Noise detection, diagnostics, and control of modelocked lasers
First Claim
1. A laser based system, comprising:
- a mode-locked oscillator generating optical pulses at a repetition frequency, frep;
a noise detection unit comprising;
at least one optical detector that monitors optical pulses generated by the mode-locked oscillator and produces electrical signals in response to the optical pulses, said noise detection unit comprising a first filter to transmit signal power over a signal bandwidth which includes said repetition frequency, frep, and further comprising one or more additional filters to transmit power over a noise bandwidth that substantially excludes the repetition frequency, frep;
non-linear signal processing equipment to generate one or more signals representative of power in the signal bandwidth relative to power in the noise bandwidth; and
a controller which estimates the relative power in the signal bandwidth and in the noise bandwidth, and is configured to generate a signal for controlling at least an element of the laser based system based on the relative power.
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Abstract
The present invention features a laser based system configured with a noise detection unit. The system includes a mode-locked oscillator. A noise detection unit includes at least one optical detector that monitors optical pulses generated by the mode-locked oscillator and produces an electrical signal in response to the optical pulses. The noise detection unit includes a first filter to transmit signal power over a signal bandwidth which includes the mode-locked laser repetition frequency, frep. The noise detection unit may include one or more filters to transmit power over a noise bandwidth that substantially excludes repetition frequency, frep. Non-linear signal processing equipment is utilized to generate one or more signals representative of the power in the signal bandwidth relative to the power in the noise bandwidth. The system includes a controller operable to generate a signal for controlling the laser based system based on the relative power.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A laser based system, comprising:
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a mode-locked oscillator generating optical pulses at a repetition frequency, frep; a noise detection unit comprising; at least one optical detector that monitors optical pulses generated by the mode-locked oscillator and produces electrical signals in response to the optical pulses, said noise detection unit comprising a first filter to transmit signal power over a signal bandwidth which includes said repetition frequency, frep, and further comprising one or more additional filters to transmit power over a noise bandwidth that substantially excludes the repetition frequency, frep; non-linear signal processing equipment to generate one or more signals representative of power in the signal bandwidth relative to power in the noise bandwidth; and a controller which estimates the relative power in the signal bandwidth and in the noise bandwidth, and is configured to generate a signal for controlling at least an element of the laser based system based on the relative power. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification