A fiber laser producing a beam of ultrashort laser pulses at a repetition rate greater than 200 MHz includes a linear fiber resonator and a fiber branch. Ultrashort laser pulses are generated by passive mode-locking and circulate within the linear fiber resonator. Each circulating laser pulse is split into a portion that continues propagating in the linear fiber resonator and a complementary portion that propagates through the fiber branch and is then returned to the linear fiber resonator. The optical length of the linear fiber resonator is an integer multiple of the optical length of the fiber branch. The repetition rate of the ultrashort laser pulses is the reciprocal of the propagation time of the laser pulses through the fiber branch.

Apparatus and methods demonstrate a chip-scale direct optical to RF link that frequency divides up to 120 GHz optical frequency combs to 10 GHz using harmonic multi-tone injection locking. The embodied invention links widely separated optical frequency combs in the millimeter wave regime (>120 GHz) or THz domain (100s of GHz to THz domain), e.g., microresonator-based frequency combs, which are currently outside of the photo-detection region, into the microwave domain (10s of GHz) where it can be easily photo-detected and controlled. The technique works as a perfect optical divider, using a mode-locked laser and optical injection locking as the technique to phase-lock both lasers.

Apparatus and methods demonstrate a chip-scale direct optical to RF link that frequency divides up to 120 GHz optical frequency combs to 10 GHz using harmonic multi-tone injection locking. The embodied invention links widely separated optical frequency combs in the millimeter wave regime (>120 GHz) or THz domain (100s of GHz to THz domain), e.g., microresonator-based frequency combs, which are currently outside of the photo-detection region, into the microwave domain (10s of GHz) where it can be easily photo-detected and controlled. The technique works as a perfect optical divider, using a mode-locked laser and optical injection locking as the technique to phase-lock both lasers.

Methods, systems and apparatus are disclosed for delivery of pulsed treatment radiation by employing a pump radiation source generating picosecond pulses at a first wavelength, and a frequency-shifting resonator having a lasing medium and resonant cavity configured to receive the picosecond pulses from the pump source at the first wavelength and to emit radiation at a second wavelength in response thereto, wherein the resonant cavity of the frequency-shifting resonator has a round trip time shorter than the duration of the picosecond pulses generated by the pump radiation source. Methods, systems and apparatus are also disclosed for providing beam uniformity and a sub-harmonic resonator.

Methods, systems and apparatus are disclosed for delivery of pulsed treatment radiation by employing a pump radiation source generating picosecond pulses at a first wavelength, and a frequency-shifting resonator having a lasing medium and resonant cavity configured to receive the picosecond pulses from the pump source at the first wavelength and to emit radiation at a second wavelength in response thereto, wherein the resonant cavity of the frequency-shifting resonator has a round trip time shorter than the duration of the picosecond pulses generated by the pump radiation source. Methods, systems and apparatus are also disclosed for providing beam uniformity and a sub-harmonic resonator.

A mode-locked laser (MLL) that produces ultra-low phase noise optical and RF outputs, includes two nested resonant optical cavities including an optical fiber-based cavity and an etalon, and a three bandwidth Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) frequency stabilizer assembly incorporating three different optical bandpass filters. The optical fiber-based cavity is characterized by a free spectral range, FSR.sub.fiber, and the etalon is characterized by a free spectral range, FSR.sub.filter, wherein FSR.sub.filter/FSR.sub.fiber is an integer equal to or greater than 2. A method of generating ultra-low phase noise optical and RF outputs is disclosed. Optical and RF outputs have a phase noise that is less than 100 dBc/Hz at 1 Hz and less than 150 dBc at 10 KHz.

A method of generating laser pulses (1) includes: creating a circulating light field in resonator device (11) having resonator length L and an intra-cavity dispersion and configured for supporting light field resonator modes, and generating a pulse train of laser pulses (1) by a mode-locking mechanism. Laser pulses (1) are generated with a repetition frequency and provide a frequency comb with carrier frequency .sub.o and comb modes in frequency space. The intra-cavity dispersion is selected such that round trip phases have a dependency on frequency according to $\left(\right)=m\left(\sqrt{1+4\frac{-{}_0}{m{}_r}}-1\right)+\frac{L}{c}{}_0$
wherein m is an integer providing effective repetition rate (m.sub.r) in combination with mode spacing .sub.r at optical carrier frequency (.sub.o), and the mode-locking mechanism provides a coupling of the resonator modes whereby frequency difference (n=.sub.n+1.sub.n) between neighboring mode frequencie

Methods, systems and apparatus are disclosed for delivery of pulsed treatment radiation by employing a pump radiation source generating picosecond pulses at a first wavelength, and a frequency-shifting resonator having a lasing medium and resonant cavity configured to receive the picosecond pulses from the pump source at the first wavelength and to emit radiation at a second wavelength in response thereto, wherein the resonant cavity of the frequency-shifting resonator has a round trip time shorter than the duration of the picosecond pulses generated by the pump radiation source. Methods, systems and apparatus are also disclosed for providing beam uniformity and a sub-harmonic resonator.

Methods, systems and apparatus are disclosed for delivery of pulsed treatment radiation by employing a pump radiation source generating picosecond pulses at a first wavelength, and a frequency-shifting resonator having a lasing medium and resonant cavity configured to receive the picosecond pulses from the pump source at the first wavelength and to emit radiation at a second wavelength in response thereto, wherein the resonant cavity of the frequency-shifting resonator has a round trip time shorter than the duration of the picosecond pulses generated by the pump radiation source. Methods, systems and apparatus are also disclosed for providing beam uniformity and a sub-harmonic resonator.

The olive oil-tuned broadband conjugated polymer laser medium includes the conjugated polymer known as poly ((9,9-dihexyl-9H-fluorene-2,7-vinylene)-co-(1-methoxy-4-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-2,5-phenylenevinylene)) or Poly(FV-co-MEHPV) at a 90:10 mole ratio. The emission wavelength of the olive oil tuned broadband conjugated polymer laser can be reversibly tuned between 500 nm and 680 nm.