Abstract: The invention relates to an external cavity tunable laser with dual beam outputs. The first laser cavity of the tunable laser comprises a first laser cavity mirror, a laser gain medium, an intracavity collimating lens, an active optical phase modulator, a tunable acousto-optic filter, a tunable Fabry-Perot tunable filter, a second reflection mirror all disposed inside a laser cavity sequentially, and a laser driver and control system. The laser cavity beam reflected by the first laser cavity mirror enters the tunable acousto-optic filter to generate a zeroth order diffracted beam as the first laser output beam. The laser cavity beam reflected by the second laser cavity mirror enters the tunable acousto-optic filter to generate a zeroth order diffracted beam as the second laser output beam. The tunable laser further comprises a wavelength locker outside the laser cavity.

Abstract: The invention relates to an external cavity tunable laser with dual beam outputs. The first laser cavity of the tunable laser comprises a first laser cavity mirror, a laser gain medium, an intracavity collimating lens, an active optical phase modulator, a tunable acousto-optic filter, a tunable Fabry-Perot tunable filter, a second reflection mirror all disposed inside a laser cavity sequentially, and a laser driver and control system. The laser cavity beam reflected by the first laser cavity mirror enters the tunable acousto-optic filter to generate a zeroth order diffracted beam as the first laser output beam. The laser cavity beam reflected by the second laser cavity mirror enters the tunable acousto-optic filter to generate a zeroth order diffracted beam as the second laser output beam. The tunable laser further comprises a wavelength locker outside the laser cavity.

Abstract: The invention relates to a broad band continuous tunable laser. The laser includes a first laser cavity mirror, a laser gain medium, an intracavity collimating lens, an active optical phase modulator, a tunable acousto-optic filter, and the tunable laser further includes an intracavity reflection mirror to reflect the first order diffracted beam of the first diffraction back to the tunable acousto-optic filter to compensate the wavelength shift, a tunable Fabry-Perot filter arranged in the optical path of the second diffraction beam, a second laser cavity mirror and a laser drive and control circuit system. A stable laser output and the precision optical frequency tuning for less than 1 GHz frequency accuracy within a wide spectrum range can be realized. The invention is compact with stable performance, low cost for volume production and easy installation without moving parts.

Abstract: The invention relates to an external cavity tunable laser with 25 GHz frequency interval. The laser comprise a laser cavity end mirror directly plated on a laser gain medium, and the laser gain medium, an intracavity collimating lens, an active optical phase modulator, a tunable acousto-optic filter and an intracavity total reflection mirror all arranged inside a laser cavity sequentially. The laser further comprises: an active polarization rotator arranged on the opposite side of the tunable acousto-optic filter from the intracavity total reflection mirror, a polarization beam splitter arranged behind the active polarization rotator, a first etalon, a first total reflection mirror, a second etalon, a second total reflection mirror, a drive source for the tunable acousto-optic filter, a pumping source for the laser gain medium, a drive source for the active optical phase modulator, a drive source for the active polarization rotator and a laser drive control circuit.

Abstract: The invention relates to an external cavity wideband tunable laser with dual laser gain media coupled by a thin film filter. The laser comprises: a first laser gain medium, a first laser cavity end mirror arranged on the first laser gain medium, a first intracavity collimating lens, an active optical phase modulator, a tunable acousto-optic filter, an intracavity reflection mirror, an etalon and a total reflection mirror, which are all arranged sequentially inside the laser cavity. The laser further comprises a second laser gain medium, a second laser cavity end mirror arranged on the second laser gain medium, a second intracavity collimating lens, a thin film optical filter for coupling the output light beams emitted from the first laser gain medium and the second laser gain medium, a radio frequency signal source, pumping sources for the two laser gain media, an active optical phase modulator drive source and a laser drive control circuit.

Abstract: The invention relates to a broad band continuous tunable laser. The laser includes a first laser cavity mirror, a laser gain medium, an intracavity collimating lens, an active optical phase modulator, a tunable acousto-optic filter, and the tunable laser further includes an intracavity reflection mirror to reflect the first order diffracted beam of the first diffraction back to the tunable acousto-optic filter to compensate the wavelength shift, a tunable Fabry-Perot filter arranged in the optical path of the second diffraction beam, a second laser cavity mirror and a laser drive and control circuit system. A stable laser output and the precision optical frequency tuning for less than 1 GHz frequency accuracy within a wide spectrum range can be realized. The invention is compact with stable performance, low cost for volume production and easy installation without moving parts.

