LASER TUNING BASED ON WAVELENGTH-DEPENDENT RESONANT LOSES

TUNING THE WAVELENGTH OF LASERS IS BASIC TO MANY USES OF LIGHT. RESEARCHERS ARE DESIGNING A NEW MECHANISM FOR ELECTRONICALLY TUNING LASERS TO MAKE MORE RAPIDLY TUNABLE LASERS THAT ARE EFFICIENT AND RELIABLE. THE TUNING METHOD SUPPRESES UNWANTED LONGITUDINAL CAVITY MODES, OR EQUIVALENTLY UNWANTED WAVELENGTHS. THE LOSS MECHANISM IS BASED ON A COUPLING BETWEEN A LASER CAVITY'S FUNDAMENTAL TRANSVERSE MODE AND A HIGHER-ORDER HIGHER-LOSS TRANSVERSE MODE OF THE SAME LASER CAVITY. RESEARCHERS ARE PRODUCING TUNABLE CONTINUOUSLY-EMITTING AND PULSED LASERS RELEVANT TO A WIDE RANGE OF RESEARCH AND MEASUREMENT APPLICATIONS.