Active mode-locked lasers and other photonic devices using electro-optic whispering gallery mode resonators
First Claim
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1. A device, comprising:
- an optical resonator supporting whispering gallery modes and comprising an optical material which exhibits an electro-optical effect and an optical gain at a laser wavelength when optically pumped by light at a pump wavelength, said optical resonator to modulate light in response to a control electrical signal;
an optical coupler to couple a pump beam at said pump wavelength into a pump whispering gallery mode in said optical resonator to produce laser light in a laser whispering gallery mode at said laser wavelength; and
an electrical unit having electrodes formed on said optical resonator to apply said control electrical signal to said optical resonator to modulate said laser light to cause mode locking in said laser light to produce laser pulses.
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Abstract
Techniques and devices using whispering gallery mode (WGM) optical resonators, where the optical materials of the WGM resonators exhibit an electro-optical effect to perform optical modulation. Examples of actively mode-locked lasers and other devices are described.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A device, comprising:
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an optical resonator supporting whispering gallery modes and comprising an optical material which exhibits an electro-optical effect and an optical gain at a laser wavelength when optically pumped by light at a pump wavelength, said optical resonator to modulate light in response to a control electrical signal; an optical coupler to couple a pump beam at said pump wavelength into a pump whispering gallery mode in said optical resonator to produce laser light in a laser whispering gallery mode at said laser wavelength; and an electrical unit having electrodes formed on said optical resonator to apply said control electrical signal to said optical resonator to modulate said laser light to cause mode locking in said laser light to produce laser pulses. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method, comprising:
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providing a whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator to exhibit both an electro-optic effect for optical modulation and an optical gain at a laser wavelength when optically pumped at a pump wavelength; coupling pump light at the pump wavelength into the WGM resonator to generate laser light in a plurality of whispering gallery modes at the laser wavelength; and applying an electrical control signal to the resonator to modulate the laser light and to lock the whispering gallery modes at the laser wavelength to produce laser pulses. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A device, comprising:
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an optical ring having a gain section to produce an optical gain at a laser wavelength and carrying laser light at the laser wavelength; and an electro-optic modulator separate from and optically coupled in said optical ring to modulate the laser light in response to a modulator control signal, said modulator comprising a whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator which exhibits an electro-optical effect, electrodes on said WGM resonator to receive the modulator control signal, and a controller to produce the modulator control signal.
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26. A device, comprising:
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an optical ring having a gain section to produce an optical gain at a laser wavelength and carrying laser light at the laser wavelength; and an electro-optic modulator coupled in said optical ring to modulate the laser light in response to a modulator control signal, said modulator comprising a whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator which exhibits an electro-optical effect, electrodes on said WGM resonator to receive the modulator control signal, and a controller to produce the modulator control signal, wherein said gain section comprises a semiconductor optical amplifier.
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27. A device, comprising:
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an optical ring having a gain section to produce an optical gain at a laser wavelength and carrying laser light at the laser wavelength; and an electro-optic modulator coupled in paid optical ring to modulate the laser light in response to a modulator control signal, said modulator comprising a whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator which exhibits an electro-optical effect, electrodes on said WGM resonator to receive the modulator control signal, and a controller to produce the modulator control signal, wherein said gain section comprises an optical material that absorbs pump light at a pump wavelength to produce light at the laser wavelength. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. A device, comprising:
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an optical ring having a gain section to produce an optical gain at a laser wavelength and carrying laser light at the laser wavelength; an electro-optic modulator coupled in said optical ring to modulate the laser light in response to a modulator control signal, said modulator comprising a whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator which exhibits an electro-optical effect, electrodes on said WGM resonator to receive the modulator control signal, and a controller to produce the modulator control signal, an optical coupler coupled in said optical ring to split a portion of the laser light in said optical ring; an optical detector to convert light from said optical coupler into an electrical detector signal; and an electrical section to receive and process the electrical detector signal to produce the modulator control signal. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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34. A device, comprising:
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a ring laser comprising a ring loop with a first loop gain greater than optical loss in said ring loop to produce laser light; a whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator coupled in said ring laser to transmit the laser light from side of said WGM resonator to another side of said WGM resonator in said ring loop, said WGM resonator comprising an electro-optic material and operable to modulate the laser light in response to an electrical control signal; an optical coupler in said ring fiber to split a fraction of the laser light to produce an optical feedback signal; an optical detector to convert the optical feedback signal into a detector signal; and an electrical section electrically coupled between said optical detector and said modulator to process said detector signal to produce the electrical control signal. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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37. A device, comprising:
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a CW laser to produce a CW laser beam; and an optical resonator supporting whispering gallery modes and comprising an optical material which exhibits an electro-optical effect, said optical resonator optically coupled to receive the CW laser beam and to modulate the CW laser beam in response to a control electrical signal to produce laser pulses that have a spectral comb formed by modulation bands produced by the modulation.
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Specification