COOLERLESS FIBER LIGHT SOURCE DEVICES FOR HARSH ENVIRONMENTS

• US 20150188640A1
• Filed: 12/24/2014
• Published: 07/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Taiwan Space Agency
• Original Assignee: National Applied Research Laboratories (Government of The Republic of China)
• Inventors: LIAW, SHIEN-KUEI, LIU, REN-YOUNG, WANG, HSIANG, LU, YEN-HUNG
• Granted Patent: US 9,634,769 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/0064 Anti-reflection devices, e.g. optical isolaters absorbing layers for marking or protecting purposes in laser working B23K26/50; magneto-optical non-reciprocal devices G02F1/093, G02F1/0955
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/06795 with superfluorescent emission, e.g. amplified spontaneous emission sources for fibre laser gyrometers fibre laser gyrometers per se G01C19/72
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/094015 with pump light recycling, i.e. with reinjection of the unused pump light back into the fiber, e.g. by reflectors or circulators
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/09415 the pumping beam being parallel to the lasing mode of the pumped medium, e.g. end-pumping
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/1608 erbium
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/503 Laser transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/572 Wavelength control

Abstract

A robust broadband ASE (amplified spontaneous emission) fiber light source device outputs a light beam which is little affected by temperature and radiation. The light source device is a single-pass backward or double-pass backward architecture, and has a coolerless pump laser and temperature compensated bandpass reflector. The light source device may have a high pass filtering element disposed between the wavelength division multiplexer thereof and the optical isolator thereof, so as to compensate the effect of the temperature to the mean wavelength of the light beam. The specific band of the temperature compensated bandpass reflector which reflects the light beam, and the band which the high pass filtering element transmits the light beam are within the band which the ASE unit amplifies the light beam, and the high pass filtering element mainly absorbs the light beam outside the specific band.

Claims

1. An environmental robust fiber light source device comprising:

a plurality of optic fiber sections;

a coolerless pump laser for providing a first light beam having a mean wavelength in a first band;

a wavelength division multiplexer having a first terminal, a second terminal and a common terminal, wherein the first terminal thereof is connected to the pump laser through at least one of the optic fiber sections, the first terminal thereof receives the first light beam, for allowing the first light beam having a mean wavelength in the first band to pass from the first terminal thereof to the common terminal thereof, and allowing a second light beam having a mean wavelength in a second band to pass through from the common terminal thereof to the second terminal thereof;

an optical isolator, being a single-pass uni-directional element, having a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal thereof is connected to the second terminal of the wavelength division multiplexer through at least one of the optic fiber sections, the first terminal thereof receives the second light beam from the second terminal of the wavelength division multiplexer, for allowing the second light beam to pass through from the first terminal thereof to the second terminal thereof;

an amplified spontaneous emission unit, having a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal thereof is connected to the common terminal of the wavelength division multiplexer through at least one of the optic fiber sections, for receiving the first light beam having a mean wavelength in the first band and producing an amplifying effect, for producing a third light beam in both directions, to both the first and the second terminal, and the third beam spectral contents falling within the second beam and has no overlap to that of the first beam thereof; and

a bandpass reflector having a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal thereof is connected to the second terminal of the amplified spontaneous emission unit through at least one of the optic fiber sections, and the second terminal thereof is connected to at least one of the fiber optic sections, the first terminal thereof is configured to receive the third light beam from the second terminal of the amplified spontaneous emission unit, to reflect the third light beam having a mean wavelength in a specific band to the first terminal thereof, and to allow the remaining of the third light beam mean wavelength to pass through from the first terminal thereof to the second terminal thereof;

wherein the second terminal of the amplified spontaneous emission unit receives a reflected fourth light beam from the first terminal of the bandpass reflector, for producing part of the second light beam to the first terminal thereof.

2. The light source device according to claim 1, wherein the bandpass reflector is a temperature compensated bandpass reflector.

3. The light source device according to claim 2, wherein the temperature bandpass reflector is a temperature compensated optic fiber Bragg grating.

4. The light source according to claim 1, wherein the amplified spontaneous emission unit is a rare-earth doped optic fiber or a temperature compensated rare-earth doped optic fiber.

5. The light source device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a high pass filtering element having a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal thereof is configured to receive the second light beam having a mean wavelength in the second band and high pass filter the second light beam and output the second light beam to the second terminal thereof, for suppressing the second light beam having the mean wavelength outside the specific band defined by the bandpass reflector;

wherein the first terminal of the optical isolator is connected to the second terminal of the wavelength division multiplexer through the high pass filtering element, the first terminal of the high pass filtering element is connected to the second terminal of the wavelength division multiplexer through at least one of the optic fiber sections, and the second terminal of the high pass filtering element is connected to the first terminal of the optical isolator through at least one of the optic fiber sections.

6. The light source device according to claim 5, wherein the high pass filtering element is an optic fiber absorber or temperature compensated optic fiber absorber.

7. The light source device according to claim 1, wherein the specific band defined by the bandpass reflector falls in between 1535 nanometers to 1565 nanometers, and the first band is centering around 800 nanometers, 980 nanometers or 1480 nanometers, whereas the second band 1550 nanometers.

8. The light source device according to claim 1, wherein the optic fiber section connected to the second terminal of the bandpass reflector has a fiber termination or a reflecting face, and the reflecting face is an active, partially passive, or totally reflective one.

9. The light source device according to claim 3, wherein the optic fiber section connected to the second terminal of the temperature compensated bandpass reflector has a fiber termination or a reflecting face, and the reflecting face is an active, partially passive, or totally reflective one.

10. The light source device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an optical circulator having a first terminal, a second terminal and a third terminal, wherein the first terminal thereof is connected to the third terminal thereof through at least one of the optic fiber sections, the second terminal thereof is connected to the second terminal of the bandpass reflector through at least one of the optic fiber sections, for receiving the second light beam having the mean wavelength outside the specific band from the bandpass reflector, and reflecting the second light beam having the mean wavelength in the specific band;

wherein the second terminal of the bandpass reflector is configured to receive the second light beam having the mean wavelength outside the specific band from the optical circulator, reflecting the second light beam having the mean wavelength in the specific band, and allowing the second light beam having the mean wavelength outside the specific band to pass from the second terminal thereof to the first terminal thereof.

11. The light source device according to claim 4, further comprising:

an additional pump laser for providing a fifth light beam having a mean wavelength in a third band;

an additional wavelength division multiplexer having a first terminal, a second terminal and a common terminal, wherein the first terminal thereof is connected to the additional pump laser through at least one of the optic fiber sections, and the common terminal thereof is connected to the amplified spontaneous emission unit through at least one of the optic fiber sections; and

an additional amplified spontaneous emission unit having a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal thereof is connected to the first terminal of the wavelength division multiplexer through at least one of the optic fiber sections, and the second terminal thereof is connected to the second terminal of the additional wavelength division multiplexer through at least one of the optic fiber sections.

12. The light source device according to claim 4, further comprising:

a pump reflector fiber grating, having a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal thereof is connected to the second terminal of the bandpass reflector through at least one of the optic fiber sections, the second terminal thereof is connected to at least one of the optic fiber sections, the first terminal thereof is configured to receive the second light beam having the mean wavelength outside the specific band from the second terminal of the bandpass reflector, reflect the second light beam having a mean wavelength in an another specific band, and allow the second light beam having the mean wavelength outside the another specific band to pass from the first terminal thereof to the second terminal thereof.