Patent US4953166A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US4953166A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Microchip laser
Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Filing: 1989-02-09
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Granted: 1990-08-28
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Expires: 2009-02-09
Abstract
Abstract A gain medium is disposed between two mirrors to form a resonant cavity. The cavity length is selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is less than or substantially equal to the frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that a cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth. A nonlinear optical material is disposed either inside or outside the cavity to generate new laser wavelengths. The nonlinear optical material may be contained in a cavity which is resonant at the microchip laser frequency. Alternatively, the microchip laser may be tuned, for example thermally or by the application of a longitudinal or transverse stress, to the frequency of the resonant cavity. The laser is optically pumped by any appropriate source such as a semiconductor injection laser or laser array. Suitable gain media include Nd:YAG, Nd:GSGG and Nd pentaphosphate, and suitable non-linear optical material include MgO:LiNbO 3 and KTP.
Inventors
- 👤 Aram Mooradian
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 17:51
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01S; H01S3/00; H01S3/10; H01S3/106; H01S3/108; H01S3/109; H01S3/09; H01S3/091; H01S3/094; H01S3/0941; H01S3/09415; G; G02; G02F; G02F1/00; G02F1/35; G02F1/39; H01S3/05; H01S3/06; H01S3/0602; H01S3/0604; H01S3/0627; H01S3/063; H01S3/0632; H01S3/08; H01S3/08018; H01S3/08022; H01S3/08031; H01S3/14; H01S3/16; H01S3/1601; H01S3/1603; H01S3/1611; H01S3/163; H01S3/164; H01S3/1643; H01S3/23; H01S3/2383
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 35
Claim 1
Independent Claim
98 words
Solid state, optically pumped microchip laser comprising: solid state gain medium disposed between two mirrors, the distance between the mirrors selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is less than or substantially equal to the frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that one cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth of the medium; and nonlinear optical material disposed to receive light from the gain medium, the nonlinear optical material selected to generate second or higher harmonics of the light from the gain medium, said nonlinear optical material contained within a Fabry-Perot resonator.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
98 words
Solid state, optically pumped microchip laser comprising: solid state gain medium disposed between two mirrors, the distance between the mirrors selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is less than or substantially equal to the frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that one cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth of the medium; and nonlinear optical material disposed to receive light from the gain medium, the nonlinear optical material selected to generate second or higher harmonics of the light from the gain medium, said nonlinear optical material contained within a Fabry-Perot resonator.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
51 words
The microchip laser of claim 1 wherein said microchip laser further comprises an apparatus for applying a longitudinal stress to said gain medium to thereby tune a frequency of the light from the microchip laser to be coincident with a resonant frequency of the Fabry-Perot resonator containing a suitable nonlinear crystal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
51 words
The microchip laser of claim 1 wherein said microchip laser further comprises an apparatus for applying a transverse stress to said gain medium to thereby tune a frequency of the light from the microchip laser to be coincident with a resonant frequency of the Fabry-Perot resonator containing a suitable nonlinear crystal.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
50 words
The microchip laser of claim 1 wherein said microchip laser further comprises an apparatus for changing the temperature of said gain medium to thereby tune a frequency of the light from the microchip laser to be coincident with a resonant frequency of the Fabry-Perot resonator containing a suitable nonlinear crystal.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
20 words
The microchip laser of claim 1 wherein the nonlinear optical material is contained within a resonator with planar parallel faces.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
35 words
The microchip laser of claim 1 wherein the nonlinear optical material is contained within a resonator having a flat face disposed toward the gain medium and a spherical face disposed away from the gain medium.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
81 words
Solid state, optically pumped microchip laser comprising: a solid state gain medium and nonlinear optical material combination disposed between two mirrors, the distance between the mirrors selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is less than or substantially equal to the frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that one cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth of the medium, the nonlinear optical material selected to generate other frequencies from the light from the gain medium.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
81 words
Solid state, optically pumped microchip laser comprising: a solid state gain medium and nonlinear optical material combination disposed between two mirrors, the distance between the mirrors selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is less than or substantially equal to the frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that one cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth of the medium, the nonlinear optical material selected to generate other frequencies from the light from the gain medium.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
72 words
The microchip laser of claim 7 wherein the length of the gain medium and the length of the nonlinear material satisfies the relationship ν.sub.g ≦C/2(n.sub.1 l.sub.1 +n.sub.2 l.sub.2) wherein n 1 and l 1 are the refractive index and length, respectively, of the gain medium, n 2 and l 2 are the refractive index and length, respectively, of the nonlinear optical material, and ν g is the bandwidth of the gain material.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
16 words
The microchip laser of claim 1, 2, or 7 in which the gain medium is Nd:YAG.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
17 words
The microchip laser of claim 9 in which the distance between the mirrors is about 730 μm.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
17 words
The microchip laser of claim 1, 2, or 7 in which the gain medium is Nd pentaphosphate.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
17 words
The microchip laser of claim 11 in which the distance between the mirrors is about 100 μm.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
16 words
The microchip laser of claim 1, 2, or 7 in which the gain medium is Nd:GSGG.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
17 words
The microchip laser of claim 13 in which the distance between the mirrors is about 625 μm.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
16 words
The microchip laser of claim 9 in which the optical pumping is tuned to 0.809 μm.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
20 words
The microchip laser of claim 1, 2, or 7 in which the mirrors are formed of multiple layers of dielectric.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
21 words
The microchip laser of claims 1, 2, 7, 9, 11 or 13 in which the nonlinear material is MgO:LiNbO 3 .
