NARROW LINEWIDTH BRILLOUIN LASER
First Claim
1. A method of providing a narrow linewidth optical signal comprising:
- providing an optical source to launch a frequency-stabilized optical signal at a first frequency into an optical fiber resonant cavity, wherein the first frequency corresponds to a longitudinal mode of the optical fiber resonant cavity;
pumping the optical fiber resonant cavity to stimulate a Brillouin emission;
controlling a Brillouin frequency shift of the optical fiber resonant cavity so that a gain of the Brillouin emission is substantially centered on a longitudinal mode of the optical fiber resonant cavity;
outputting a narrow linewidth optical signal at a first-order Stokes wavelength of the Brillouin emission; and
inducing a narrowband loss in the resonant cavity to suppress a second-order Stokes wavelength of the Brillouin emission.
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Abstract
A Brillouin laser having a narrowed linewidth, reduced relative intensity noise, and increased output power includes a pump laser that provides pump energy to an optical fiber resonant cavity to stimulate Brillouin emission. The output of pump laser is stabilized and its linewidth is narrowed by locking the frequency and phase of the optical signal generated by the pump laser to a longitudinal mode of the optical fiber resonant cavity. In addition, the resonant cavity is temperature and/or strain-tuned so that the Brillouin gain is substantially centered on a longitudinal mode of the cavity, thereby ensuring that the Brillouin frequency shift is substantially equal to an integer number of the free spectral range of the cavity.
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Citations
9 Claims
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1. A method of providing a narrow linewidth optical signal comprising:
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providing an optical source to launch a frequency-stabilized optical signal at a first frequency into an optical fiber resonant cavity, wherein the first frequency corresponds to a longitudinal mode of the optical fiber resonant cavity; pumping the optical fiber resonant cavity to stimulate a Brillouin emission; controlling a Brillouin frequency shift of the optical fiber resonant cavity so that a gain of the Brillouin emission is substantially centered on a longitudinal mode of the optical fiber resonant cavity; outputting a narrow linewidth optical signal at a first-order Stokes wavelength of the Brillouin emission; and inducing a narrowband loss in the resonant cavity to suppress a second-order Stokes wavelength of the Brillouin emission. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A narrow linewidth optical source, comprising:
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an optical fiber resonant cavity to produce a Brillouin emission in response to receipt of optical power; an optical source to launch an optical signal at a first frequency into the optical fiber resonant cavity; a frequency stabilization circuit to lock the first frequency to a longitudinal mode of the optical fiber resonant cavity; and an output to provide a narrow linewidth optical signal at a first-order Stokes wavelength of the Brillouin emission; and a narrowband loss device to suppress a second-order Stokes wavelength of the Brillouin emission within the optical fiber resonant cavity, wherein a Brillouin frequency shift of the optical fiber resonant cavity is stabilized so that a gain of the Brillouin emission is substantially centered on a longitudinal mode of the optical fiber resonant cavity. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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Specification