Hybrid active devices coupled to fiber via spherical reflectors

Abstract

Multiple reflection modules having as a light source or a light target a lensed optical fiber employ one more spherical reflectors and wavelength selectors for selecting the wavelengths of optical radiation on selected optical paths between said light source and said light target. The reflection module may be a multiplexer or a laser cavity. As a laser, it may include as a source a semiconductor laser comprising a laser source disposed to direct radiation through a first multiple layer dielectric Fabry-Perot cavity with the center of curvature between the source and a fiber tip to which output energy is to be coupled, and a second reflector mounted behind the first reflector, the second reflector being a full reflector with the center of curvature at the laser source. The first reflector may have a narrow-band optical transmissivity characteristic intended to permit only a narrow band of optical radiation to be coupled to the full reflector, the full reflector disposed as a confocal relfective surface of the laser cavity. Reflections from the first reflector are coupled to a tip of an optical fiber. Other embodiments of the invention are configured as multiplexers. Still other embodiments employ a diffraction grating as part of a laser cavity or as a frequency-selective multiplexer.