IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
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국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
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출원번호 |
US-0900474
(2001-07-06)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
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출원인 / 주소 |
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대리인 / 주소 |
Blakely, Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman LLP
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
31 인용 특허 :
116 |
초록
▼
A laser having a grid generator that is configured such that the grid transmission peaks can be changed or varied during laser operation. The grid generator is tunable between at least two different, selectable grid spacings. The laser may be of various configurations, and may be a tunable external
A laser having a grid generator that is configured such that the grid transmission peaks can be changed or varied during laser operation. The grid generator is tunable between at least two different, selectable grid spacings. The laser may be of various configurations, and may be a tunable external cavity laser having a channel selector in the external cavity. The laser may further comprise a tuner or tuning assembly operatively coupled to the grid generator and configured to adjust the grid generator to the selectable communication grids.
대표청구항
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1. An external cavity laser apparatus, comprising:a gain medium having first and second output facets, said gain medium having an active region to emit a beam from said first output facet along an optical path;a reflector positioned in said optical path, said reflector and said second output facet d
1. An external cavity laser apparatus, comprising:a gain medium having first and second output facets, said gain medium having an active region to emit a beam from said first output facet along an optical path;a reflector positioned in said optical path, said reflector and said second output facet defining an external cavity;a grid etalon positioned in said optical path; anda grid etalon tuner operatively coupled to said grid etalon and configured to adjust said grid etalon from a first communication grid to a second communication grid during operation of the external cavity laser, each of the first and second communication grids defining a plurality of transmission bands that are spaced apart according to the free spectral range of the grid etalon. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said grid etalon tuner is configured to rotatably adjust said grid etalon in said optical path. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:a channel selector positioned in said optical path; anda channel selector tuner operatively coupled to said channel selector and configured to tune said channel selector to a transmission band of the plurality of transmission bands. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an external cavity optical path length tuner operatively coupled to said external cavity and configured to adjust an optical path length for said external cavity. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said grid etalon is made of an electro-optic material having a voltage-dependent refractive index and said grid generator tuner is controllable to supply a selectable voltage to the grid etalon to effectuate grid generator tuning by changing the refractive index of the grid etalon. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a controller, operatively coupled to the grid etalon tuner, to control the grid etalon tuner. 7. A method for generating a tunable coherent optical output, comprising:providing an external cavity laser including a gain medium with first and second output facets and an active region;emitting a coherent beam from said active region out of said first output facet along an optical path, and an end mirror positioned in said optical path, said end mirror and said second output facet defining an external cavity;positioning a grid etalon in association with said optical path; andchanging said grid etalon from a first selectable communication grid to a second selectable communication grid during operation of the external cavity laser, each of said first and second selectable communication grids defining a plurality of wavelength passbands that are spaced apart according to the free spectral range of the grid etalon. 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising tuning a channel selector positioned in association with said optical path, said channel selector to produce a tunable transmission peak via which channel selection is effectuated by aligning the tunable transmission peak with a wavelength passband of the plurality of wavelength passbands. 9. The method of claim 7, wherein said changing comprises rotationally adjusting said grid etalon. 10. The method of claim 7, further comprising adjusting an optical path length for said external cavity. 11. An apparatus, comprising:a gain medium including an active region and having a first and second output facets, the gain medium to emit a coherent beam from the active region out of the first output facet along an optical path;an end mirror disposed opposite the first output facet of the gain medium, the end mirror and the second output facet defining an external laser cavity;a grid generator positioned in the optical path,a grid generator tuner operatively coupled to said grid generator to adjust said grid generator from a first communication grid to a second communication grid during operation of the apparatus, each of said first and second communication grids defining a plurality of wavelength passbands having a constant wavelength spacing according to channel spacing defined by each selectable communication grid; anda controller coupled to the grid generator tuner to provide a signal to the grid generator tuner to adjust the grid generator from the first communication grid to the second communication grid. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the grid generator comprises a grid etalon, and the grid generator tuner tunes the grid generator by rotating the grid generator. 13. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a drive current source coupled to the gain medium and the controller, the drive current source to selectively control the level of current supplied to the gain medium. 14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a voltage sensor coupled to the gain medium and the controller, the voltage sensor to provide a voltage feedback signal to the controller corresponding to a voltage differential across the gain medium. 15. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a channel selector operatively coupled to the controller, the channel selector to align a transmission peak produced by the channel selector with a wavelength passband of the plurality of wavelength passbands. 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the channel selector is a wedge etalon. 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the wedge etalon is tuned by adjusting a position of the wedge etalon in the optical path. 18. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising an external cavity tuner coupled to the end mirror and the controller, the external cavity tuner to position the end mirror to adjust the optical path length between the end mirror and the gain medium. 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the external cavity tuner comprises a linear actuator device. 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the external cavity tuner comprises a thermally tunable compensator element. 21. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a dither element to generate a modulation in an output characteristic of the laser detectable to produce a feedback signal for tuning the laser.
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