Fabry-perot pulsed laser having a circulator-based loop reflector
First Claim
1. A pulsed Fabry-Perot laser comprisinga first optical channel includingfirst and second reflectors forming a resonator,a first gain medium disposed in said resonator,a source of pump energy coupled to said gain medium to cause said medium to generate lasing radiation,said first reflector comprising a waveguide loop, a modulator disposed in said loop, and a coupler for coupling said loop to said gain medium, characterized in that:
- said coupler comprises a circulator having a plurality of ports, one port being coupled to said gain medium and two ports being coupled to said waveguide loop.
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Abstract
In a pulsed Fabry-Perot laser, such as a Q-switched laser or a mode-locked laser, one of the resonator reflectors comprises a waveguide loop coupled to the gain medium via a circulator. In one embodiment, only a modulator is located in the loop. In another embodiment, the circulator is switchable and the loop may contain either an unidirectional device, such as an isolator, or may contain only the waveguide itself, depending on which states of the circulator are utilized in the switching process. Also described are several arrangements for multiplexing lasers of different operating wavelengths.
39 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A pulsed Fabry-Perot laser comprising
a first optical channel including first and second reflectors forming a resonator, a first gain medium disposed in said resonator, a source of pump energy coupled to said gain medium to cause said medium to generate lasing radiation, said first reflector comprising a waveguide loop, a modulator disposed in said loop, and a coupler for coupling said loop to said gain medium, characterized in that: said coupler comprises a circulator having a plurality of ports, one port being coupled to said gain medium and two ports being coupled to said waveguide loop. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A Fabry-Perot pulsed laser comprising
first and second reflectors forming a resonator, a gain medium disposed within resonator, a source of pumping energy coupled to said gain medium to generate lasing radiation, said first reflector comprising a waveguide loop and coupler for coupling said loop to said gain medium, characterized in that said coupler comprises a switchable circulator having a plurality of ports and being switchable between two states, in one of said states said radiation propagates in said loop and in the other it does not, said loop comprises an optical waveguide coupling two of said ports directly to one another and having no components interrupting said loop, and a controller switches said circulator between states.
Specification