US5131002A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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External cavity semiconductor laser system
Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Filing: 1991-02-12
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Granted: 1992-07-14
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Expires: 2011-02-12
Abstract
Abstract An external cavity semiconductor laser system is disclosed wherein multiple segments of semiconductor material are excited with an array of pump sources. In one embodiment, a laser beam is reflected in a pattern to pass through multiple excited segments on a wafer of semiconductor material. In another embodiment, a series of wafers disposed in a laser cavity are excited. This pumping system spreads out the thermal load while providing a high power, high quality, laser beam.
Inventors
- 👤 Aram Mooradian
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 08:26
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01S; H01S5/00; H01S5/02; H01S5/024; H01S5/02407; H01S5/02423; H01S3/00; H01S3/09; H01S3/091; H01S3/0915; H01S3/0933; H01S3/094; H01S3/0941; H01S3/10; H01S3/106; H01S5/04; H01S5/041; H01S5/10; H01S5/14; H01S3/094084
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 42
Claim 1
Independent Claim
186 words
A semiconductor laser system comprising: a) a body of active semiconductor laser material said body extending longitudinally in a plane; b) a first mirror disposed on one side of said body; c) a second mirror disposed opposite a second side of said body; d) an array of pump sources disposed adjacent to said body at an angle to said plane for pumping multiple laterally spaced segments of said body with radiation of a wavelength to generate a laser beam of light through said body; and wherein said second mirror reflects said laser beam back and forth between said first mirror and said second mirror in a path that passes through a plurality of said multiple laterally spaced segments of active semiconductor material; and e) a further set of mirrors disposed at each end of said path for reflecting said laser beam back through said path, whereby said set of mirrors form the ends of an external cavity laser resonator operating in a predetermined spatial mode such that said multiple spaced segments are spatially matched to said spatial mode to achieve maximum power extraction of said mode.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
186 words
A semiconductor laser system comprising: a) a body of active semiconductor laser material said body extending longitudinally in a plane; b) a first mirror disposed on one side of said body; c) a second mirror disposed opposite a second side of said body; d) an array of pump sources disposed adjacent to said body at an angle to said plane for pumping multiple laterally spaced segments of said body with radiation of a wavelength to generate a laser beam of light through said body; and wherein said second mirror reflects said laser beam back and forth between said first mirror and said second mirror in a path that passes through a plurality of said multiple laterally spaced segments of active semiconductor material; and e) a further set of mirrors disposed at each end of said path for reflecting said laser beam back through said path, whereby said set of mirrors form the ends of an external cavity laser resonator operating in a predetermined spatial mode such that said multiple spaced segments are spatially matched to said spatial mode to achieve maximum power extraction of said mode.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
49 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said body is taken from the group which comprises a bulk semiconductor, a heterostructure, or a quantum well structure with said segments being isolated from each other such that light is not propagated laterally through the active material from one segment to another.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said semiconductor body is taken from the group comprising: a heterostructure, a bulk semiconductor, or a quantum well structure.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
36 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said body is a planar semiconductor wafer formed as a quantum well structure that is transparent to the wavelength of the pump source and the wavelength of the laser beam.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said body is a planar semiconductor wafer which has an antireflection coating on the side facing said second mirror.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
14 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said first mirror is coated onto said wafer.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
15 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said first mirror is bonded to a heat sink.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said first mirror is bonded to a microchannel cooling heat sink.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said pump sources are taken from the group comprising electrically, optically, or electron beam type pumps.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said pump sources are from the group comprising: semiconductor diode lasers or laser arrays.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
13 words
The system of claim 10 wherein said pump sources are surface emitting devices.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said pump sources are from the group comprising: GaAlAs diode lasers or laser arrays.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
13 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said external cavity laser resonator is unstable.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
31 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said external cavity laser resonator further comprises tuners from the group comprising: gratings or etalon tuners to tune the laser beam wavelength of the system.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
124 words
A method of forming a semiconductor laser system comprising the steps of: a) providing a body of semiconductor laser material extending in a plane; b) disposing a first mirror on one side of said body; c) disposing a second mirror on an opposite side of said body; d) pumping multiple laterally spaced segments of said semiconductor material with a non-coherent light beam to excite the laser material and produce a laser beam passing along a first path which extends through said body; and e) disposing a second mirror in the first path to reflect the laser beam back and forth along another path between said first mirror and said second mirror and through a plurality of the laterally spaced segments of excited semiconductor material.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
124 words
A method of forming a semiconductor laser system comprising the steps of: a) providing a body of semiconductor laser material extending in a plane; b) disposing a first mirror on one side of said body; c) disposing a second mirror on an opposite side of said body; d) pumping multiple laterally spaced segments of said semiconductor material with a non-coherent light beam to excite the laser material and produce a laser beam passing along a first path which extends through said body; and e) disposing a second mirror in the first path to reflect the laser beam back and forth along another path between said first mirror and said second mirror and through a plurality of the laterally spaced segments of excited semiconductor material.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 15 including disposing a further set of mirrors at each end of said another path to reflect said laser beam back through said another path to form an external cavity laser resonator.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
100 words
