Agilent Technologies, Inc.

Aosense, Inc.

Gazillion Bits, Inc.

Other

Agilent Inc.

Miao Zhu

Leonard S Cutler

Carol Courville

Shih-Yuan Wang

Geraint Owen

Alan B Ray

Adam Kleczewski

Arman Cingoz

M Saif Islam

Brian R Patton

John J Bockman

Eric Stephen Johnstone

William Clay Schluchter

Adam T Black

Kerry D Bagwell

Zuhua Zhu

Haiqing Wei

Martin M Boyd

John Edwin Berberian

Dmitriy Churin

Jonathan Roslund

Yang Han

John C Eidson

Charles D Hoke

Robert C Taber

William R Trutna, Jr

Mark A Kasevich

Tirumala R Ranganath

Mehrnoosh Vahidpour

Miroslav Y Shverdin

Kenneth J Wayne

James B Prince

Matthew Todd Cashen

Varun Raghunathan

Thomas H Loftus

Thang Q Tran

Yuri Beregovski

Ludmila M Golyanskaya

Gerry Owen

Matthew D Swallows

A system for optical comb carrier envelope offset frequency control includes a mode-locked oscillator. The mode-locked oscillator produces an output beam using an input beam and one or more control signals. The output beam includes a controlled carrier envelope offset frequency. A beat note generator produces a beat note signal using a portion of the output beam. A control signal generator produces the one or more control signals to set the beat note signal by modulating the intensity of the input beam within the mode locked oscillator. Modulating the intensity comprises using a Mach-Zehnder intensity modulator or using an intensity modulated external laser to affect a gain medium within the mode-locked laser.

Optical comb carrier envelope-offset frequency control using intensity modulation

An atomic oscillator device includes an atomic oscillator, a controlled oscillator, a resonance controller, and a cold-atom clock output. The atomic oscillator comprises a two-dimensional optical cooling region (2D OCR) for providing a source of atoms and a three-dimensional optical cooling region (3D OCR) for cooling and/or trapping the atoms emitted by the 2D OCR. The atomic oscillator comprises a microwave cavity surrounding the 3D OCR for exciting an atomic resonance. The controlled oscillator produces an output frequency. The resonance controller is for steering the output frequency of the controlled oscillator based on the output frequency and the atomic resonance as measured using an atomic resonance measurement. The cold-atom clock output is configured as being the output frequency of the controlled oscillator.

Architecture for compact cold atom clocks

A device for preparing an ensemble of laser-cooled atoms and measuring their population includes a laser and a set of reflecting surfaces. The laser is able to produce a laser beam. The set of reflecting surfaces disposed to direct the laser beam along a multi-dimensional beam path to intersect a central space multiple times from different directions and retroreflect the laser beam to retrace the multi-dimensional beam path. The central space is able to have an ensemble of atoms or molecules. The atoms or the molecules are able to be cooled along one or more dimensions by the laser beam sent along the multi-dimensional beam path and able to be detected in the central space by an effect upon the laser beam sent along the multi-dimensional beam path.

Integrated optical detection for atomic clocks and sensors

An atom interferometer device for inertial sensing includes one or more thermal atomic sources, a state preparation laser, a set of lasers, and a detection laser. The one or more thermal atomic sources provide one or more atomic beams. A state preparation laser is disposed to provide a state preparation laser beam nominally perpendicular to each of the one or more atomic beams. A set of lasers is disposed to provide interrogation laser beams that interrogate the one or more atomic beams to assist in generating atom interference. A detection laser is disposed to provide a detection laser beam, which is angled at a first angle to the each of the one or more atomic beams in order to enhance the dynamic range of the device by enabling velocity selectivity of atoms used in detecting the atom interference.

Velocity selective thermal atomic beam inertial sensor

A system for optical comb carrier envelope offset frequency control includes a mode-locked laser and a frequency shifter. The mode-locked laser produces a laser output. The frequency shifter shifts the laser output to produce a frequency shifted laser output based at least in part on one or more control signals. The frequency shifted laser output has a controlled carrier envelope offset frequency. The frequency shifter includes a first polarization converter, a rotating half-wave plate, and a second polarization converter.

Optical comb carrier envelope frequency control using a rotating waveplate frequency shifter

A method and apparatus for measuring diffuse and specularly reflected light from a sample to provide a reflection spectrum as a function of wavelength and as a function of position on a sample is disclosed. The apparatus includes a MIR light source that generates an illumination beam of linearly polarized light. An illumination system illuminates a location on a specimen with part of the illumination beam. A linear polarization filter characterized by a polarization axis that defines a direction of polarization of linearly polarized light that is reflected by the linear polarization filter, a first detector that measures an intensity of light leaving the linear polarization filter and a light collection system collects light reflected from the location on the specimen and directs that light to the linear polarization filter. A controller measures an output from the first detector for each of a plurality of different polarization axis positions.

