Patent · US Expired

Apparatus and method of laser power and frequency stabilization of radio frequency excited laser using optogalvanic effect

US6084893A · kind A · utility

5Cited by
4References
10Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 15, 1998
Grant dateJul 4, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 15, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01S3/134
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An apparatus for and a method of stabilizing the laser power and frequency of a radio frequency excited laser, which are adapted to lock the laser power and frequency of the laser at the vertex of a laser gain curve using an optogalvanic effect generated from the laser itself, thereby stabilizing the laser power and frequency without requiring any specific unit to be arranged inside or outside a cavity of the laser. A capacitor is coupled to a radio frequency inlet of the radio frequency discharge tube. The capacitor serves to induce a part of radio frequency energy, introduced into the radio frequency discharge tube, toward a detector, so that the optogalvanic signal is measured, based on the induced signal, after removing radio frequency components from the induced signal by the detector, thereby enabling a measurement of a variation in input radio frequency energy caused by the optogalvanic effect. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a stable, simple and compact laser exhibiting an improved laser efficiency.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.