Fiber-coupled microsphere laser

• US 6,487,233 B2
• Filed: 02/23/2001
• Issued: 11/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: California Institute of Technology
• Original Assignee: California Institute of Technology
• Inventors: Ilchenko, Vladimir, Maleki, Lutfollah, Yao, Xiaotian S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Scott, Jr., Leon
• Application Number:
  US09/792,386
• Publication Number:
  US 20010038651A1
• Time in Patent Office: 641 Days
• Field of Search: 372/108, 372/6, 372/9, 372/92, 372/66, 372/67, 372/94, 385/28, 385/27
• US Class Current: 372/108
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/262 Optical details of coupling light into, or out of, or between fibre ends, e.g. special fibre end shapes or associated optical elements
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/0604 in the form of a plate or disc
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/0627 the resonator being monolithic, e.g. microlaser
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/063 Waveguide lasers, i.e. whereby the dimensions of the waveguide are of the order of the light wavelength waveguide gas lasers H01S3/0315
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/083 Ring lasers fibre ring lasers H01S3/06791
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/0941 of a laser diode

Abstract

A fiber-coupled laser based on a whispering-gallery-mode resonator formed of a laser gain medium and an angle-polished fiber coupler.

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

a resonator formed of a laser gain medium in a shape of at least a portion of a sphere that includes an equator of said sphere, said laser gain medium operable to absorb light at a pump wavelength and to emit light at a laser wavelength, said resonator configured to support whispering gallery modes at both said pump wavelength and said laser wavelength; and

an optical fiber configured to guide light at both said pump wavelength and said laser wavelength and to include an angle-polished facet that forms an angle with respect to said fiber, wherein said angle-polished facet positioned near said resonator to evanescently couple pump light at said pump wavelength in said optical fiber into a whispering gallery mode at said pump wavelength and to evanescently couple light in a whispering gallery mode at said laser wavelength into said optical fiber.

2. The device as in claim 1, further comprising an optical pump source coupled to said optical fiber to provide said pump light.

3. The device as in claim 2, where said optical pump source includes a laser.

4. The device as in claim 1, further comprising a wavelength-selective coupler coupled to said optical fiber to selectively couple light at said laser wavelength out of said optical fiber.

5. The device as in claim 1, wherein said laser gain material includes rare earth ions.

6. The device as in claim 1, wherein said laser gain material exhibits a gyromagnetic effect to allow said light in said whispering gallery mode at said laser wavelength to circulate in a single direction within said resonator.

7. A method, comprising:

using an angle-polished fiber coupler to evanescently couple a pump beam from a guided pump mode in said fiber coupler into a pump whispering gallery mode in a resonator formed from at least a portion of a sphere and of a laser gain medium that absorbs light at said pump beam to emit light at a laser wavelength;

maintaining said pump beam above a threshold level to generate a laser oscillation at said laser wavelength in said resonator in a laser whispering gallery mode that spatially overlaps with said pump beam in said pump whispering gallery mode; and

coupling laser energy in said laser whispering gallery mode out of said resonator via an evanescent field into said angle-polished fiber coupler to produce an output laser beam.

8. The method as in claim 7, further comprising suppressing one of two counter-propagating laser whispering gallery modes.

9. The method as in claim 8, wherein said laser gain material is configured to exhibit a gyromagnetic effect to provide said suppressing.

10. The method as in claim 8, further comprising controlling a magnetic field in said resonator to effectuate said suppressing.

11. A device, comprising:

a resonator formed of a dielectric medium in a shape of at least a portion of a sphere that includes an equator of said sphere, said dielectric medium and doped with active ions to absorb light at a pump wavelength and to emit light at a laser wavelength, said resonator configured to support whispering gallery modes at both said pump wavelength and said laser wavelength;

means for selecting a whispering gallery mode at said laser wavelength in a single selected direction for amplification while suppressing a whispering gallery mode at said laser wavelength in a direction opposite to said single selected direction; and

an optical fiber configured to guide light at both said pump wavelength and said laser wavelength and to include an angle-polished facet that forms an angle with respect to said fiber, wherein said angle-polished facet positioned near said resonator to evanescently couple pump light at said pump wavelength in said optical fiber into a whispering gallery mode at said pump wavelength and to evanescently couple light in said whispering gallery mode at said laser wavelength in said selected single direction into said optical fiber.

12. The device as in claim 11, wherein said dielectric medium is a type exhibiting a gyromagnetic effect and said means operates by controlling a magnetic field in said resonator based on aid gyromagnetic effect.

13. The device as in claim 11, further comprising an optical pump source coupled to said optical fiber to provide said pump light.

14. The device as in claim 13, where said optical pump source includes a laser.

15. The device as in claim 11, further comprising a wavelength-selective coupler coupled to said optical fiber to selectively couple light at said laser wavelength out of said optical fiber.