Discrete Wavelength-Locked External Cavity Laser
U. S. Patent 6,914,917, issued July 5, 2005
External
cavity diode lasers can be tuned across a wide spectral range, enabling their
use for applications such as spare lasers in wavelength-division-multiplexed
(WDM) communications systems. Usually the external cavity dominates the tuning
properties of the laser. In this invention, the internal cavity of the diode
laser itself is exploited to create a "comb" of possible operating
wavelengths spaced by the free-spectral-range of the diode laser. By cutting
the diode laser to the appropriate length, this spacing can be made to conform
to the standard ITU wavelength grid. In addition, it is possible to determine
if the laser is operating at a single frequency by monitoring the voltage
across the diode or the optical power emitted by the laser.
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