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:
Jun. 20, 2006
Filed:
Sep. 02, 2003
William J. Riley, Jr., South Hamilton, MA (US);
Robert Lutwak, Marblehead, MA (US);
William J. Riley, Jr., South Hamilton, MA (US);
Robert Lutwak, Marblehead, MA (US);
Symmetricom, Inc., Beverly, MA (US);
Abstract
A miniature optical system for use in instruments based on laser spectroscopy of atomic and molecular samples, such as atomic frequency standards and magnetometers. The miniature optical system employs a folded optical path that allows light from a laser diode to pass through the cell twice, reflecting from a mirror and returning to a photodetector co-located with the laser diode. This efficient packaging arrangement allows the laser diode and photodetector to be fabricated on the same semiconductor substrate and allows essentially all of the gas cell volume to be utilized, without additional optical components for collimation. Fabrication of the laser source and detector on a single substrate permits cost-effective batch processing and parallel testing of the key active components.