Methods and circuits for controlling drive mechanisms

• US 7,899,096 B1
• Filed: 10/30/2009
• Issued: 03/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Corning Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Corning Incorporated
• Inventors: Pikula, Dragan, Ehrenberg, David Gustave, Bhatia, Vikram
• Primary Examiner(s): Harvey; Minsun
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen; Phillip
• Application Number:
  US12/610,060
• Time in Patent Office: 487 Days
• Field of Search: 372/29.01, 372/29.011, 372/29.014, 372/29.02, 359/326, 359/328
• US Class Current: 372/29.011
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4225 by a direct measurement of the degree of coupling, e.g. the amount of light power coupled to the fibre or the opto-electronic element
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4226 Positioning means for moving the elements into alignment, e.g. alignment screws, deformation of the mount
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4227 Active alignment methods, e.g. procedures and algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/3775 with a periodic structure, e.g. domain inversion, for quasi-phase-matching [QPM] G02F1/383 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/005 Optical components external to the laser cavity, specially adapted therefor, e.g. for homogenisation or merging of the beams or for manipulating laser pulses, e.g. pulse shaping H01S5/026, H01S5/18388 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/0071 for beam steering, e.g. using a mirror outside the cavity to change the beam direction
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/0092 for nonlinear frequency conversion, e.g. second harmonic generation [SHG] or sum- or difference-frequency generation outside the laser cavity

Abstract

A method for aligning an optical package includes applying a dither waveform and an advancement waveform to a drive mechanism. The optical package includes a semiconductor laser operable to emit an output beam with a first wavelength, a wavelength conversion device operable to convert the output beam to a second wavelength, adaptive optics configured to optically couple the output beam into a waveguide portion of an input facet of the wavelength conversion device, and a drive mechanism coupled to the adaptive optics and configured to adjust a position of the output beam. The dither waveform oscillates the adaptive optics back and forth in first and second directions to oscillate the output beam on the input facet. The advancement waveform advances the adaptive optics in an adjustment direction. Rising and falling edge times of the dither waveform are greater than rising and falling edge times of the advancement waveform.

Claims

1. A method for aligning an optical package comprising a semiconductor laser operable to emit an output beam with a first wavelength, a wavelength conversion device operable to convert the output beam to a second wavelength, adaptive optics configured to optically couple the output beam into a waveguide portion of an input facet of the wavelength conversion device, a control circuit comprising a first resistive element and a second resistive element, and a drive mechanism coupled to the adaptive optics and configured to adjust a position of the output beam on the input facet, the method comprising:

applying an advancement waveform to the drive mechanism using the first resistive element to perform an advancement operation during which the drive mechanism advances the adaptive optics in an adjustment direction; and

applying a dither waveform to the drive mechanism using the second resistance element to perform a dither operation during which the drive mechanism oscillates the adaptive optics back and forth in first and second directions to oscillate a position of the output beam on the input facet;

wherein a polarity of the advancement waveform corresponds with the adjustment direction, and the first and second resistive elements are such that a rising edge time and a falling edge time of the dither waveform is greater than a rising edge time and a falling edge time of the advancement waveform.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rising and falling edge times of the dither waveform are such that a net motion of the adaptive optics is substantially zero during the dither operation.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the rising and falling edge times of the dither waveform are up to ten percent of a total pulse duration.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the dither waveform has a frequency of less than 300 Hz.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4 wherein the dither waveform has a duty cycle of about 50%.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rising and falling edge times of the advancement waveform are less than 200 ns.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the advancement waveform has a frequency within the range of 300-400 kHz.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7 wherein the advancement waveform has a duty cycle of about 30%.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rising and falling edge times of the dither waveform are such that a magnitude of adaptive optics displacement is between about 10 nm and about 50 nm during the dither operation.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein a resistance of the first resistive element is greater than a resistance of the second resistive element.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first resistive element is approximately 100 ohms and the second resistive element is approximately 1 ohm.

12. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the optical package further comprises a package controller and the dither and advancement waveforms are applied using the package controller.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12 wherein:

the drive mechanism comprises a first lead and a second lead;

the control circuit comprises a dither control circuit and an H-bridge having a first side coupled to the first lead and a second side coupled to the second lead;

the dither control circuit is coupled to the first lead of the drive mechanism;

the H-bridge is operable to apply the dither and advancement waveforms to the first and second leads of the drive mechanism, respectively; and

the package controller enables the dither control circuit to slow the rising and falling edges of the advancement waveform during the dither operation.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13 wherein:

the first and second side of the H-bridge each comprises the first resistive element;

the dither control circuit comprises a dither control gate and a dither half-bridge comprising the second resistive element; and

the dither control gate is operable to disable the first side of the H-bridge and enable the dither half-bridge during the dither operation in accordance with a dither select signal provided by the package controller such that the second resistive element is applied to the first lead of the smooth impact drive mechanism.

15. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

the method further comprises measuring a power of light exiting the wavelength conversion device as the adaptive optics oscillate during the dither operation to determine the adjustment direction; and

the adjustment direction corresponds with a direction of oscillation yielding an increased power measurement.

16. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the adaptive optics comprises a lens.

17. A control circuit for aligning an optical package comprising a semiconductor laser operable to emit an output beam with a first wavelength, a wavelength conversion device operable to convert the output beam to a second wavelength, adaptive optics configured to optically couple the output beam into a waveguide portion of an input facet of the wavelength conversion device, a first resistive element, a second resistive element, and a drive mechanism coupled to the adaptive optics and configured to adjust a position of the output beam on the input facet, wherein the control circuit is electrically coupled to the drive mechanism and is operable to:

apply an advancement waveform to the drive mechanism using the first resistive element to perform an advancement operation during which the drive mechanism advances the adaptive optics in an adjustment direction; and

apply a dither waveform to the drive mechanism using the second resistive element to perform a dither operation during which the drive mechanism oscillates the adaptive optics back and forth in first and second directions to oscillate a position of the output beam on the input facet;

wherein a polarity of the advancement waveform corresponds with the adjustment direction and the first and second resistive elements are such that a rising edge time and a falling edge time of the dither waveform is greater than a rising edge time and a falling edge time of the advancement waveform.

18. A method for controlling a drive mechanism coupled to an object, the method comprising:

applying an advancement waveform to the drive mechanism using a first resistive element of a control circuit to perform an advancement operation during which the drive mechanism advances the adaptive optics in an adjustment direction; and

applying a dither waveform to the drive mechanism using a second resistive element of the control circuit to perform a dither operation during which the drive mechanism oscillates the adaptive optics back and forth in first and second directions to oscillate a position of the output beam on the input facet;

wherein a polarity of the advancement waveform corresponds with the adjustment direction, and the first and second resistive elements are such that a rising edge time and a falling edge time of the dither waveform is greater than a rising edge time and a falling edge time of the advancement waveform.

19. A method as claimed in claim 18 wherein:

the object comprises adaptive optics within an optical package further comprising a semiconductor laser operable to emit an output beam with a first wavelength and a wavelength conversion device operable to convert the output beam to a second wavelength;

the adaptive optics is configured to optically couple the output beam into a waveguide portion of an input facet of the wavelength conversion device; and

the drive mechanism is configured to adjust a position of the output beam on the input facet.