WIDELY TUNABLE LASER CONTROL

摘要

A tunable laser has a first binary super grating (BSG), a second BSG, and a phase adjuster. The first BSG, the second BSG, and the phase adjuster are optically tuned by changing temperatures of respective heating elements. The tunable laser also includes three temperature sensors, a first sensor to measure the temperature of the first BSG; a second sensor to measure the temperature of the second BSG, and a third sensor to measure the temperature of the phase adjuster. A lasing frequency is determined by a set of values of the three temperature sensors. In some embodiments, instead of a third temperature sensor, a pilot tone is applied to the phase adjuster to lock to a maximum of an aligned pair of peaks.

主权项

1. A tunable laser system comprising:
a first wavelength selective element characterized by a first reflectance spectrum, wherein the first reflectance spectrum is a function of temperature of a first heating element; a second wavelength selective element characterized by a second reflectance spectrum, wherein:
the second reflectance spectrum is a function of temperature of a second heating element; andthe first wavelength selective element and the second wavelength selective element form an optical resonator; a phase adjuster for modifying an index of refraction of a material to alter an optical path length of the optical resonator by changing a temperature of the material using a third heating element, wherein the index of refraction of the material is a function of temperature; a gain medium between the first wavelength selective element and the second wavelength selective element a first temperature sensor configured to determine changes in temperature of the first heating element; a second temperature sensor configured to determine changes in temperature of the second heating element; and a third temperature sensor configured to determine changes in temperature of the third heating element, wherein operating the tunable laser system at different lasing frequencies is based on using predetermined values of the first temperature sensor, the second temperature sensor, and the third temperature sensor.