Laser wavelength locker
US7027470B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 11, 2003 |
| Grant date | Apr 11, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 27, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01S5/4087
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The method and system operate to maintain a widely tunable laser (WTL) at a selected transmission wavelength. To lock the WTL to an ITU grid line, a portion of the output beam from the WTL is routed through the etalon to split the beam into a transmission line for detection by an etalon fringe detector. Another portion of the beam is routed directly to a laser wavelength detector to determine the power of the beam. A wavelength-locking controller compares signals from the two detectors and adjusts the temperature of the etalon to align the wavelength of one of the transmission lines of the etalon with the wavelength of the output beam, then controls the WTL in a feedback loop to lock the laser to the etalon line. The wavelength-locking controller thereafter monitors the temperature of the etalon and keeps the temperature constant to prevent any wavelength drift attributable to the etalon.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.