A light-emitting device includes an optical amplifier and gives off output light from optical amplifier by making a plurality of seed light rays, having mutually different wavelengths, incident on optical amplifier. Optical amplifier includes a medium portion containing a wavelength-converting element. Optical amplifier has wavelength-converting element thereof excited by excitation light to produce a plurality of partially coherent light rays, of which wavelengths are respectively the same as the mutually different wavelengths of plurality of seed light rays, thereby giving off, as output light, a multi-wavelength light beam. Excitation light has a shorter wavelength than any of plurality of seed light rays and is incident on the medium portion. Multi-wavelength light beam includes a plurality of light rays amplified. Plurality of light rays amplified have wavelengths, which are respectively the same as mutually different wavelengths of plurality of seed light rays.

A discrete wavelength tunable laser having an optical cavity which comprises: a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA); a demultiplexer (Demux) having a single input and a plurality of outputs, the Demux configured to receive the output of the SOA and to produce a plurality of fixed spectral passbands within the gain bandwidth of the SOA; one or more tunable distributed Bragg reflector(s) (DBR(s)) arranged to receive the outputs of the Demux, each tunable DBR configured to select a reflective spectral band within the gain bandwidth of the SOA upon application of a bias current; wherein the SOA forms the back end mirror of the optical cavity; the one or more tunable DBRs form the front end mirror of the optical cavity; and wherein the lasing channel of the discrete wavelength tunable laser is chosen by the overlap of the selected reflective spectral band of one of the one or more tunable DBRs with a fixed spectral passband of the Demux.

A light source module includes a first semiconductor laser element hermetically sealed, a second semiconductor laser element hermetically sealed, and firth to fourth optical elements. A first laser beam prior to reaching the first optical element has divergence angle θfd1 in a direction along a second optical axis and divergence angle θsd1 in a direction along a third optical axis, and satisfy 90°>θfd1>θsd1>0°. Divergence angle θfd12 of a first laser beam in the direction along the second optical axis decreases from divergence angle θfd1, the first laser beam having exited the first optical element. A component of a first laser beam in the direction along the second optical axis is collimated, the first laser beam having exited the second optical element. The same applies to the second semiconductor laser element.

A wavelength tunable light source includes: a common wavelength filter that has periodic transmission peak wavelengths or reflection peak wavelengths and is commonly used for a plurality of channels; a wavelength tunable filter that is coupled to the common wavelength filter and has a one-input and multiple-output configuration which has a plurality of output ports, and that has a plurality of transmission peak wavelengths corresponding to the plurality of channels at the plurality of output ports; and a plurality of gain media optically coupled to the plurality of output ports of the wavelength tunable filter, wherein a plurality of laser cavities that perform laser oscillation at a plurality of different wavelengths are formed between the common wavelength filter and the plurality of gain media.

An oscillation wavelength adjustment type TLD for adjusting a control amount of a resonator length L, independently from physical property values of a waveguide material when a waveguide is used in the phase adjustment, without an external resonator structure in accordance with a MEMS technology employs a reflective phase adjuster (20) including a multi-mode interference waveguide (21), which is optically coupled to an optical gain waveguide and has a configuration including one input port and five output ports, and a reflective delay line array (25) connected to an output waveguide on a side of the five output ports of the multi-mode interference waveguide (21). Five reflective delay lines (24-0 to 24-4) provided in the reflective delay line array (25) are capable of adjusting the intensity of reciprocating light in accordance with a wavelength change of transmitted light. The intensity of the reciprocating light can also be adjusted by an electric signal applied from the outside.

An example system for inspecting a surface includes a laser, an optical system, a gated camera, and a control system. The laser is configured to emit pulses of light, with respective wavelengths of the pulses of light varying over time. The optical system includes at least one optical element, and is configured to direct light emitted by the laser to points along a scan line one point at a time. The gated camera is configured to record a fluorescent response of the surface from light having each wavelength of a plurality of wavelengths at each point along the scan line. The control system is configured to control the gated camera such that an aperture of the gated camera is open during fluorescence of the surface but closed during exposure of the surface to light emitted by the laser.

A tunable laser source that includes multiple gain elements and uses a spatial light modulator in an external cavity to produce spectrally tunable output is claimed. Several designs of the external cavity are described, targeting different performance characteristics and different manufacturing costs for the device. Compared to existing devices, the tunable laser source produces high output power, wide tuning range, fast tuning rate, and high spectral resolution.

A tunable laser for tuning a lasing mode based on light beams travelling through at least one block of channel waveguides with at least two tunable combs, includes: a frequency selective optical multiplexer comprising a first terminal for receiving/transmitting light, at least one block of channel waveguides, each channel waveguide having a reflectively coated first tail and a second tail, and an optical coupling element optically coupling the first terminal with the second tails of the channel waveguides of the at least one block of channel waveguides, each of the channel waveguides having a different length; a gain element generating a broad spectrum of light, the gain element coupling the first terminal of the frequency selective optical multiplexer with a reflective element.

A hybrid optical source comprises an optical gain chip containing an optical gain material that provides an optical signal, and an optical reflector chip including an optical reflector. It also includes a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) chip, which comprises a semiconductor layer having a planarized surface facing the semiconductor reflector. The semiconductor layer includes: an optical coupler to redirect the optical signal to and from the planarized surface; and an optical waveguide to convey the optical signal from the optical coupler. While assembling these chips, a height of the optical gain material is referenced against the planarized surface of the semiconductor layer, a height of the optical reflector is referenced against the planarized surface of the semiconductor layer, and the optical reflector is aligned with the optical coupler, so that the optical signal emanating from the optical gain material is reflected by the optical reflector and into the optical coupler.

A tunable laser includes a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) having a reflective end coupled to a shared reflector and an output end, which is coupled to a demultiplexer through an input waveguide. The demultiplexer comprises a set of Mach-Zehnder (MZ) lattice filters, which function as symmetric de-interleaving wavelength splitters, that are cascaded to form a binary tree that connects an input port, which carries multiple wavelength bands, to N wavelength-specific output ports that are coupled to a set of N reflectors. A set of variable optical attenuators (VOAs) is coupled to outputs of the MZ lattice filters in the binary tree, and is controllable to selectively add loss to the outputs, so that only a single favored wavelength band, which is associated with a favored reflector in the set of N reflectors, lases at any given time. An output waveguide is optically coupled to the lasing cavity.