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
18 words
The microchip laser of claims 1, 2, 7, 9, or 13 in which the nonlinear material is KTP.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
24 words
The microchip laser of claim 15 in which the optical pumping source focuses onto the Nd:YAG crystal to a spot size of 50 μm.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
57 words
Solid state, optically pumped microchip laser comprising: a solid state gain medium disposed between two mirrors, the distance between the mirrors selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is substantially equal to the frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that one cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth of the medium.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
57 words
Solid state, optically pumped microchip laser comprising: a solid state gain medium disposed between two mirrors, the distance between the mirrors selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is substantially equal to the frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that one cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth of the medium.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
24 words
The laser of claim 20 further comprising an apparatus adapted to change the temperature of said gain medium to thereby thermally tune said laser.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
25 words
The laser of claim 20 further comprising an apparatus adapted to apply a longitudinal stress to said gain medium to thereby stress tune said laser.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
25 words
The laser of claim 20 further comprising an apparatus adapted to apply a transverse stress to said gain medium to thereby stress tune said laser.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
80 words
An array of microchip lasers comprised of a wafer of gain material disposed between two mirrors, the thickness of the wafer selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is less than or substantially equal to the frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that one cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth of the medium; and positioned adjacent to a wafer of diode lasers aligned so as to stimulate said gain medium into light emission.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
80 words
An array of microchip lasers comprised of a wafer of gain material disposed between two mirrors, the thickness of the wafer selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is less than or substantially equal to the frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that one cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth of the medium; and positioned adjacent to a wafer of diode lasers aligned so as to stimulate said gain medium into light emission.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
55 words
The array of claim 24 further comprising a wafer of nonlinear optical material disposed between two mirrors positioned so as to form a Fabry-Perot resonator with a resonant frequency coincident with the mode of oscillation of the microlasers and positioned so as to be irradiated by said microlasers and thereby stimulated into optical frequency conversion.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
77 words
Solid state, optically pumped microchip laser comprising: a solid state gain medium disposed between two mirrors, the distance between the mirrors selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is less than or substantially equal to frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that one cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth of the medium; and an apparatus adapted for changing the temperature of said gain medium and thereby thermally tuning said laser.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
77 words
Solid state, optically pumped microchip laser comprising: a solid state gain medium disposed between two mirrors, the distance between the mirrors selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is less than or substantially equal to frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that one cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth of the medium; and an apparatus adapted for changing the temperature of said gain medium and thereby thermally tuning said laser.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
79 words
Solid state, optically pumped microchip laser comprising: a solid state gain medium disposed between two mirrors, the distance between the mirrors selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is less than or substantially equal to the frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that one cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth of the medium; and an apparatus adapted for applying a longitudinal stress to said gain medium and thereby stress tuning said laser.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
79 words
Solid state, optically pumped microchip laser comprising: a solid state gain medium disposed between two mirrors, the distance between the mirrors selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is less than or substantially equal to the frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that one cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth of the medium; and an apparatus adapted for applying a longitudinal stress to said gain medium and thereby stress tuning said laser.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
79 words
Solid state, optically pumped microchip laser comprising: a solid state gain medium disposed between two mirrors, the distance between the mirrors selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is less than or substantially equal to the frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that one cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth of the medium; and an apparatus adapted for applying a transverse stress to said gain medium and thereby stress tuning said laser.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
79 words
Solid state, optically pumped microchip laser comprising: a solid state gain medium disposed between two mirrors, the distance between the mirrors selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is less than or substantially equal to the frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that one cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth of the medium; and an apparatus adapted for applying a transverse stress to said gain medium and thereby stress tuning said laser.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1993-08-27 | 1994-02-26 | 1994-08-28 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1997-08-27 | 1998-02-26 | 1998-08-28 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2001-08-27 | 2002-02-26 | 2002-08-28 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |