Tunable optical filter
First Claim
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1. A tunable optical filter comprising:
- a Fabry-Perot cavity defined by a first partial reflector and a second reflector facing the first reflector, the first and second reflectors mounted in a spaced-apart relationship to form a gap therebetween, an input port optically coupled to said cavity for feeding an input light beam into said cavity in a manner to produce a filtered light beam, an output port for porting out a light beam that has been reflected from the second reflector and has passed through the cavity, first control means for varying the gap, and second control means for varying effective reflectivity of the second reflector.
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Abstract
A tunable optical notch filter employing a Fabry-Perot etalon has a first partially reflective mirror and a second mirror with variable effective reflectivity. Both the gap of the etalon and the effective reflectivity of the second mirror can be controlled, e.g. by TAB actuators, enabling a control of the central wavelength and the depth (loss) of the notch of the spectral response of the filter.
88 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A tunable optical filter comprising:
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a Fabry-Perot cavity defined by a first partial reflector and a second reflector facing the first reflector, the first and second reflectors mounted in a spaced-apart relationship to form a gap therebetween, an input port optically coupled to said cavity for feeding an input light beam into said cavity in a manner to produce a filtered light beam, an output port for porting out a light beam that has been reflected from the second reflector and has passed through the cavity, first control means for varying the gap, and second control means for varying effective reflectivity of the second reflector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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3. The optical filter of FIG. 1 wherein the second control means is a means for varying relative angular position of the first surface and the second surface.
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11. A method for tuning spectral response of a filter having a Fabry-Perot cavity defining a gap between two mirrors, the method comprising the steps:
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a) varying the gap and b) varying an effective reflectivity of one of the mirrors. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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Specification