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:
Dec. 18, 2001
Filed:
Feb. 01, 1999
Michael A. Parker, Liverpool, NY (US);
Douglas B. Shire, Ithaca, NY (US);
Chung L. Tang, Ithaca, NY (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
The present invention demodulates a FM, WM or AM optical input beam, amplifies the signal impressed on the beam, and then modulates without intervening electronics the signal amplitude of an output beam. The apparatus can be made from any semiconductor laser, including edge-emitting lasers and VCSELs. Light transmitted through the waveguide (the “control beam”) interacts with the carrier population of the laser, reducing the available gain and thereby the output intensity. The present invention has three key advantages: (i) a FM control beam produces an amplitude-modulated output beam from the main-laser, (ii) the amplitude of the AM beam depends directly on the differential gain ∂G/∂&ohgr;, and (iii) the apparatus and method provides gain for all LOGiC devices. The present invention works with available and future semiconductor lasers, including those emitting in the blue as well as those operating at 670, 850, 980, 1300, and 1500 nm. The 1300 and 1500 nm lasers are of particular importance for fiber communications.