Tunable modelocked ultrafast laser
US6594301B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 21, 2001 |
| Grant date | Jul 15, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 30, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01S3/1625
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An automatically-tunable, ultrafast laser delivers ultrashort pulses having a duration a few picoseconds or less. The laser has a laser resonator including an optically-pumped gain-medium providing optical gain over a gain-bandwidth characteristic of the gain-medium. The resonator includes one or more groups of group-delay-dispersion compensating prisms. One or more prisms in each group is moveable with respect to one or more others. A stop is arranged, cooperative with the group of prisms, to select a pulse wavelength within the gain-bandwidth. Tuning of the selected pulse-wavelength is accomplished by moving the moveable prism or prisms cooperative with the stop. The prism motion and the spatial relationship of the prisms with the stop is arranged such that the optical path length in the prisms for all selected lasing wavelengths is about the same. This provides that changes in characteristics of the output-pulses are minimized as the pulse wavelength is varied.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.