Pulsed laser sources
First Claim
1. A frequency comb source comprising:
- a mode-locked fiber oscillator comprising an optical fiber disposed in an optical cavity;
a non-linear optical element disposed to receive pulsed output from said mode-locked fiber oscillator and to generate a supercontinuum comprising a first train of optical pulses having a first set of frequency components;
an interferometer disposed to receive said first train of optical pulses, said interferometer comprising a frequency converter configured to generate a second train of optical pulses having a second set of frequency components that are shifted in frequency with respect to the first set of frequency components, said second train of optical pulses temporally overlapping said first set of optical pulses, said interferometer configured to interfere at least a portion of said first train and said second train of optical pulses to generate an optical interference signal comprising beat frequencies;
an optical detector configured to detect said optical interference signal and output said beat frequencies; and
an output coupler configured to extract a frequency comb to an external output.
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Abstract
Modelocked fiber laser resonators may be coupled with optical amplifiers. An isolator optionally may separate the resonator from the amplifier. A reflective optical element on one end of the resonator having a relatively low reflectivity may be employed to couple light from the resonator to the amplifier. Enhanced pulse-width control may be provided with concatenated sections of both polarization-maintaining and non-polarization-maintaining fibers. Apodized fiber Bragg gratings and integrated fiber polarizers may also be included in the laser cavity to assist in linearly polarizing the output of the cavity. Very short pulses with a large optical bandwidth may be obtained by matching the dispersion value of the grating to the inverse of the dispersion of the intra-cavity fiber. Frequency comb sources may be constructed from such modelocked fiber oscillators. Low dispersion and an in-line interferometer that provides feedback may assist in controlling the frequency components output from the comb source.
164 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A frequency comb source comprising:
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a mode-locked fiber oscillator comprising an optical fiber disposed in an optical cavity; a non-linear optical element disposed to receive pulsed output from said mode-locked fiber oscillator and to generate a supercontinuum comprising a first train of optical pulses having a first set of frequency components; an interferometer disposed to receive said first train of optical pulses, said interferometer comprising a frequency converter configured to generate a second train of optical pulses having a second set of frequency components that are shifted in frequency with respect to the first set of frequency components, said second train of optical pulses temporally overlapping said first set of optical pulses, said interferometer configured to interfere at least a portion of said first train and said second train of optical pulses to generate an optical interference signal comprising beat frequencies; an optical detector configured to detect said optical interference signal and output said beat frequencies; and an output coupler configured to extract a frequency comb to an external output. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification