A system includes a planar waveguide that includes an active gain medium configured to receive pump light from a pump source and amplify stimulated emission light. The planar waveguide has a fast axis and a slow axis and is configured to operate in single mode in the fast axis and multimode in the slow axis. The system also includes a hybrid spatial filter configured to receive the amplified stimulated emission light from the planar waveguide and output laser light. The hybrid spatial filter includes a physical slit having a narrower dimension corresponding to the slow axis of the planar waveguide. The physical slit is configured to reduce an intensity of the amplified stimulated emission light received from the planar waveguide. The hybrid spatial filter also includes a Volume Bragg Grating (VBG) configured to constrain an angle of the amplified stimulated emission light and enable compact geometry intra-cavity beam expanding/collimating optics.

A device comprises first, second and third elements fabricated on a common substrate. The first element comprises an active waveguide structure comprising electrically pumped optical source supporting a first optical mode. The second element comprises a passive waveguide structure supporting a second optical mode in at least part of the second element. The third element, at least partly butt-coupled to the first element, comprises an intermediate waveguide structure supporting intermediate optical modes. At least part of the second element supports at least one optical mode that interacts with rare-earth dopants. A tapered waveguide structure in at least one of the second and the third elements facilitates efficient adiabatic transformation between the second optical mode and at least one of the intermediate optical modes. No adiabatic transformation occurs between any of the intermediate optical modes and the first optical mode. Mutual alignments of the elements are defined using lithographic alignment marks.

A planar waveguide amplifier includes a planar waveguide including a flat plate-like core; a first cladding provided on a first principal face of the core; and a second cladding provided on a second principal face of the core, and signal light and pumping light travel into the planar waveguide so that the signal light and the pumping light propagate inside the core in such a manner that optical paths of the signal light and the pumping light overlap each other, and in a zig-zag manner, and the core is an amplification medium containing a rare-earth element serving as an active ion of a three-level system, and absorbs the signal light on the basis of a reduction in intensity of the pumping light.

A system includes a planar waveguide that includes an active gain medium configured to receive pump light from a pump source and amplify stimulated emission light. The planar waveguide has a fast axis and a slow axis and is configured to operate in single mode in the fast axis and multimode in the slow axis. The system also includes a hybrid spatial filter configured to receive the amplified stimulated emission light from the planar waveguide and output laser light. The hybrid spatial filter includes a physical slit having a narrower dimension corresponding to the slow axis of the planar waveguide. The physical slit is configured to reduce an intensity of the amplified stimulated emission light received from the planar waveguide. The hybrid spatial filter also includes a Volume Bragg Grating (VBG) configured to constrain an angle of the amplified stimulated emission light and enable compact geometry intra-cavity beam expanding/collimating optics.

Systems and methods described herein provide a thermally compensated waveguide structure having a thermal index profile configured to correct thermal aberrations caused by temperature gradients in a fast axis direction and/or correct other forms of distortions in an output beam generated by the waveguide structure. The waveguide structure includes a core region, one or more cladding, and one or more heat sinks. A geometry of these portions with respect to each other can provide a cold refractive index profile such that a cold refractive index value of a portion of the core region is less than a cold refractive index value of at least one of the one or more cladding regions. Responsive to thermal compensation, the cold refractive index profile is modified, through addition of a thermal index profile, to form a hot index profile having attributes including good overlap of the fundamental mode with the gain profile and mode clean-up through gain discrimination against higher order modes.

A laser amplifier includes a planar optical waveguide for laser amplification, and an input optical system for inputting signal light to a core layer of the planar optical waveguide. The input optical system includes: a collimating lens for converting output light from a signal light source into parallel light; an anamorphic prism for reducing the beam width in a first direction of output light from the collimating lens; and a cylindrical lens for collecting output light from the anamorphic prism in a second direction, and output light from the cylindrical lens is input to the core layer.

Techniques for producing a Brillouin laser are provided. According to some aspects, techniques are based on forward Brillouin scattering and a multimode acousto-optic waveguide in which light is scattered between optical modes of the waveguide via the Brillouin scattering. This process may transfer energy from a waveguide mode of pump light to a waveguide mode of Stokes light. This process may be referred to herein as Stimulated Inter-Modal Brillouin Scattering (SIMS). Since SIMS is based on forward Brillouin scattering, laser (Stokes) light may be output in a different direction than back toward the input pump light, and as such there is no need for a circulator or other non-reciprocal device to protect the pump light as in conventional devices.

A system includes a master oscillator configured to generate a low-power optical beam. The system also includes a planar waveguide (PWG) amplifier having one or more laser diode pump arrays, a planar waveguide, and a light pipe. The one or more laser diode pump arrays are configured to generate pumplight. The planar waveguide is configured to generate a high-power optical beam using the low-power optical beam and the pumplight. The light pipe is configured to substantially homogenize the pumplight and to inject the homogenized pumplight into the planar waveguide. The light pipe is also configured to inject the low-power optical beam into the planar waveguide.

Systems and methods are provided for providing a passively switched light source. An integrated optical component includes a photonic material and a phase change material in direct contact with the photonic material. A light source provides light into the integrated optical component. The light interacts with the phase change material such that an index of refraction of the phase change material depends on the intensity of the light within the integrated optical component as to provide a passive change to a parameter of the integrated optical component.

A problem with a conventional waveguide type laser device is that in the case in which an isotropic laser medium is used for a core, linearly polarized light is not provided. A ridge waveguide laser device of the present disclosure includes: a substrate; a core joined to the substrate and having a laser medium, the core having a refractive index higher than that of the substrate; and a cladding joined to the core, constituting a ridge waveguide together with the core, and made from a birefringent material having ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices lower than the refractive index of the core, the ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices being different.