University of California

Agilent Technologies, Inc.

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC

The United States of America As Represented by the United States

Sandia Corporation

Ralph Henry Page

Stephen Anthony Payne

Raymond John Beach

William F Krupke

Tong Xie

Christopher Allen Ebbers

Kathleen I Schaffers

Yakov Sidorin

Falgun Patel

Thomas Frederick Soules

Peter G Schunemann

F Patrick Doty

Michael D Feit

Eddy Stappaerts

Laura D DeLoach

Michael C Nostrand

Sheldon Shao Quan Wu

Russel B Wilcox

The various technologies presented herein relate to a tiled filter array that can be used in connection with performance of spatial sampling of optical signals. The filter array comprises filter tiles, wherein a first plurality of filter tiles are formed from a first material, the first material being configured such that only photons having wavelengths in a first wavelength band pass therethrough. A second plurality of filter tiles is formed from a second material, the second material being configured such that only photons having wavelengths in a second wavelength band pass therethrough. The first plurality of filter tiles and the second plurality of filter tiles can be interspersed to form the filter array comprising an alternating arrangement of first filter tiles and second filter tiles.

Filter arrays

In one embodiment, a laser oscillator is provided comprising an optical cavity, the optical cavity including a gain medium including an alkali vapor and a buffer gas, the buffer gas includingHe gas, wherein ifHe gas is also present in the buffer gas, the ratio of the concentration of theHe gas to theHe gas is greater than 1.37&#xd7;10. Additionally, an optical excitation source is provided. Furthermore, the laser oscillator is capable of outputting radiation at a first frequency. In another embodiment, an apparatus is provided comprising a gain medium including an alkali vapor and a buffer gas includingHe gas, wherein ifHe gas is also present in the buffer gas, the ratio of the concentration of theHe gas to theHe gas is greater than 1.37&#xd7;10. Other embodiments are also disclosed.

Optically pumped alkali laser and amplifier using helium-3 buffer gas

A system for assisting in observing a celestial object and providing synthetic guide star generation. A lasing system provides radiation at a frequency at or near 938 nm and radiation at a frequency at or near 1583 nm. The lasing system includes a fiber laser operating between 880 nm and 960 nm and a fiber laser operating between 1524 nm and 1650 nm. A frequency-conversion system mixes the radiation and generates light at a frequency at or near 589 nm. A system directs the light at a frequency at or near 589 nm toward the celestial object and provides synthetic guide star generation.

Synthetic guide star generation

An integrated-optic attenuator/equalizer device comprising a photorefractive substrate, at least one optical waveguide channel formed in the substrate, at least one diffractive-Bragg grating formed in the substrate, and a diffractive-Bragg grating modulator that is capable of modulating the diffractive Bragg grating(s). The diffractive-Bragg grating(s) intersects the optical waveguide channel. When a diffractive-Bragg grating formed in the substrate is modulated, at least a fraction of light of a wavelength associated with the modulated diffractive-Bragg grating is re-directed by the modulated diffractive-Bragg grating, thereby preventing the re-directed fraction of light from arriving at the output of the optical waveguide channel. Multiple diffractive-Bragg gratings may be implemented in the integrated-optic device, each having a particular wavelength associated therewith, and the diffractive-Bragg gratings may be simultaneously or independently modulated to control the fractions of light of different wavelengths that arrive at the output of the optical waveguide channel.

Integrated-optic device and a method for attenuating light or equalizing light using integrated-optic device

The invention is a ribbon of an optical material with a plurality of cores that run along its length. The plurality of cores includes lasing impurity doped cores in an alternating spaced arrangement with index-modifying impurity doped cores. The ribbon comprises an index of refraction that is substantially equal to or greater than the indices of refraction of said array of lasing impurity doped cores. Index-increasing impurity doped cores promote antiguiding and leaky modes which provide more robust single &ldquo;supermode&rdquo; operation.

Antiguided fiber ribbon laser

An integrated-optic device comprising a photorefractive substrate, an optical waveguide channel and at least one diffractive Bragg grating integrated in the substrate and intersecting the optical waveguide channel. The diffractive Bragg grating(s) causes at least a fraction of light coupled into the optical waveguide channel to be coupled out of the optical waveguide channel.

