged so as to produce from the first input portion of the pump optical signal a Brillouin laser optical signal, at a Brillouin laser frequency ν
1S=ν
1−
ν
B, that resonantly propagates around the fiber-ring optical resonator in the backward direction; and(e) the optical coupler is arranged so as to direct out of the fiber-ring optical resonator (i) an output portion of the second input portion of the pump optical signal, at the pump optical frequency ν
1, to act as an optical feedback signal to the frequency-locking mechanism, and (ii) an output portion of the Brillouin laser optical signal, at the Brillouin laser frequency ν
1S, to act as optical output of the laser source. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification