Photonic Modulation Using Bi-Directional Diamond Shaped Ring Lasers at 1550 NM

摘要

The Air Force Research Laboratory/Sensors Directorate (AFRL/SNDP) Binoptics Corp, and Infotonics Technology Center worked collaboratively to characterize and eventually package diode-based, diamond-shaped cavity, ring lasers that operate at 1550 nm. The laser modes propagate bi-directionally; however, uniaxial propagation was induced by optical injection from a tunable diode laser. The four-port laser ring offers use as an indirect modulator, directional router, and optical logic devices. Each optical output retains the encoding with either positive or negative logic, which can be used for conventional digital signal processing or routing. Secondly, the two counter- propagating laser modes provide a direct means for realizing the Sagnac effect, which has been well established in gyro technology with gas and fiber lasers. The ring lasers described here offer an ultra compact geometry for potential laser gyro and inertial sensor applications. These devices are scaleable and monolithically integrable with many semi-conductor based components including optical amplifiers, photodiodes, and electro-absorption modulators (EAMs).