The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 17, 1989
Filed:
Aug. 06, 1987
William Streifer, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Robert D Burnham, Wheaton, IL (US);
Thomas L Paoli, Los Altos, CA (US);
Xerox Corporation, Stamford, CT (US);
Abstract
A split contact phased array laser comprising a plurality of parallel emitters under phase locked operation and productive of an output beam having a preferred emission wavelength and preferred far field mode of operation. The charge distribution profile in the laser is changed to cause the output beam to deflect and scan in the far field. The improvement in the laser is the provision of at least three independently current pumped segments formed transversely of said emitters wherein at least one of the segments is current pumped above threshold level sufficient to primarily determine the emission wavelength and mode of operation of the laser while the current supplied to the remaining segments is below this level and is varied relative to one another to cause the output beam to deflect and scan in the far field without substantial change to the emission wavelength and mode of operation. This is because the charge density is essentially clamped under the one dominant contact segment and is only minimally influenced by further changes in the pumping current.