Actively stabilized systems for the generation of ultrashort optical pulses
First Claim
1. A stable seed laser ring system for producing a plurality of ultrashort optical pulses, comprising:
- a ring including a source for generating optical pulses, a modulator having an input for controlling the length of the optical pulses generated by the source, and an optical pulse sampler for sampling the optical pulses; and
a feedback loop coupled to the optical pulse sampler, the feedback loop including an optical detector for detecting changes in the optical pulses due to changes in the environment and a controller for varying the input to the modulator in response to the environmental changes such that the optical pulses remain significantly unaffected by such changes.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for generating an optical laser pulse train of constant ultrashort pulse duration and low timing jitter in a fiber ring laser system (resonator) while keeping the laser resonator resilient to environmental conditions like temperature, humidity and pressure. The laser resonator may be actively mode-locked with a periodic electrically driven modulation at a specific frequency that corresponds to the inverse of the transit time inside the resonator. The optical pulse train quality may be monitored in real time, and the frequency of the modulation may be dynamically tuned in real time to compensate for resonator length changes due to changes in the environmental conditions.
65 Citations
23 Claims
-
1. A stable seed laser ring system for producing a plurality of ultrashort optical pulses, comprising:
-
a ring including a source for generating optical pulses, a modulator having an input for controlling the length of the optical pulses generated by the source, and an optical pulse sampler for sampling the optical pulses; and
a feedback loop coupled to the optical pulse sampler, the feedback loop including an optical detector for detecting changes in the optical pulses due to changes in the environment and a controller for varying the input to the modulator in response to the environmental changes such that the optical pulses remain significantly unaffected by such changes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A method of producing a plurality of ultrashort optical pulses in a laser ring system, comprising:
-
generating a plurality of optical pulses by self-oscillation of an optical amplifier coupled in a ring to an electrically driven electro-optic modulator, in which the length of the pulses is determined by the period during which the modulator is in a transparent state;
sampling the optical pulses in the ring;
detecting changes in the optical pulses due to changes in the environment; and
adjusting the electrical signal to the modulator in response to the sampled pulses to compensate for any environmental changes such that the optical pulses in the ring remain significantly unaffected by such changes. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A method of producing a plurality of ultrashort optical pulses in a laser ring system, comprising:
-
generating laser light with a source;
inputting the generated laser light to an electrically driven electro-optic modulator to result in modulated light;
returning the modulated light to the source to establish the ring;
supplying a varying electrical signal to the modulator such that the modulator alternates between a transparent state and an opaque state and outputs optical pulses during the transparent state;
sampling the output optical pulses;
detecting changes in the optical pulses due to changes in the environment; and
adjusting the frequency of the electrical signal to the modulator in response to the sampled optical pulses to compensate for any environmental changes such that the optical pulses remain significantly unaffected by such changes. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
Specification