Abstract: The invention relates to an external cavity tunable laser. The laser comprises an extracavity collimating lens arranged outside a laser cavity, and a laser output mirror, a laser gain medium, an intracavity collimating lens, an active optical phase modulator and a tunable optical filter all arranged sequentially inside the laser cavity. The laser further comprises an active polarization rotator arranged behind the tunable optical filter, a polarization beam splitter arranged behind the active polarization rotator, a first etalon and a first total reflection mirror arranged in the direction vertical to the optic axis of a laser cavity output lens, a second etalon and a second total reflection mirror arranged in the direction of the optic axis of the laser cavity output lens, and a laser drive and control circuit.

Abstract: An optical add/drop multiplexer including one or more optical drop multiplexers connected in free space or fused by optical fiber pigtails, a wavelength blocker with an input port connected to an output port of the optical drop multiplexer through the fusion of the fiber pigtails, one or more optical add multiplexers connected in free space or fused by fiber pigtails, a digital signal processor, an analog-to-digital signal converter, a digital-to-analog converter, and a plurality of electronic control and feedback loops for tuning and scanning an optical wavelength.

Abstract: The invention relates to an external cavity wideband tunable laser with dual laser gain media coupled by a polarization beam combiner. The laser comprises a first laser gain medium, a first laser cavity end mirror arranged on the first laser gain medium, a first intracavity collimating lens, an active optical phase modulator, a tunable acousto-optic filter, an intracavity reflection mirror, an etalon and a total reflection mirror which are arranged on the opposite side of the tunable acousto-optic filter from the intracavity reflection mirror inside a laser cavity.

Abstract: A tunable laser, including: a laser resonant cavity; a laser gain medium; an intra-cavity collimating lens; an acousto-optic tunable filter; a device exciting sound waves in an acousto-optic crystal; a radio frequency signal source providing radio frequency energy for the energy transducer and adjusting the oscillation wavelength of the laser resonant cavity by changing radio signal frequency; an optical phase modulator disposed between the intra-cavity collimating lens and the acousto-optic crystal; an optical etalon disposed between the optical phase modulator and the laser gain medium; a wavelength locker disposed at one of zero-order diffraction optical paths of intra-cavity light; a pigtailed collimator coupling laser output light to an optical fiber; a pumping source exciting the laser gain medium; a phase modulator driver for driving the optical phase modulator; and a signal control processing circuit.

Abstract: The invention relates to a precision optical frequency tunable laser. The laser includes: a laser gain medium, an intracavity collimating lens, an active optical phase modulator, a tunable acousto-optic filter and an intracavity total reflection mirror all arranged sequentially in a laser cavity, and the tunable laser further includes an active polarization rotator, a polarization beam splitter, two etalons, a temperature control system attached to the etalons, two total reflection mirrors, a radio frequency signal source, a laser pumping source, an active optical phase modulator drive source, an active polarization rotator drive source and a laser drive control circuit. Through the temperature control system attached to the etalons, stable laser output and the precision optical frequency tuning less than 1 GHz within a wide spectrum range can be realized, thereby greatly reducing the bandwidth requirements in achieving narrowband filtering for the tunable acousto-optic filter.

Abstract: An acousto-optical tunable filter is disclosed. The filter includes a medium having one or more indices of refractions alterable by the application of acoustic waves to the medium. The filter also includes an acoustic transducer coupled to the medium to generate the acoustic waves Altering the frequency of the acoustic wave selects among the different wavelengths in the incident light ray. The device also includes an optical mirror for reflecting a wave diffracted by the medium back to the medium so that it can again be diffracted. The first diffracted wave has its frequency shifted in one direction by the frequency of the acoustic wave while the second diffracted wave has its frequency shifted in the opposite direction, thereby compensating for the first shift. The result is an output ray with little or no frequency shift.

Abstract: A tunable laser, including: a laser resonant cavity including first and second total reflection mirrors within a laser spectral range; first and second wavelength-adjustable laser gain mediums disposed in the laser resonant cavity; first and second intra-cavity collimating lenses; an acousto-optic tunable filter; a device exciting sound waves in an acousto-optic crystal and including a sound wave energy transducer bonded on a selected surface of the crystal; a radio frequency signal source; an optical phase modulator; an optical etalon disposed between the optical phase modulator and the laser gain medium; a wavelength locker disposed at one of zero-order diffraction optical paths of intra-cavity light; a pigtailed collimator coupling laser output light to an optical fiber; first and second pumping devices exciting the first and second laser gain mediums respectively; an optical phase modulator driver for driving the phase modulator; and a signal control processing circuit.