The method of forming an optical amplifier comprising the steps of: a) providing a wafer of semiconductor laser material; b) disposing a first mirror on one side of said wafer; c) exciting multiple laterally spaced segments of said semiconductor material to produce laser radiation along a laser light beam path; and d) disposing a second mirror in the path to reflect the light beam back and forth between said first mirror and said second mirror in a path that passes through a plurality of the multiple laterally spaced segments of excited semiconductor material, whereby said laser light beam is amplified.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
100 words
The method of forming an optical amplifier comprising the steps of: a) providing a wafer of semiconductor laser material; b) disposing a first mirror on one side of said wafer; c) exciting multiple laterally spaced segments of said semiconductor material to produce laser radiation along a laser light beam path; and d) disposing a second mirror in the path to reflect the light beam back and forth between said first mirror and said second mirror in a path that passes through a plurality of the multiple laterally spaced segments of excited semiconductor material, whereby said laser light beam is amplified.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
120 words
A semiconductor laser system comprising: a) a series of wafers of semiconductor laser material, said wafers disposed opposite each other at an angel to each other; b) an array of pump sources for exciting multiple laterally spaced segments of respective wafers by respective sources with an optical beam at a first wavelength and generating a laser beam at a second wavelength; and c) first and second sets of mirrors on opposite ends of said wafers for reflecting said laser beam back and forth in a path that passes through each of a plurality of the said multiple laterally spaced segments of said excited semiconductor material, whereby said mirrors form an external cavity laser resonator operating in a predetermined spatial mode.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
120 words
A semiconductor laser system comprising: a) a series of wafers of semiconductor laser material, said wafers disposed opposite each other at an angel to each other; b) an array of pump sources for exciting multiple laterally spaced segments of respective wafers by respective sources with an optical beam at a first wavelength and generating a laser beam at a second wavelength; and c) first and second sets of mirrors on opposite ends of said wafers for reflecting said laser beam back and forth in a path that passes through each of a plurality of the said multiple laterally spaced segments of said excited semiconductor material, whereby said mirrors form an external cavity laser resonator operating in a predetermined spatial mode.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of claim 18 wherein said semiconductor wafers are from the group comprising: bulk semiconductors, heterostructures, or quantum well structures; and the segments are electrically isolated from one another.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
46 words
The system of claim 18 wherein said semiconductor wafers are multiple quantum well structures of GaAs/GaAlAs grown to a thickness of a few to tens of microns and clad with GaAlAs of such a composition that it is transparent to both the first and second wavelengths.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
11 words
The system of claim 18 wherein said wafers have antireflection coatings.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system of claim 18 wherein said laser beam is polarized and said wafers are placed at the Brewster angle with respect to the polarization of said laser beam.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 18 wherein said segments of excited semiconductor material are spatially matched to the spatial mode of said external cavity laser resonator.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
14 words
The system of claim 18 wherein said wafers are embedded in heat sink apparatus.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
14 words
The system of claim 18 wherein said wafers are bonded onto heat sink apparatus.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
12 words
The system of claim 25 wherein said heat sink apparatus is sapphire.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 25 wherein said pump sources are adapted to pump said semiconductor material optically.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
14 words
The system of claim 18 wherein said pump sources pump said semiconductor material electrically.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 18 wherein said pump sources pump said semiconductor material with an electron beam.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system of claim 18 wherein said pump sources are from the group comprising: semiconductor diode lasers or laser arrays.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 18 wherein said pump sources are from the group comprising: semiconductor diode lasers or laser arrays; fabricated as surface emitting diodes.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system of claim 18 wherein said pump sources are from the group comprising: GaAlAs diode lasers or laser arrays.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
23 words
The system of claim 18 wherein the wafers are disposed in a heat dissipating body and said external cavity laser resonator is unstable.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
27 words
The system of claim 18 wherein said external cavity laser resonator further comprises tuners from the group comprising gratings or etalon tuners to tune the second wavelength.
Claim 39
Independent Claim
71 words
A method of transforming a plurality of beams of light from an array of diode light emitters into a single laser beam of light comprising the steps of: a) exciting respective multiple laterally spaced segments of an active lasing material with said array of diode light emitters to produce stimulated emission from each of said laterally spaced segments; and b) combining said emissions in series to produce said single laser beam.
Claim 40
Independent Claim
71 words
A method of transforming a plurality of beams of light from an array of diode light emitters into a single laser beam of light comprising the steps of: a) exciting respective multiple laterally spaced segments of an active lasing material with said array of diode light emitters to produce stimulated emission from each of said laterally spaced segments; and b) combining said emissions in series to produce said single laser beam.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
73 words
A laser system comprising: a) an array of diode light emitters for emitting beams of light; b) a series of active lasing material, each disposed at an angle in the path of a respective one of said beams of light for emitting light in response to stimulation from said light emitters; c) coupling means for combining the light emitted by each said material in series to form a single laser beam of light.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
73 words
A laser system comprising: a) an array of diode light emitters for emitting beams of light; b) a series of active lasing material, each disposed at an angle in the path of a respective one of said beams of light for emitting light in response to stimulation from said light emitters; c) coupling means for combining the light emitted by each said material in series to form a single laser beam of light.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1995-07-14 | 1996-01-13 | 1996-07-14 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1999-07-14 | 2000-01-13 | 2000-07-14 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2003-07-14 | 2004-01-13 | 2004-07-14 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |