MOEMS tuning element for a Littrow external cavity laser

Syms, R.R.A.; Lohmann, Adolf W.

doi:10.1109/jmems.2003.820269

Cited by 34 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In the past years, highly compact [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] and first MEMS-based 18,19 extended-cavity diode lasers as well as compact setups for laser stabilization 20 have been demonstrated, and detailed studies of different types of ECDLs have been conducted. 21,22 In the work presented here, the main challenge thus lies in the realization of a combined ECDL laser and atomic spectrometer within a compact instrument ͑physics package volume Ͻ0.25 l͒ that maintains the advantageous low volume of Rb clocks, but still offers the required state-of-the art laser frequency stability, low noise levels, and high reliability.…”

Section: Design Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A compact laser head with high-frequency stability for Rb atomic clocks and optical instrumentation

Affolderbach

Mileti

2005

Review of Scientific Instruments

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We present a compact and frequency-stabilized laser head based on an extended-cavity diode laser. The laser head occupies a volume of 200 cm 3 and includes frequency stabilization to Doppler-free saturated absorption resonances on the hyperfine components of the 87 Rb D 2 lines at 780 nm, obtained from a simple and compact spectroscopic setup using a 2 cm 3 vapor cell. The measured frequency stability is ഛ2 ϫ 10 −12 over integration times from 1 s to 1 day and shows the potential to reach 2 ϫ 10 −13 over 10 2 −10 5 s. Compact laser sources with these performances are of great interest for applications in gas-cell atomic frequency standards, atomic magnetometers, interferometers and other instruments requiring stable and narrow-band optical sources.

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Section: Design Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A compact laser head with high-frequency stability for Rb atomic clocks and optical instrumentation

Affolderbach

Mileti

2005

Review of Scientific Instruments

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“…The additional advantage such gratings present is that this could be useful for the ECLs developed in MOEM (micro-opto-electro-mechanical) technology [46]. Silicon gratings can be made in many ways, i.e., using holography [47], by lithography [44], or direct electron beam (E-beam) writing and etching [48].…”

Section: Diffraction Gratingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…46. The proposed ECTL had the Littrow configuration with the external cavity formed by a grating that retro-reflected 12 th order diffracted beam.…”

Section: New Perspective Ectl Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

External cavity wavelength tunable semiconductor lasers - a review

Mroziewicz

2008

Opto-Electronics Review

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External cavity tunable lasers have been around for many years and now constitute a large group of semiconductor lasers featuring very unique properties. The present review has been restricted to the systems based on the edge emitting diode lasers set-up in a hybrid configuration. The aim was to make the paper as concise as possible without sacrificing, however, most important details. We start with short description of the fundamentals essential for operation of the external cavity lasers to set the stage for explanation of their properties and some typical designs. Then, semiconductor optical amplifiers used in the external cavity lasers are highlighted more in detail as well as diffraction gratings and other types of wavelength-selective reflectors used to provide optical feedback in these lasers. This is followed by a survey of designs and properties of various external cavity lasers both with mobile bulk gratings and with fixed wavelength selective mirrors. The paper closes with description of some recent developments in the field to show prospects for further progress directed towards miniaturization and integration of the external cavity laser components used so far to set-up hybrid systems.

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“…By contrast, free-space coupling elements are usually designed to mitigate optical beam divergence phenomena associated with Gaussian beam (GB) propagation and achieve phase/mode matching. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Photonic applications in which the sources and destinations are separated by a free-space optical path (OP) such as fiber to fiber, 4 laser to fiber, 5-7 photonic crystal to fiber, 8 waveguide to fiber, [9][10][11] laser to laser [12][13][14][15][16] and intra chip coupling 17 have been reported. In many applications, a high coupling efficiency over a relatively long OP, within the submillimeter range and sometimes extending up to the centimeter range, is critical.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Flat and cylindrical micromirrors can be easily obtained by a well-known microfabrication technique, Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE), starting from photolithography-defined straight and curved patterns, respectively. Until now, high coupling efficiency with submillimeter OP in OBs has not been achieved without the assembly of a ball lens with flat mirrors, 12 the insertion of a fiber rod lens with cylindrical mirrors 14,15,18 or the hybrid integration of 3D mirrors, which requires further assembly or mounting steps. [24][25][26][27][28] In this work, we report on a monolithically integrated silicon 3D concave micromirror of controlled radii of curvature that is capable of focusing both the tangential and sagittal divergence of optical beams propagating in-plane of the substrate (x-z plane) as shown in Figure 1c.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silicon micromirrors with three-dimensional curvature enabling lensless efficient coupling of free-space light

et al. 2013

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Miniaturized optical benches process free-space light propagating in-plane with respect to the substrate and have a large variety of applications, including the coupling of light through an optical fiber. High coupling efficiency is usually obtained using assembled micro-optical parts, which considerably increase the system cost and integration effort. In this work, we report a high coupling efficiency, monolithically integrated silicon micromirror with controlled three-dimensional (3D) curvature that is capable of manipulating optical beams propagating in the plane of the silicon substrate. Based on our theoretical modeling, a spherical micromirror with a microscale radius of curvature as small as twice the Gaussian beam Rayleigh range provides a 100% coupling efficiency over a relatively long optical path range. Introducing dimensionless parameters facilitates the elucidation of the role of key design parameters, including the mirror's radii of curvature, independent of the wavelength. A micromachining method is presented for fabricating the 3D micromirror using fluorinated gas plasmas. The measured coupling efficiency was greater than 50% over a 200-mm optical path, compared to less than 10% afforded by a conventional flat micromirror, which was in good agreement with the model. Using the 3D micromirror, an optical cavity was formed with a round-trip diffraction loss of less than 0.4%, resulting in one order of magnitude enhancement in the measured quality factor. A nearly 100% coupling was also estimated when matching the sagittal and tangential radii of curvature of the presented micromirror's surface. The reported class of 3D micromirrors may be an advantageous replacement for the optical lenses usually assembled in silicon photonics and optical benches by transforming them into real 3D monolithic systems while achieving wideband high coupling efficiency over submillimeter distances.

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MOEMS tuning element for a Littrow external cavity laser

Cited by 34 publications

References 20 publications

A compact laser head with high-frequency stability for Rb atomic clocks and optical instrumentation

A compact laser head with high-frequency stability for Rb atomic clocks and optical instrumentation

External cavity wavelength tunable semiconductor lasers - a review

Silicon micromirrors with three-dimensional curvature enabling lensless efficient coupling of free-space light

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