Abstract: The invention relates to a precision optical frequency tunable laser. The laser includes: a laser gain medium, an intracavity collimating lens, an active optical phase modulator, a tunable acousto-optic filter and an intracavity total reflection mirror all arranged sequentially in a laser cavity, and the tunable laser further includes an active polarization rotator, a polarization beam splitter, two etalons, a temperature control system attached to the etalons, two total reflection mirrors, a radio frequency signal source, a laser pumping source, an active optical phase modulator drive source, an active polarization rotator drive source and a laser drive control circuit. Through the temperature control system attached to the etalons, stable laser output and the precision optical frequency tuning less than 1 GHz within a wide spectrum range can be realized, thereby greatly reducing the bandwidth requirements in achieving narrowband filtering for the tunable acousto-optic filter.

Abstract: The invention relates to an external cavity wideband tunable laser with dual laser gain media coupled by a thin film filter. The laser comprises: a first laser gain medium, a first laser cavity end mirror arranged on the first laser gain medium, a first intracavity collimating lens, an active optical phase modulator, a tunable acousto-optic filter, an intracavity reflection mirror, an etalon and a total reflection mirror, which are all arranged sequentially inside the laser cavity. The laser further comprises a second laser gain medium, a second laser cavity end mirror arranged on the second laser gain medium, a second intracavity collimating lens, a thin film optical filter for coupling the output light beams emitted from the first laser gain medium and the second laser gain medium, a radio frequency signal source, pumping sources for the two laser gain media, an active optical phase modulator drive source and a laser drive control circuit.

Abstract: The invention relates to an external cavity tunable laser. The laser comprises an extracavity collimating lens arranged outside a laser cavity, and a laser output mirror, a laser gain medium, an intracavity collimating lens, an active optical phase modulator and a tunable optical filter all arranged sequentially inside the laser cavity. The laser further comprises an active polarization rotator arranged behind the tunable optical filter, a polarization beam splitter arranged behind the active polarization rotator, a first etalon and a first total reflection mirror arranged in the direction vertical to the optic axis of a laser cavity output lens, a second etalon and a second total reflection mirror arranged in the direction of the optic axis of the laser cavity output lens, and a laser drive and control circuit.

Abstract: The invention relates to an external cavity tunable laser with 25 GHz frequency interval. The laser comprise a laser cavity end mirror directly plated on a laser gain medium, and the laser gain medium, an intracavity collimating lens, an active optical phase modulator, a tunable acousto-optic filter and an intracavity total reflection mirror all arranged inside a laser cavity sequentially. The laser further comprises: an active polarization rotator arranged on the opposite side of the tunable acousto-optic filter from the intracavity total reflection mirror, a polarization beam splitter arranged behind the active polarization rotator, a first etalon, a first total reflection mirror, a second etalon, a second total reflection mirror, a drive source for the tunable acousto-optic filter, a pumping source for the laser gain medium, a drive source for the active optical phase modulator, a drive source for the active polarization rotator and a laser drive control circuit.

Abstract: A multifunctional integrated optical device includes an input collimator (101) with a pigtail, an input birefringent crystal wedge (110), a Faraday rotator (120), a Pockels cell (130), an output birefringent crystal wedge (140) and an output collimator (102) with a pigtail, arranged along an optical path in turn. The optical device also includes an electric driver (150) for a variable attenuator and an optical switch, and another electric driver (160) for a modulator. The device employs the Pockels cell for dynamically rotating the polarization state of incident light at nanosecond speed for attenuation and modulation. The device can be used as a polarization independent optical isolator, an optical switch, a variable attenuator and a modulator, without mechanical moving parts, for use in various laser systems and particularly in a fiber optic telecommunication system.

Abstract: A scalable reconfigurable (or tunable) optical add/drop multiplexer (SROADM) is disclosed. The SROADM includes a pair of acoustic optic tunable filters (AOTF) and a wavelength blocker (WB). A first input port receives an initial wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) optical signal including to-be-dropped optical signal(s). A second input port(s) receives optical signal(s) to be added, which has the same wavelength(s) as that optical signal(s) to be dropped. In one embodiment, the WB is connected to the AOTFs through free space coupling. In another embodiment, the coupling is achieved by optical fiber fusion splicing. The latter method has advantage of using commercially available products and easier assembly while a more compact size is achievable by the free space coupling. The device is scalable in terms of number of add/drop ports and capacity to process any number of wavelength channels.

Abstract: An integrated optical device functioning as optical isolator, shutter, variable optical attenuator, and modulator is disclosed. The device employs a Pockels cell for dynamically rotating with nanosecond speed the polarization state of incident light for attenuation and modulation. The invention provides a compact, high performance and reliable device without moving parts for use in laser systems and particularly in fiber optic telecommunication system.