Method and apparatus for coherence enhancement of sweep velocity locked lasers via all-electronic upconversion
US10224694B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 21, 2017 |
| Grant date | Mar 5, 2019 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 21, 2037 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01S5/06832
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The present disclosure provides methods and apparatus to improve the dynamic coherent length of a sweep velocity-locked laser pulse generator (SV-LLPG) in an all-electronic fashion. A digital SV-LLPG is disclosed with two operation modes, i.e., unidirectional and bidirectional sweep modes; self-adaptive and time-dependent loop parameters (gain and location of poles/zeros); and, self-adaptive initial input curve. High frequency locking architectures, both single-side band (SSB) modulation method and direct phase measurement method, are provided to suppress the linewidth, or improve the coherent length, of the swept laser. A combination of high and low frequency locking, or a combination of multiple architectures disclosed in this invention, is utilized to achieve a higher level of linewidth reduction. The enhanced laser coherence extends the measurement range by at least one order of magnitude for applications including frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and optical fiber distributed sensing applications.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.