MICROLENS TUNABLE DIODE LASER

RESEARCHERS ARE MEASURING THE EFFECT ON A LASER DIODE'S FREQUENCY OF OPTICAL FEEDBACK FROM A SHORT CAVITY MADE FROM HIGH-PERFORMANCE CYLINDRICAL MICROLENS COLLIMATORS. THE MICROLENS ASSEMBLY, WHICH CIRCULARIZES AND COLLIMATES THE DIODE OUTPUT RADIATION TO A DIFFRACTION LIMITED BEAM, ALSO PROVIDES HIGHLY EFFICIENT OPTICAL FEEDBACK INTO THE LASER CAVITY. FROM THE RESULTS OF THESE EXPERIMENTS, RESEARCHERS ARE DESIGNING A SIMPLE, LOW-COST, COMPACT, AND ROBUST TUNABLE DIODE LASER SYSTEM THAT UTILIZES COLLIMATING MICROLENSES TO FORM A SHORT EXTERNAL CAVITY FOR BOTH LONGITUDINAL MODE CONTROL AND FREQUENCY TUNING.