Patents by Inventor Heike Christopher

Heike Christopher 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).

  • Patent number: 11677214
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a diode laser having reduced beam divergence. Some implementations reduce a beam divergence in the far field by means of a deliberate modulation of the real refractive index of the diode laser. An area of the diode laser (e.g., the injection zone), may be structured with different materials having different refractive indices. In some implementations, the modulation of the refractive index makes it possible to excite a supermode, the field of which has the same phase (in-phase mode) under the contacts. Light, which propagates under the areas of a lower refractive index, obtains a phase shift of ? after passing through the index-guiding trenches. Consequently, the in-phase mode is supported and the formation of the out-of-phase mode is prevented. Consequently, the laser field can, in this way, be stabilized even at high powers such that only a central beam lobe remains in the far field.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: FERDINAND-BRAUN-INSTITUT GGMBH, LEIBNIZ-INSTITUT FÜR HÖCHSTFREQUENZTECHNIK
    Inventors: Anissa Zeghuzi, Jan-Philipp Koester, Hans Wenzel, Heike Christopher, Andrea Knigge
  • Publication number: 20210305772
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a diode laser having reduced beam divergence. Some implementations reduce a beam divergence in the far field by means of a deliberate modulation of the real refractive index of the diode laser. An area of the diode laser (e.g., the injection zone), may be structured with different materials having different refractive indices. In some implementations, the modulation of the refractive index makes it possible to excite a supermode, the field of which has the same phase (in-phase mode) under the contacts. Light, which propagates under the areas of a lower refractive index, obtains a phase shift of ? after passing through the index-guiding trenches. Consequently, the in-phase mode is supported and the formation of the out-of-phase mode is prevented. Consequently, the laser field can, in this way, be stabilized even at high powers such that only a central beam lobe remains in the far field.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2021
    Publication date: September 30, 2021
    Inventors: Anissa Zeghuzi, Jan-Philipp Koester, Hans Wenzel, Heike Christopher, Andrea Knigge