Power laser with active mirror

Abstract

Abstract The disclosure relates to the making of lasers. It is sought to obtain a laser that emits at only one frequency without using frequency selection means (such as filters, etc.) needed in certain types of spectral wideband lasers (vibronic type lasers for example). It is also sought to make the laser tunable by simple means. To achieve these goals, it is proposed to define a laser cavity in which one of the mirrors is not a standard mirror but a mirror with an active function in the sense that it does not merely reflect light but itself produces light at only one wavelength. The active mirror is preferably a Bragg reflector made with an alternation of layers, at least one of which is a semiconductor layer. This layer collects electron-hole pairs in response to the excitation by the fluorescence photons. It re-emits photons at a wavelength determined by the forbidden band width of the semiconductor. The choice of the types of composition and thicknesses of the layers is contrived so that there is coincidence between the re-emitted wavelength and a peak of reflectivity of the Bragg mirror. The laser may be made tunable by the appropriate positioning of a mirror region having a peak of reflectivity at a desired frequency.

Inventors

• 👤 Jean-Paul Pocholle
• 👤 Michel Papuchon

Bibliographic Details