Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to methods and apparatuses for generating laser light. As may be implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments, laser light is generated at a laser light source and is modulated in response to a frequency modulation signal, to generate a plurality of different wavelengths of laser light. The frequency modulation signal is generated, for each particular one of the wavelengths of laser light, at a respective seeding frequency corresponding to the particular one of the wavelengths in which the seeding frequency is different for each of the different wavelengths. Such an approach may, for example, involve generating the frequency modulation signal with a frequency generator circuit and using the frequency modulation signal to control an electro-optical modulator for modulating the wavelength of the laser light.

A tunable laser wavelength measurement system includes an interferometric wavelength tracking system that uses a combination of interferometric and wavelength reference measurements to directly measure the laser output wavelength, The measurement exhibits the following desirable error signal characteristics: directional information, continuity, low latency, absolute information, high accuracy, high precision, and little or no drift, A tunable laser wavelength control system additionally incorporates electronics to compare the measured laser wavelength to a desired wavelength or wavelength function, and to generate a feedback control signal to control the wavelength of the laser output based on the comparison. In one non-limiting example implementation, the desired wavelength function is repetitive. The difference between the desired wavelength function and the interferometrically-measured wavelength function is taken, and a successive approximation technique is employed to calculate and adjust a repetitive controlling signal to obtain the desired wavelength function.

The present invention provides a burst-laser generator using an optical resonator which produces high pulse-strength of burst-laser in order to conduct laser Compton scattering, comprising: a self-oscillation amplifying optical loop-path and an external optical resonator to burst-amplify laser, wherein, laser supplied by an exciting laser source is self-oscillation amplified with the self-oscillation amplifying optical loop-path and further burst-amplified with the external optical resonator.

A direct detection LIght Detection and Ranging (“LIDAR”) system for instantaneous measurement of target velocity and distance uses principles of dichroic atomic vapor absorption in a closed feedback loop. In one or more embodiments, the system includes a laser light source to transmit laser light toward a target; a Dichroic Atomic Vapor Laser Locking (“DAVLL”) system including a gas cell in a magnetic field, wherein the DAVLL system is coupled to receive the laser light after being reflected by the target and output an error signal that can be used to calculated the relative velocity between the emitter and the target; and a feedback control configured to determine respective gas absorption rates of the LCP and RCP light beams in the gas cell, determine a difference of the respective gas absorption rates, and control the laser light source to adjust the frequency of the transmitted laser light in accordance with the determined ratio.

A monolithic photonic resonator includes a bulk optic with first and second superpolished facets, and a high-reflectivity coating applied to each of the first and second superpolished facets. The superpolished facets form an optical resonator. The bulk optic is a single piece of an optical material that is solid, i.e., has no internal holes, gaps, or pockets. The bulk optic therefore serves as an intraresonator optical medium while still supporting a finesse of 10,000 or more. The superpolished facets may be counterfacing to form a Fabry-Perot cavity. Alternatively, the bulk optic may include forms one or more additional facets off of which light inside the bulk optic undergoes total internal reflection. The monolithic photonic resonator may be mounted in a support structure that minimizes the overall vibration sensitivity of the resonator's resonance frequency.

Optical pulse sources. In one example, the pulse source includes an optical fiber ring resonator with at least one normal dispersion fiber segment characterized by a positive group velocity dispersion (GVD) per unit length and at least one anomalous dispersion fiber segment characterized by a negative GVD per unit length. In another example, the pulse source includes an optical fiber ring resonator with one or more fiber segments having a positive net group velocity dispersion (GVD); and an intracavity spectral filter optically coupled to the one or more fiber segments. The pulse source is configured to generate one or more optical solitons in the optical fiber ring resonator.

Disclosed is a system for generating a spatially localized, high-intensity laser beam, including: a laser source designed to generate a burst of N laser pulses with a duration of less than or equal to one picosecond, the N laser pulses having a first repetition frequency greater than or equal to 0.5 gigahertz; a resonant optical cavity designed to receive and store the burst of N laser pulses, the resonant optical cavity being designed to focus the burst of N laser pulses in an interaction region of the resonant optical cavity; and a servo control system designed to control the first repetition frequency relative to the roundtrip distance in the resonant optical cavity, such that the N pulses of the burst are superimposed temporally and spatially by constructive interferences in the interaction region so as to form one giant ultra-short and high-energy pulse.

The present disclosure provides embodiments for stabilizing simultaneously N lasers using an optical resonator. A distance between two mirrors forming the optical resonator is adjusted to a stabilization length. More specifically, at the stabilization length, there is, for each of N respective mutually different predetermined frequencies, a resonant frequency of the optical resonator for which the difference between the predetermined frequency and the said resonant frequency is smaller than a predetermined target value. Light from each of the N lasers is fed to the optical resonator and, thereby, N respective error signals are generated. Based on the N error signals, the N lasers are stabilized simultaneously.

A laser stabilization system and method are provided. The laser stabilization system includes: a laser configured to produce a laser light signal at a target frequency; a phase modulator configured to apply a phase modulation to the laser light signal to produce a phase modulated laser light signal; a stable optical resonator configured to receive the phase modulated laser light signal and return a light signal; a light detection system configured to receive the light signal from the stable optical resonator and produce an amplitude modulated electrical signal based on the light signal; and a digital domain circuit configured to generate a control signal based on the amplitude modulated electrical signal.

The system includes an optical resonator, a mount, and a fastener. The optical resonator is comprised of a material with a horizontal plane symmetry. The optical resonator includes a horizontal plane protrusion for mounting. The horizontal plane protrusion includes discrete resonator rotational orientation positions. The mount comprises mounting legs compatible with the horizontal plane symmetry. The mount includes discrete mount rotational orientation positions that correspond to the discrete resonator rotation orientation positions at a plurality of rotational angles. The fastener secures the horizontal plane protrusion of the optical resonator to the mount.