Jill D. Berger

Widely tunable external cavity diode laser based on a MEMS electrostatic rotary actuator

A C-band continuously tunable external cavity diode laser based on a MEMS electrostatic rotary actuator provides 15 ms tuning time with +7 dBm output power across a 40 nm tuning range and 55 dB side mode suppression.

External cavity diode lasers tuned with silicon MEMS

In summary, silicon deep reactive ion etched (DRIE) MEMS actuators have enabled a small form factor, tunable laser source ideal for many DWDM applications. The performance of the MEM-ECL meets telecommunications requirements for optical power, side mode suppression, polarization extinction ratio, relative intensity noise, and linewidth. Frequency accuracy of /spl plusmn/1.25 GHz is obtained with closed loop control of the MEMS actuator voltage. Substantial immunity from external temperature fluctuations and vibrations can be achieved through a combination of thermo-mechanical design and servo control.

Widely tunable, narrow optical bandpass Gaussian filter using a silicon microactuator

A Littrow diffraction grating Gaussian bandpass optical filter uses a silicon microactuator to tune over 40 nm with narrow bandwidth, 2 dB insertion loss, 0.2 dB PDL, /spl plusmn/20 ps/nm dispersion, fast tuning, and accurate wavelength control in a compact butterfly package.

Tunable MEMS devices for reconfigurable optical networks

Transmitters and receivers based on MEMS-tuned external cavity diode lasers and diffraction grating filters deployed in reconfigurable optical networks provide up to 6.4 THz tuning in 15 ms with /spl plusmn/1.25 GHz frequency accuracy and superior optical performance in compact packages.

20 Watt CW TEM00 intracavity doubled optically pumped semiconductor laser at 532 nm

Optically-pumped semiconductor (OPS) lasers are power-scalable, wavelength-flexible, infrared brightness converters. Adding intra-cavity frequency doubling turns them into efficient, low noise, high power visible laser sources. We report on a laser combining an InGaAs gain medium with an LBO nonlinear crystal to produce more than 20 Watt CW in single transverse mode at 532 nm. Efficient cooling of the single gain chip using advanced mounting techniques is the key to making the laser reliable at high CW powers. A rugged and compact package withstands significant environmental excursions. The lasers low noise makes it suitable for demanding Ti:Sapphire pumping applications.

Intracavity-tripled optically-pumped semiconductor laser at 355 nm

Optically-pumped semiconductor lasers provide efficient laser sources in the ultraviolet by intra-cavity nonlinear frequency tripling. A laser combining InGaAs gain media with LBO nonlinear crystals produces hundreds of mW CW at 355 nm. A compact package that combines thermal and opto-mechanical stability is the key to making this laser robust and manufacturable. A temperature controlled, monolithic aluminum base supports opto-mechanical mounts made from low expansion alloys and ceramics to create a resonator that can withstand substantial environmental excursions.

Towards a practical sodium guide star laser source: design for < 50 watt LGS based on OPSL

We present laser results of OPS structures based on highly strained InGaAs quantum wells emitting at 1178nm and frequency doubled to produce high power, high beam quality laser radiation at 589nm. The laser architecture is the same as in our commercial offerings, allowing us to achieve the desired results with a system significantly simpler than alternative approaches.