Mid-infrared scanning system that differentiates between specular and diffuse scattering

An apparatus having a variable angle light source characterized by a pivot point, a variable response optical receiver, and a first optical system is disclosed. The variable response optical receiver receives light generated by the light source on a receiving surface, the receiver generating a signal indicative of an intensity of light that impinges on a receiving surface. The first optical system images the pivot point to a fixed point relative to the receiver surface. In one aspect of the invention the first optical system is chosen such that light from the variable angle light source covers more& than half the receiving surface. The variable angle light source can include a gain chip in a semiconductor laser having a pivot point located substantially on a facet of the gain chip.

Optical system having reduced pointing-error noise

A system for performing optical spectroscopy measurements includes a light source for generating an input optical beam and an interferometer. The interferometer includes a beam splitter that splits the input optical beam into first and second light beams; a first light path that directs the first light beam through a sample containing an analyte to a first output port; and a second light path that directs the second light beam to the first output port. At least one of the first and second light paths adjusts a relative phase of a corresponding one of the first and second light beams, so that the first and second light beams are out of phase at the first output port, substantially canceling background light and outputting sample light corresponding to a portion of the first light signal absorbed by the sample in the sample cell. A detection system detects the output sample light.

System for performing optical spectroscopy including interferometer

An external cavity laser and method for operating same are disclosed. The external cavity laser includes a gain chip, a grating, an actuator and actuator driver. The grating diffracts light leaving the gain chip in a band of wavelengths back to the gain chip, the grating is characterized by an angle relative to light leaving the gain chip and distance from the gain chip, the angle and distance is controlled by the actuator. Part of the diffracted light is amplified by the gain chip. The actuator driver causes the angle to be dithered about an equilibrium angle in a motion characterized by an amplitude and average frequency. The amplitude of the dithering motion is chosen to either excite a plurality of adjacent laser modes of the gain chip or provide a servo signal for maintaining the grating angle at a target value.

Method and apparatus to reduce noise caused by mode hopping in external cavity lasers

An apparatus includes: an electromagnetic waveguide and an iris structure providing an iris in the electromagnetic waveguide. The iris structure defines an iris hole. The apparatus further includes an electric field rotation arrangement configured to establish a 2N-pole electric field around a circumference of the iris hole, wherein N is an integer which is at least two. The electric field rotation arrangement may include at least four iris slots, each in communication with the iris hole, wherein a first one of the iris slots is further in disposed at a first side of the iris hole and a second one of the iris slots is disposed at a second side of the iris hole which is opposite the first side.

Waveguide-based apparatus for exciting and sustaining a plasma

A light source and the method for operating the same are disclosed. The light source includes first and second lasers, and first and second wavelength control assemblies. The lasers emit first and second light beams, respectively, at wavelengths that are determined by first and second wavelength control signals. First and second beam splitters split the first and second light beams, respectively, to create first and second sampling light beams. The first and second wavelength control assemblies receive sampling light beams and generate the first and second wavelength control signals such that the wavelengths of the first and second light beams differ by no more than a predetermined amount. The first and second wavelength control assemblies each include an absorption cell having a gas that has an optical absorption that varies with the wavelength of the first and second sampling light beams at wavelengths around the output wavelength of the light source.

Light source that utilizes small footprint reference gas cells for multiple laser frequency stabilization

An instrument including a device, a transducer and a calibration module is disclosed. The device produces a reference time and/or a reference frequency. The transducer converts the reference time and/or the reference frequency to a reference signal. The calibration module adjusts an output signal generated by the instrument and/or a result of a measurement taken by the instrument, based on the reference signal. A system including the instrument and a method of calibrating the instrument are also disclosed.

Method of calibrating an instrument, a self-calibrating instrument and a system including the instrument

A sensor head for use with a measurement grating is described. The sensor head comprises: a splitter grating configured to split a light beam into first and second measurement beams; a first retroreflector configured to retroreflect the first and second measurement beams toward the measurement grating; and a second retroreflector configured to retroreflect the first and second measurement beams toward the measurement grating. In one embodiment the second measurement beam is diffracted by the measurement grating to form first and second sub-beams and one of the first and second sub-beams comprises a zeroth order diffraction component and a first order diffraction component. In another embodiment, the first and second sub-beams each comprise a zeroth order diffraction component and a first order diffraction component.

Displacement measurement sensor head and system having measurement sub-beams comprising zeroth order and first order diffraction components

A displacement measurement apparatus includes a light source, a splitter grating, a measurement grating, and first a second detector arrays. The splitter grating splits a light beam into first and second measurement channels that each illuminates the measurement grating. The first and second measurement channels split into 0and 1order diffraction products at the measurement grating in a first pass and recombine at the measurement grating in a second pass before being measured at the first and second detector arrays.

Displacement measurement system

An apparatus and method for measuring displacement includes a light beam directed to an interferometer core that splits the light beam into first and second component beams. The first component beam is directed to a diffraction grating at approximately a Littrow angle. A diffraction is received by the interferometer core and is combined with the second component beam. The combination of the first and second component beams is measured to determine displacement of the diffraction grating.

Littrow interferometer

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Miao Zhu