Stable mode-locked laser for high repetition rate operation

• US 8,599,887 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2011
• Issued: 12/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Institut national de la recherche scientifique, University of Sydney
• Original Assignee: Institut national de la recherche scientifique
• Inventors: Moss, David, Morandotti, Roberto, Peccianti, Marco, Pasquazi, Alessia
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhang, Yuanda
• Application Number:
  US13/325,891
• Publication Number:
  US 20130156051A1
• Time in Patent Office: 720 Days
• Field of Search: 372/6, 372/94, 372/18, 372/20, 372/21
• US Class Current: 372/18
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/06712 Polarising fibre; Polariser
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/06791 Fibre ring lasers fibre laser gyrometers G01C19/72
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/08 Construction or shape of optical resonators or components thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/08027 by a filter, e.g. a Fabry-Perot filter is used for wavelength setting
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/082 defining a plurality of resonators, e.g. for mode selection or suppression
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/106 by controlling devices placed within the cavity H01S3/10076, H01S3/13 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/1112 Passive mode locking
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/1608 erbium

Abstract

A laser system comprises a high-Q nonlinear optical resonator, a cavity comprising an amplifying element and a dispersive element, an optical delay line adapted to tune the length of the cavity, and a large pass-band filter adapted to tune the cavity'"'"'s central oscillation wavelength, the nonlinear optical resonator being selected with a linewidth (LW_R) comparable to the cavity free-spectral range (FSR_C). There is provided a method for generating highly stable pulse streams, comprising providing a cavity comprising an amplifying element and a dispersive element; selecting a high-Q nonlinear optical resonator with a linewidth (LW_R) comparable to the cavity free-spectral range (FSR_C); tuning the length of the cavity; and tuning the cavity'"'"'s central oscillation wavelength.

Claims

1. A laser system, comprising:

a high-Q nonlinear optical resonator;

a cavity, comprising an amplifying element and a dispersive element;

an optical delay line, adapted to tune the length of the cavity; and

a large pass-band filter adapted to tune the cavity'"'"'s central oscillation wavelength,

wherein said cavity has a mode separation of the same order of magnitude of the bandwidth of said resonator, to produce a stable mode-locking and a pulsed emission at high repetition rates independent on the cavity length.

2. The laser system of claim 1, wherein said cavity comprises a single-mode fiber and an Erbium-doped fiber amplifier.

3. The laser system of claim 1, wherein said high-Q nonlinear optical resonator is a ring resonator.

4. The laser system of claim 1, wherein said cavity comprises a single-mode fiber and an Erbium-doped fiber amplifier, said high-Q nonlinear optical resonator is a ring resonator.

5. The laser system of claim 1, wherein said cavity has a total approximated length of L=3m or shorter and said high-Q nonlinear optical resonator is a ring resonator with quality factor Q=1.2×

10⁶.

6. The laser system of claim 1, wherein, in operation, only one main cavity mode per resonance of the resonator oscillates.

7. A method for generating highly stable pulse streams, comprising:

providing a high-Q nonlinear optical resonator;

providing a cavity, comprising an amplifying element and a dispersive element, wherein the cavity has a mode separation of the same order of magnitude of the bandwidth of the resonator, to produce a stable mode-locking and a pulsed emission at high repetition rates independent on the cavity length;

providing an optical delay line, adapted to tune the length of the cavity;

providing a large pass-band filter adapted to tune the cavity'"'"'s central oscillation wavelength;

tuning the length of the cavity; and

tuning the cavity'"'"'s central oscillation wavelength.