Patents by Inventor Eric G. Oelker

Eric G. Oelker has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Optical local oscillator for all-optical time scales, and associated timekeeping methods
    Patent number: 11353827
    Abstract: The frequency stability of an optical local oscillator is improved by locking a laser to a silicon Fabry-Perot cavity operating at a temperature near 124 K, where the coefficient of thermal expansion of silicon is near zero. The cavity is mounted inside a cryostat housed in a temperature-stabilized vacuum system that is surrounded by an isolating enclosure and supported by an active vibration platform. Laser light is steered with a superpolished mirror toward a superpolished focusing optic that couples the laser light into the cavity. Light reflected from the cavity is used to stabilize the laser via the Pound-Drever-Hall technique, while light transmitted through the cavity is used to stabilize the laser power. A resonant transimpedance amplifier allows the laser power to be reduced, which reduces heating of the cavity caused by residual absorption of the light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignees: The Regents of the Univ. of Colorado, a body corp., Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Commerse
    Inventors: Jun Ye, Eric G. Oelker, William R. Milner, John M. Robinson, Colin J. Kennedy, Tobias Bothwell, Dhruv Kedar, Terry Brown
  • OPTICAL LOCAL OSCILLATOR FOR ALL-OPTICAL TIME SCALES, AND ASSOCIATED TIMEKEEPING METHODS
    Publication number: 20220155730
    Abstract: The frequency stability of an optical local oscillator is improved by locking a laser to a silicon Fabry-Perot cavity operating at a temperature near 124 K, where the coefficient of thermal expansion of silicon is near zero. The cavity is mounted inside a cryostat housed in a temperature-stabilized vacuum system that is surrounded by an isolating enclosure and supported by an active vibration platform. Laser light is steered with a superpolished mirror toward a superpolished focusing optic that couples the laser light into the cavity. Light reflected from the cavity is used to stabilize the laser via the Pound-Drever-Hall technique, while light transmitted through the cavity is used to stabilize the laser power. A resonant transimpedance amplifier allows the laser power to be reduced, which reduces heating of the cavity caused by residual absorption of the light.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Publication date: May 19, 2022
    Inventors: Jun Ye, Eric G. Oelker, William R. Milner, John M. Robinson, Colin J. Kennedy, Tobias Bothwell, Dhruv Kedar, Terry Brown