METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOCKING A LASER WITH A RESONANT CAVITY
First Claim
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1. A method of locking a laser with a resonant optical cavity having at least two cavity mirrors, one of which is a cavity coupling mirror, the method comprising:
- coupling the laser beam to the cavity via the cavity coupling mirror using mode matching optics;
applying a periodic dither or modulation waveform signal to the optical frequency of the laser beam or to the laser itself to thereby induce modulation of the intracavity optical power; and
enabling a portion of the light emerging from the cavity coupling mirror to reenter a cavity of the laser while maintaining an optical phase that results in periodic optical feedback locking whereby a mean optical frequency of the laser matches a resonance peak of the cavity.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for the photo-acoustic identification and quantification of one or more analyte species present in a gaseous or liquid medium in low concentration utilizing a laser and a resonant optical cavity containing the medium and having within the cavity at least two partially transparent mirrors, one of which is a cavity coupling mirror and one of which is moveably mounted on an assembly responsive to an input signal.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of locking a laser with a resonant optical cavity having at least two cavity mirrors, one of which is a cavity coupling mirror, the method comprising:
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coupling the laser beam to the cavity via the cavity coupling mirror using mode matching optics; applying a periodic dither or modulation waveform signal to the optical frequency of the laser beam or to the laser itself to thereby induce modulation of the intracavity optical power; and enabling a portion of the light emerging from the cavity coupling mirror to reenter a cavity of the laser while maintaining an optical phase that results in periodic optical feedback locking whereby a mean optical frequency of the laser matches a resonance peak of the cavity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for locking a laser with a resonant optical cavity, the system comprising:
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a laser that emits a laser beam; a resonant optical cavity having at least two cavity mirrors, one of which is a cavity coupling mirror; mode matching optics configured to couple the laser beam to the cavity via the cavity coupling mirror; means for applying a periodic dither or modulation waveform signal to the optical frequency of the incident laser beam or to the laser itself to thereby induce modulation of the intracavity optical power; and means for enabling a portion of the light emerging from the cavity coupling mirror to enter a cavity of the laser while maintaining an optical phase that results in periodic optical feedback locking whereby a mean optical frequency of the laser matches a resonance peak of the cavity. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification