Narrow bandwidth laser array system
US5386426A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 10, 1992 |
| Grant date | Jan 31, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 10, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01S5/148
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A spectral narrowing of the output bandwidth from a laser array is obtained by feeding back to the array a portion of its emitted light, while outputting the remainder of the light emitted from the array. An optical system to accomplish this preferably includes a pair of lenses, together with a diffraction grating that can be positioned either in-line with the laser array and lenses, or in a side-arm along with one of the lenses. The lenses can be set up so that light from each laser element is fed back either to itself, or to a symmetrically located element on the opposite side of the system axis. For a multi-lobe output from the laser array, one of the lobes is used for feedback and the others as outputs, resulting in a narrowing of the output angular divergence as well as of the output bandwidth.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.