SPECTRAL NARROWING MODULE, REFINED SPECTRAL LINE DEVICE AND METHOD THEREFOR

• US 20190312405A1
• Filed: 06/12/2017
• Published: 10/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique, Universite De Rennes I
• Original Assignee: Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique, Universite De Rennes I
• Inventors: ALOUINI, Mehdi, DANION, Gwennael, VALLET, Marc
• Granted Patent: US 10,566,759 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 2302/02 THz - lasers, i.e. lasers with emission in the wavelength range of typically 0.1 mm to 1 mm
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/0085 Modulating the output, i.e. the laser beam is modulated outside the laser cavity
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/10092 Coherent seed, e.g. injection locking
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/106 by controlling devices placed within the cavity H01S3/10076, H01S3/13 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/302 in an optical fibre
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/0656 Seeding, i.e. an additional light input is provided for controlling the laser modes, for example by back-reflecting light from an external optical component H01S5/14, H01S5/4062 and H01S5/4006 take precedence

Abstract

Many applications require the use of lasers with short optical ray lengths. However, at present, there is no module that makes it possible to refine a ray from a light source in a satisfactory manner, in particular one from a semiconductor laser. The invention relates to a spectral refinement method (500), a device with refined spectral line (200) comprising at least one light source (210) and a spectral refinement module (100). The latter includes at least one first coupler (111), a Brillouin resonator (120) and a modulator (130).

Claims

1. A spectral narrowing module for at least one first light source, the spectral narrowing module comprising:

at least one first coupler;

said at least one first coupler is configured to derive at least one first pumping light beam from a first incident light beam originating from said at least one first light source and introduced into the spectral narrowing module;

a Brillouin resonator;

the Brillouin resonator is configured to generate, from at least one portion of said first pumping light beam, at least one first resonant light beam; and

a modulator;

the modulator is configured to generate, from the first resonant light beam, at least one first modulated light beam;

the spectral narrowing module is configured to totally or partially introduce the first modulated light beam into said at least one first coupler, said at least one first coupler is configured to totally or partially introduce the first modulated light beam into said at least one first light source so as to narrow the spectral line of said at least one first light source.

2. The spectral narrowing module according to claim 1, wherein said at least one first coupler is configured to derive a first signal light beam from the first incident light beam originating from said at least one first light source and introduced into the spectral narrowing module.

3. The spectral narrowing module according to claim 1, wherein:

said at least one first coupler is configured to derive at least one second pumping light beam from a second incident light beam originating from a second light source and introduced into the spectral narrowing module;

the Brillouin resonator is configured to generate, from at least one portion of the second pumping light beam, a second resonant light beam; and

the modulator is configured to generate, from the second resonant light beam, at least one second modulated light beam,

the spectral narrowing module is configured to totally or partially introduce the second modulated light beam into said at least one first coupler, said at least one first coupler is configured to totally or partially introduce the second modulated light beam into the second light source so as to narrow the spectral line of the second light source.

4. The spectral narrowing module according to claim 3, wherein said at least one first coupler is configured to derive a second signal light beam from the second incident light beam originating from the second light source and introduced into the spectral narrowing module.

5. The spectral narrowing module according to claim 1, wherein the modulator is configured to generate, from the first resonant light beam (312), a second modulated light beam capable of refining the spectral line of a second light source.

6. The spectral narrowing module according to claim 5, which comprises a second coupler;

the second coupler is configured to totally or partially introduce the second modulated light beam originating from the modulator into the second light source so as to narrow the spectral line of the second light source.

7. The spectral narrowing module according to claim 6, wherein the second coupler is configured to derive at least one second signal light beam from the second incident light beam originating from the second light source and introduced into the spectral narrowing module.

8. The spectral narrowing module according to claim 2, comprising a third coupler configured to generate, from at least one signal light beam among the first signal light beam originating from said at least one first coupler and the second signal light beam originating from the second coupler, a third signal light beam.

9. The spectral narrowing module according to claim 8, wherein the third signal light beam, totally or partially comprises at least one signal light beam among the first signal light beam of said at least one first light source and the second signal light beam of the second light source, the third signal light beam is generated by at least one coupler among said at least one first coupler and the third coupler.

10. A refined spectral line device comprising at least one spectral narrowing module according to claim 1 and at least one first light source associated to said at least one spectral narrowing module.

11. The refined spectral line device according to claim 10, which is configured to emit the first signal light beam or the third signal light beam.

15. The spectral narrowing method according to claim 12 using the spectral narrowing module according to claim 1.

16. The spectral narrowing method according to claim 12 using the refined spectral line device according to claim 10.

19. The spectral narrowing module according to claim 2, wherein the modulator is configured to generate, from the first resonant light beam (312), a second modulated light beam capable of refining the spectral line of a second light source.

20. The spectral narrowing module according to claim 19, which comprises a second coupler;

the second coupler is configured to totally or partially introduce the second modulated light beam originating from the modulator into the second light source so as to narrow the spectral line of the second light source.

12. A spectral narrowing method for at least one first light source emitting a first incident light beam, the spectral narrowing method comprising:

a derivation of the first incident light beam originating from said at least one first light source so as to generate a light beam called first pumping light beam;

a resonation of at least one portion of said light beam called first pumping light beam so as to generate a first resonant light beam;

a modulation of at least one portion of the first resonant light beam so as to generate at least one first modulated light beam; and

a total or partial introduction of said at least one first modulated light beam into said at least one first light source.

13. The spectral narrowing method according to claim 12, wherein during the modulation step, at least one portion of the first resonant light beam is modulated so as to generate a second modulated light beam.

14. The spectral narrowing method according to claim 13, wherein, during the introduction step, the second modulated light beam is totally or partially introduced into a second light source so as to narrow the spectral line of the second light source.

17. The spectral narrowing module according to claim 21, wherein:

said at least one first coupler is configured to derive at least one second pumping light beam from a second incident light beam originating from a second light source and introduced into the spectral narrowing module;

the Brillouin resonator is configured to generate, from at least one portion of the second pumping light beam, a second resonant light beam; and

the modulator is configured to generate, from the second resonant light beam, at least one second modulated light beam,

the spectral narrowing module is configured to totally or partially introduce the second modulated light beam into said at least one first coupler, said at least one first coupler is configured to totally or partially introduce the second modulated light beam into the second light source so as to narrow the spectral line of the second light source.

18. The spectral narrowing module according to claim 17, wherein said at least one first coupler is configured to derive a second signal light beam from the second incident light beam originating from the second light source and introduced into the spectral narrowing module.