Abstract: An optical system includes a diode pump source and a thin disk gain media. The thin disk gain media has first and second surfaces and is made of a material with an anisotropic thermal expansion. At least one of the first and second surfaces is a cooling surface. The thin disk gain media is cut at an angle to provide substantially the same thermal expansion coefficient in all directions lying in a plane that is parallel to the cooling surface. An optical coupler is positioned between the diode pump source and the thin disk gain media to direct an output from the diode pump source to the thin disk gain media.

Abstract: Optical wavelength control method and apparatus which are capable of controlling an optical wavelength of a light source with a central wavelength which is uncertain and unstable at nanometer order is disclosed. In the optical wavelength control apparatus, the control target light entered from the variable wavelength light source is scanned at a prescribed period and optical pulses having a phase corresponding to the optical wavelength of the control target light are obtained. Then, a phase difference between a phase of the optical pulses and a phase corresponding to a reference optical wavelength is detected, and the variable wavelength light source is controlled by feeding back the phase difference to the variable wavelength light source such that the optical wavelength of the control target light is controlled by an optical frequency pulling with respect to the reference optical wavelength according to the phase difference.

Abstract: In accordance with the invention, a modulated RZ pulse source comprises a modulated light source optically coupled to a stabilized Bragg grating filter and one or more optical taps. The light source is preferably modulated in power and frequency and has an adjustable channel wavelength ?. The Bragg grating filter has a reflectivity bandwidth having a high slope reflectivity cutoff and is preferably tunable. A feedback arrangement responsive to the taps keeps the source channel wavelength ? on the edge of the reflectivity bandwidth for shaping RZ pulses. When the Bragg grating is stabilized, the feedback system maintains ? at a value linked to the grating reflectivity edge and, by overlapping at least part of the optical spectrum of the source, converts the modulated source light into RZ pulses with high extinction ratio (?12 dB). The result is a high power, jitter-free RZ pulse source that is compact, inexpensive and power efficient.