Integrated-optic out-coupler device and method for making and using the same

A thermal gradient-reduced-zone laser includes a laser medium and an optically transparent plate with an index of refraction that is less than the index of refraction of the laser medium. The pump face of the laser medium is bonded to a surface of the optically transparent member. Pump light is directed through the transparent plate to optically pump the solid state laser medium. Heat conduction is mainly through the surface of the laser medium where the heat is introduced by the pump light. Heat flows in a direction opposite to that of the pump light because the side of the laser medium that is opposite to that of the pump face is not in thermal contact with a conductor and thus there is no heat flux (and hence, no temperature gradient), thus producing a thermal gradient-reduced zone. A laser cavity is formed around the laser medium such that laser light oscillating within the laser cavity reflects by total-internal-reflection from the interface between the pump face and the optically transparent plate and enters and exits through a thermal gradient-reduced zone.

Thermal lens elimination by gradient-reduced zone coupling of optical

The invention comprises a RE-doped MA.sub.2 X.sub.4 crystalline gain medium, where M includes a divalent ion such as Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Pb, Eu, or Yb; A is selected from trivalent ions including Al, Ga, and In; X is one of the chalcogenide ions S, Se, and Te; and RE represents the trivalent rare earth ions. The MA.sub.2 X.sub.4 gain medium can be employed in a laser oscillator or a laser amplifier. Possible pump sources include diode lasers, as well as other laser pump sources. The laser wavelengths generated are greater than 3 microns, as becomes possible because of the low phonon frequency of this host medium. The invention may be used to seed optical devices such as optical parametric oscillators and other lasers.

Low-phonon-frequency chalcogenide crystalline hosts for rare earth

Dysprosium-doped metal chloride materials offer laser properties advantageous for use as optical amplifiers in the 1.3 .mu.m telecommunications fiber optic network. The upper laser level is characterized by a millisecond lifetime, the host material possesses a moderately low refractive index, and the gain peak occurs near 1.31 .mu.m. Related halide materials, including bromides and iodides, are also useful. The Dy.sup.3+ -doped metal chlorides can be pumped with laser diodes and yield 1.3 .mu.m signal gain levels significantly beyond those currently available.

Optical amplifier operating at 1.3 microns useful for telecommunications

A new class of solid state laser crystals and lasers are formed of transition metal doped sulfide, selenide, and telluride host crystals which have four fold coordinated substitutional sites. The host crystals include II-VI compounds. The host crystal is doped with a transition metal laser ion, e.g., chromium, cobalt or iron. In particular, Cr.sup.2+ -doped ZnS and ZnSe generate laser action near 2.3 .mu.m. Oxide, chloride, fluoride, bromide and iodide crystals with similar structures can also be used. Important aspects of these laser materials are the tetrahedral site symmetry of the host crystal, low excited state absorption losses and high luminescence efficiency, and the d.sup.4 and d.sup.6 electronic configurations of the transition metal ions. The same materials are also useful as saturable absorbers for passive Q-switching applications. The laser materials can be used as gain media in amplifiers and oscillators; these gain media can be incorporated into waveguides and semiconductor lasers.

Transition-metal doped sulfide, selenide, and telluride laser crystal

In an AVLIS process, .sup.91 Zr is selectively removed from natural zirconium by a three-step photoionization wherein Zr atoms are irradiated by a laser beam having a wavelength .lambda..sub.1, selectively raising .sup.91 Zr atoms to an odd-parity E.sub.1 energy level in the range of 16000-19000 cm.sup.-1, are irradiated by a laser beam having a wavelength .lambda..sub.2 to raise the atoms from an E.sub.l level to an even-parity E.sub.2 energy level in the range of 35000-37000 cm.sup.-1 and are irradiated by a laser beam having a wavelength .lambda..sub.3 to cause a resonant transition of atoms from an E.sub.2 level to an autoionizing level above 53506 cm.sup.-1. .lambda..sub.3 wavelengths of 5607, 6511 or 5756 .ANG. will excite a zirconium atom from an E.sub.2 energy state of 36344 cm.sup.-1 to an autoionizing level; a .lambda..sub.3 wavelength of 5666 .ANG. will cause an autoionizing transition from an E.sub.2 level of 36068 cm.sup.-1 ; and a .lambda. .sub.3 wavelength of 5662 .ANG. will cause an ionizing resonance of an atom at an E.sub.2 level of 35904 cm.sup.-1.

Growing community of inventors

Castro Valley, CA, United States of America

Ralph Henry Page