Monlithic nonplanar ring oscillator and method
US5043996A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 31, 1989 |
| Grant date | Aug 27, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 31, 2009 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01S3/0627
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A monolithic nonplanar ring oscillator having an optically isotropic solid-state laser body for propagating laser radiation about a nonplanar ring path internal to the laser body is disclosed. The monolithic laser body is configured to produce a 2N reflection nonplanar ring light path, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2, comprising 2N-1 total internal reflections and one reflection at a coupler in a single round trip. Undirectional traveling wave oscillation of the laser is induced by the geometry of the nonplanar ring path together with the effect of an applied magnetic field and partial polarizer characteristics of the oblique reflection from the coupler. The 6-reflection nonplanar ring oscillator makes possible otpimal unidirectional oscillation (low loss for the oscillating direction of propagation and, simultaneously high loss for the nonoscillating direction of propagation) in monolithic NPROs using materials with index of refraction smaller than the square root of 3, for example, laser glass.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.