Broadband laser source
US5255274A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 8, 1992 |
| Grant date | Oct 19, 1993 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 8, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01S3/06795
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A laser source comprises an optical fiber doped with a homogeneously broadened lasing medium, preferably with Erbium, pumped by a laser pump source and an intracavity acousto-optic modulator. When the acousto-optic modulator is driven by a variable frequency source, the Erbium fluorescence line emitted by the Erbium-doped optical fiber can be electronically tuned. In another embodiment, an electronic sweep waveform is used to frequency modulate the acoustic signal produced by the acousto-optic modulator. Without the low-rate frequency modulation, Erbium in a silica optical fiber is a mostly homogeneously broadened gain medium with a narrow laser linewidth. When measured on a long time scale, low-rate frequency modulation provides a broader spectral width, on the order of 19 nm, which makes such a source an ideal source for certain optical applications such as fiber optic gyroscopes.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.