Phase locked dielectric ridge gas laser

Claim 2

A phase locked ridge waveguide gas laser contained within a housing, comprising: ceramic body means having a cavity with a length, width and depth formed therein; gas lasing means contained within said cavity; excitation means disposed on said ceramic body means for providing radio frequency excitation of said gas lasing means producing an electrical discharge therein; mirror means positioned relative to said housing means so as to provide lasing of said electrical discharge; and ridge means located with said cavity, extending along said length and forming therein a plurality of laser resonators providing a guided mode optical signal in each of said resonators, said ridge means further providing less than total separation between said resonators, thereby forming a gap extending over at least a portion of said length and providing a direct path in said gas lasing means between said plurality of laser resonator, for phase locking said guided mode optical signals; and said excitation means includes an electrode extending over said ridge means, whereby said radio frequency excitation extends into said gap.

Claim 3

The phase locked waveguide gas laser of claim 1, wherein said gas lasing means comprises a gas mixture of approximately 65% helium, 22% nitrogen and 13% carbon dioxide by mole fraction.

Claim 4

The phase locked waveguide gas laser of claim 1, wherein said ceramic body means comprises Al 2 O 3 .

Claim 5

The phase locked ridge waveguide gas laser of claim 1, wherein said radio frequency excitation means comprises a distributed inductance parallel resonant radio frequency circuit.

Claim 6

The phase locked ridge waveguide gas laser of claim 1, wherein said ridge means comprises a plurality of longitudinal partitions equally spaced across said cavity width having a cross sectional area perpendicular to said cavity length and having a height between 0.8 and 0.5 times said cavity depth.

Claim 7

The phase locked ridge waveguide gas laser of claim 5, wherein said cross sectional area comprises a rectangle.

Claim 8

The phase locked ridge waveguide gas laser of claim 5, wherein said cross sectional area comprises a modified double concave surface.

Claim 9

A ridge waveguide optical phased array gas laser responsive to an external signal contained within a housing, comprising: ceramic body means having a cavity with a length, width and depth formed therein; gas lasing means contained within said cavity; excitation means disposed on said ceramic body means for providing radio frequency excitation of said gas lasing means producing an electrical discharge therein; mirror means positioned relative to said housing means so as to provide lasing of said electrical discharge; ridge means located with said cavity, extending along said length and forming therein a plurality of laser resonators providing a guided mode optical signal in each of said resonators, said ridge means further providing less than total separation between said resonators, thereby forming a gap extending over at least a portion of said length and providing a direct path in said gas lasing means between said plurality of laser resonator, for phase locking said guided mode optical signals; in which said excitation means includes an electrode extending over said ridge means, whereby said radio frequency excitation extends into said gap; and extra cavity phase modulation means responsive to the external signal for receiving said guided mode optical signals and providing thereto a phase delay therebetween.

Claim 10

A ridge waveguide optical phased array gas laser responsive to an external signal contained within a housing, comprising: ceramic body means having a cavity with a length, width and depth formed therein; gas lasing means contained within said cavity; excitation means disposed on said ceramic body means for providing radio frequency excitation of said gas lasing means producing an electrical discharge therein; mirror means positioned relative to said housing means so as to provide lasing of said electrical discharge; ridge means located with said cavity, extending along said length and forming therein a plurality of laser resonators providing a guided mode optical signal in each of said resonators, said ridge means further providing less than total separation between said resonators, thereby forming a gap extending over at least a portion of said length and providing a direct path in said gas lasing means between said plurality of laser resonator, for phase locking said guided mode optical signals; in which said excitation means includes an electrode extending over said ridge means, whereby said radio frequency excitation extends into said gap; and extra cavity phase modulation means responsive to the external signal for receiving said guided mode optical signals and providing thereto a phase delay therebetween.

Claim 11

The ridge waveguide optical phased array of claim 8, wherein said gas lasing means comprises a gas mixture of approximately 65% helium, 22% nitrogen and 13% carbon dioxide by mole fraction.

Claim 12

The ridge waveguide optical phase array of claim 8, wherein said ceramic body means comprises aluminum oxide Al 2 O 3 .

Claim 13

The ridge waveguide optical phased array of claim 8, wherein said radio frequency excitation means comprises a distributed inductance parallel resonant radio frequency circuit.

Claim 14

The ridge waveguide optical phased array of claim 8, wherein said extra-cavity modulation means comprises a cadmium telluride crystal (CdTe).

Claim 15

The ridge waveguide optical phased array of claim 8, wherein said ridge means comprises a plurality of longitudinal partitions equally spaced across said cavity width having a cross sectional area perpendicular to said cavity length and having a height between 0.8 and 0.5 times said cavity depth.

Claim 16

The ridge waveguide optical phased array of claim 13, wherein said cross sectional area comprises a rectangle.

Claim 17

The ridge waveguide optical phased array of claim 13, wherein said cross sectional area comprises a modified double concave surface.

Claim 18

A phase controlled ridge waveguide gas laser responsive to an external signal contained within a housing, comprising: ceramic body means having a cavity with a length, width and depth formed therein located within the housing; gas lasing means contained within said cavity; excitation means disposed on said ceramic body means for providing radio frequency excitation of said gas lasing means producing an electrical discharge therein; mirror means positioned relative to said housing means so as to provide lasing of said electrical discharge; ridge means located with said cavity, extending along said length and forming therein a plurality of laser resonators providing a guided mode optical signal in each of said resonators, said ridge means further providing less than total separation between said resonators, thereby forming a gap extending over at least a portion of said length and providing a direct path in said gas lasing means between said plurality of laser resonator, for phase locking said guided mode optical signals; (and) in which said excitation means includes an electrode extending over said ridge means, whereby said radio frequency excitation extends into said gap; and discharge intensity modulation means responsive to the external signal for providing each of said resonators supplemental intra-resonator radio frequency modulation.

Claim 19

A phase controlled ridge waveguide gas laser responsive to an external signal contained within a housing, comprising: ceramic body means having a cavity with a length, width and depth formed therein located within the housing; gas lasing means contained within said cavity; excitation means disposed on said ceramic body means for providing radio frequency excitation of said gas lasing means producing an electrical discharge therein; mirror means positioned relative to said housing means so as to provide lasing of said electrical discharge; ridge means located with said cavity, extending along said length and forming therein a plurality of laser resonators providing a guided mode optical signal in each of said resonators, said ridge means further providing less than total separation between said resonators, thereby forming a gap extending over at least a portion of said length and providing a direct path in said gas lasing means between said plurality of laser resonator, for phase locking said guided mode optical signals; (and) in which said excitation means includes an electrode extending over said ridge means, whereby said radio frequency excitation extends into said gap; and discharge intensity modulation means responsive to the external signal for providing each of said resonators supplemental intra-resonator radio frequency modulation.

Claim 20

The phase controlled ridge waveguide gas laser of claim 16, wherein said ridge means comprises a plurality of longitudinal partitions equally spaced across said cavity width having a cross sectional area perpendicular to said cavity length and having a height between 0.8 and 0.5 times said cavity depth.

Claim 21

The phase controlled ridge waveguide gas laser of claim 17, wherein said cross sectional area comprises a rectangle.

Claim 22

The phase controlled ridge waveguide gas laser of claim 17, wherein said cross sectional area comprises a modified double concave surface.