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:
Aug. 22, 2000
Filed:
Jun. 29, 1999
Paul Zorabedian, Mountain View, CA (US);
New Focus, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides an external cavity laser that has wide-range continuous tuning and is compatible with a compact, robust, inexpensive form factor. In an embodiment of the invention a tunable external cavity laser is disclosed. The laser includes a laser amplifier, a retroreflector, a first and second reflector and a translator. The retroreflector is located in a path of the beam provided by the laser amplifier. The first and second reflectors are positioned opposite one another and in the path of the beam between the laser amplifier and the retroreflector. The translator translates at least one of said first reflector and said second reflector to vary the separation between the reflectors along the path of the beam, thereby tuning the laser amplifier. In another embodiment of the invention a method for adjusting wavelength in an optical device is disclosed. The method comprises the act of translating at least one of the first and the second reflective surfaces to vary a separation between the reflectors along the path of a beam emitted by the laser amplifier to tune the laser.