US3662183A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Continuously tunable optical parametric oscillator
Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1970-12-28
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Granted: 1972-05-09
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Expires: 1990-12-28
Abstract
Abstract The gain curve peak and the signal axial modes are made to track together in a continuously tunable, singly resonant optical parametric oscillator (SRO) in which nonresonant pump radiation and nonresonant idler radiation are each made to reflect back upon themselves and to traverse the nonlinear medium twice. In a preferred embodiment, in at least a portion of the oscillator the pump is made to propagate in an optical path excluding the resonated signal (nonresonant idler SRO). In this portion and in the signal resonator the round-trip optical path lengths of the pump and resonated signals, respectively, are varied in accordance with a prescribed relationship. The path lengths may be altered by several means including transparent wedges, gas cells, rotating plates or piezoelectric crystals mounted on appropriate mirrors.
Inventors
- 👤 Arthur Ashkin
- 👤 John Ernst Bjorkholm
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 23:49
CPC Classifications
G; G02; G02F; G02F1/00; G02F1/35; G02F1/39
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
114 words
A continuously tunable optical parametric oscillator comprising a nonlinear medium, pumping means applying to said medium pump radiation effective to generate signal and idler radiation, resonator means for making resonant either the signal or idler radiation, but not both, means for causing both the pump radiation and the nonresonant radiation to traverse said medium twice only, and adjustable means for altering the round-trip optical path length of the pump radiation and for altering the round-trip optical path length of the resonant radiation by a much greater amount effective to cause the peak of the gain curve of said medium and the axial modes of the resonant radiation to track together in the frequency domain.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
114 words
A continuously tunable optical parametric oscillator comprising a nonlinear medium, pumping means applying to said medium pump radiation effective to generate signal and idler radiation, resonator means for making resonant either the signal or idler radiation, but not both, means for causing both the pump radiation and the nonresonant radiation to traverse said medium twice only, and adjustable means for altering the round-trip optical path length of the pump radiation and for altering the round-trip optical path length of the resonant radiation by a much greater amount effective to cause the peak of the gain curve of said medium and the axial modes of the resonant radiation to track together in the frequency domain.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
52 words
The oscillator of claim 1 including an excluded optical path in which either the pump radiation or the resonant radiation propagates, but not both, said adjustable means for altering the path lengths of the pump radiation and the resonant radiation being disposed, respectively, in said excluded path and in said resonator means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
37 words
The oscillator of claim 2 wherein the pump, signal and idler radiation propagate collinearly in said medium and in combination with selection means disposed within said resonator to cause the pump radiation to traverse said excluded path.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
26 words
The oscillator of claim 3 wherein said selection means comprises a dichroic mirror highly reflective to pump radiation and highly transmissive to signal and idler radiation.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
The oscillator of claim 3 wherein the pump and resonant radiation are orthogonally polarized and said selection means comprises a polarization sensitive device for deflecting the pump radiation into said excluded path
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
47 words
The oscillator of claim 3 wherein said resonator means comprises a pair of parallel reflectors at least one of said reflectors being highly transmissive to pump radiation, and said causing means includes a pump reflector disposed parallel to said one reflector to form said excluded path therebetween.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
62 words
The oscillator of claim 1 wherein the pump, signal and idler radiation traverse said medium noncollinearly and such that the directions of signal and idler radiation form an angle of about ( theta s + theta i) with one another where theta s and theta i are the angles which the signal and idler make, respectively, with the direction of pump radiation.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
62 words
The oscillator of claim 2 wherein said resonator means comprises a pair of parallel reflectors, said causing means includes a pump reflector disposed normal to the direction of pump radiation propagation and said adjustable means comprises means for displacing said pump reflector and at least one of said parallel reflectors by a much greater amount in the direction of radiation incident thereon.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
39 words
The oscillator of claim 8 wherein said displacing means comprises at least two piezoelectric crystals, one of which is mounted on at least one of said parallel reflectors and the other of which is mounted on said pump reflector.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
48 words
The oscillator of claim 2 wherein said adjustable means comprises a transparent device the optical thickness of which in the direction of radiation propagation therethrough is controllably changeable, at least one of said devices being disposed in said excluded path and at least one within said resonator means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
77 words
The oscillator of claim 10 wherein said device comprises a pair of right triangular prisms having their hypotenuse faces slidable abutting one another, said faces being disposed transverse to the direction of propagation therethrough and means for sliding said prisms along said faces so that the change in rOund-trip optical path length of pump radiation in said excluded path is much less than the change in round-trip optical path length of resonant radiation in said resonator means.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
47 words
The oscillator of claim 10 wherein said device comprises a body having a pair of parallel faces, the plane including the normal to said faces being parallel to the direction of radiation propagation through said body, said body being rotatable about an axis perpendicular to said plane.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
82 words
The oscillator of claim 2 wherein said adjustable means comprises at least two gas cells, at least one of which is disposed in said excluded path and at least one of which is disposed in said resonator means, and means for controllably varying the pressure within said cells so that the change in round-trip optical path length of pump radiation in said excluded path is much less than the change in round-trip optical path length of resonant radiation in said resonator means.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
78 words
The oscillator of claim 1 wherein said adjustable means is effective to satisfy approximately the following relationship. where Delta Ls change in optical path length for the signal radiation Delta Lp change in optical path length for the pump radiation lambda so signal wavelength corresponding to a momentum mismatch Delta k 0 lambda p pump wavelength for Delta K 0 N number of signal axial modes contained in the full bandwidth of the SRO for Delta k O.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1975-05-09 | 1975-11-08 | 1976-05-09 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1979-05-09 | 1979-11-08 | 1980-05-09 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1983-05-09 | 1983-11-08 | 1984-05-09 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |