APPARATUS OF OPTICAL TRANSMITTERS AND RECEIVERS OPERATING IN LONG WAVE INFRARED WAVELENGTH RANGES

Abstract

Optical transmitters and optical receivers utilizing long wave infrared light for use with an earth-orbiting satellite communication system, and a structure including an intracavity optical nonlinear process, are described herein. The transmitters include a pumping laser diode with a fast-axis collimating lens and a pumping wavelength λ0, operating in a continuous wavelength (CW) mode. The transmitters also include a laser cavity having a beam combiner or a dichroic mirror, a laser crystal with a lasing wavelength λ1 and a difference frequency generation orientation patterned semiconductor to generate long wave-IR light. The transmitters also include a second laser at a wavelength λ2, operating in a modulation mode. The receivers have a similar structure to the transmitters, utilizing a sum frequency generation orientation patterned semiconductor to convert long wave-IR light into the short wave-IR.

Claims

1. An optical transmitter comprising: a pumping laser diode with a fast-axis collimating lens and a pumping wavelength λ0, operating in a continuous wavelength (CW) mode; a laser cavity comprising: a beam combiner or a dichroic mirror; a laser crystal with a lasing wavelength λ1; and a difference frequency generation orientation patterned semiconductor to generate long wave-IR light; and a second laser at a wavelength λ2, operating in modulation mode.

2. The optical transmitter of claim 1, wherein the laser crystal comprises: an input facet coated with a high transmission coating at λ0 and a high reflective coating at λ1; and an output facet coated with an anti-reflective coating at λ1.

3. The optical transmitter of claim 1, wherein the laser cavity includes a dichroic mirror having nearly zero loss at λ1 and high reflection at λ2.

4. The optical transmitter of claim 1, wherein the laser cavity comprises the beam combiner, the beam combiner comprising: a first input facet having an anti-reflective coating at λ1 and a high reflective coating at λ0 along the direction of the laser cavity axis; a second input facet with an anti-reflective coating at λ2 in a direction perpendicular to a laser cavity axis; and an output facet with an anti-reflective coating at λ1 and λ2 along the direction of the laser cavity axis.

5. The optical transmitter of claim 1, wherein the difference frequency generation orientation patterned semiconductor comprises: an input facet coated with an anti-reflective coating at λ1 and λ2; and an output facet coated with a high reflective coating at λ1 and a high transmission coating at 1/(1/λ1-1/λ2).

6. The optical transmitter of claim 1, wherein the difference frequency generation orientation patterned semiconductor comprises: an input facet coated with an anti-reflective coating at λ1 and λ2, a high reflective coating at λ0 and 1/(1/λ1-1/λ2); and an output facet coated with a high reflective coating at λ1 and λ2 and a high transmission coating at 1/(1/λ1-1/λ2).

7. The optical transmitter of claim 1, wherein the second laser is a laser diode with a narrow linewidth.

8. The optical transmitter of claim 1, wherein the second laser is a modulated high-power laser from a seed laser diode and an optical amplifier.

9. An optical receiver that converts incoming laser light to a new wavelength, the optical receiver comprising: a pumping laser diode with a fast axis compressing lens and a pumping wavelength λ0, operating in a CW mode; a laser cavity comprising: a dichroic mirror or a beam combiner; a laser crystal with a lasing wavelength λ1; and a sum frequency generation orientation patterned semiconductor to generate near-IR light that can be detected by a photodetector; and collimating optics to reduce the beam size of an incoming laser at a wavelength λ2 to a level suitable for non-linear optical effects; and a detector for the laser at the beam size of the level suitable for non-linear optical effects generated from the sum frequency generation orientation patterned semiconductor.

10. The optical receiver of claim 9, wherein the detector is a high-speed high sensitive telecom photodiode.

11. The optical receiver of claim 9, wherein the detector is a heterodyne detector.

12. The optical receiver of claim 9, wherein the detector is a silicon avalanche photodiode.

13. The optical receiver of claim 9, wherein the laser crystal comprises: an input facet coated with a high transmission coating at λ0 and a high reflective coating at λ1; and an output facet coated with an anti-reflective coating at λ1.

14. The optical receiver of claim 9, wherein the laser cavity includes the dichroic mirror having nearly zero loss at λ1 and high reflection at λ2.

15. The optical receiver of claim 9, wherein the laser cavity includes the beam combiner, the beam combiner comprising: a first input facet having an anti-reflective coating at λ1 and a high reflective coating at λ0 in a direction along the direction of the laser cavity axis; a second input facet having an anti-reflective coating at λ2 in a direction perpendicular to a laser cavity axis; and an output facet having an anti-reflective coating at λ1 and λ2 along the direction of the laser cavity axis.

16. The optical receiver of claim 9, wherein the sum frequency generation orientation patterned semiconductor comprises: an input facet coated with an anti-reflective coating at λ1 and λ2; and an output facet coated with a high reflective coating at λ1 and a high transmission coating at 1/(1/λ1+1/λ2).

17. The optical receiver of claim 9, wherein the sum frequency generation orientation patterned semiconductor comprises: an input facet coated with an anti-reflective coating at λ1 and λ2 and a high reflective coating at λ0 and 1/(1/λ1+1/λ2); and an output facet coated with a high reflective coating at λ1 and λ2 and a high transmission coating at 1/(1/λ1+1/λ2).

18. A backwards optical parametric oscillator comprising: a pumping laser diode with a fast-axis collimating lens and a pumping wavelength λ0, operating in a continuous wavelength (CW) mode; a laser cavity comprising a laser crystal with a lasing wavelength λp; an orientation patterned semiconductor with a period attained through electron beam lithography for backwards parametric oscillation via first order quasi-phase matching, generating light with wavelength λi travelling in the opposite direction of the pump light through difference frequency generation, and generating light with wavelength λs travelling in the same direction as the pump light; and a beam combiner or a dichroic mirror, the beam combiner or the dichroic mirror being external to the laser cavity for coupling the laser with wavelength λs into the laser cavity to reduce internal cavity losses.

19. The backwards optical parametric oscillator of claim 18, wherein the laser crystal comprises: an input facet coated with a high transmission coating at λ0 and a high reflective coating at λp; and an output facet coated with an anti-reflective coating at λp.

20. The backwards optical parametric oscillator of claim 18, wherein the orientation patterned semiconductor comprises: an input facet coated with an anti-reflective coating at λp; and an output facet coated with a high reflective coating at λp and anti-reflection coating at λs and λi.

21. The backwards optical parametric oscillator of claim 18 containing the beam combiner, the beam combiner comprising: a first input facet coated with an anti-reflection coating at λs and λi, and a second input facet with an anti-reflection coating at λs perpendicular to the laser cavity axis; and an output facet coated with an anti-reflection coating at λi along the direction of the laser cavity axis.

22. The backwards optical parametric oscillator of claim 18 including the dichroic mirror, the dichroic mirror having nearly zero loss at λi, and high reflection at λs.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] For a better understanding of the various embodiments described herein, and to show more clearly how these various embodiments may be applied in practice, reference will be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings, which show at least one example embodiment and will now be briefly described.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a diagram of the proposed optical transmitter in accordance with an example embodiment. It features the pump laser diode 1 and the optically pumped laser crystal 4, as well as a second laser 8 which will be used with the orientation patterned semiconductor 6 for difference frequency generation of the output light in the long wave infrared range. This is facilitated by the use of a beam combiner 5 to combine lasers one and two prior to the orientation patterned semiconductor 6, as well as miscellaneous focusing 2 and collimating optics. In this example, the first laser beam is completely confined within the laser cavity formed by cavity mirror 3 and mirror 7, and all of the components inside the laser cavity have anti-reflection coatings. A wavelength widely used in fiber optical communication can be used for the second laser 8 so that high speed optical and electric components commercially available on the market can be used.

[0016] FIG. 2 shows the same structure as shown in FIG. 1, but now the laser crystal, orientation patterned semiconductor 6, and beam combiner 5 have had high-reflection and anti-reflection coatings applied to improve the performance of the structure. The purpose of the coatings is discussed further below.

[0017] FIG. 3 shows the device in FIG. 2, except the beam combiner has been replaced by a dichroic mirror 5, which has nearly zero loss at λ1 and high reflection at λ2.

[0018] FIG. 4 is a diagram of the proposed optical receiver in accordance with an example embodiment. The general structure is similar to FIG. 1, with two differences in the laser source 8 for λ2 and that the orientation patterned semiconductor 6 is now designed for sum frequency generation. As this is a receiver, the second laser λ2 is the incoming LWIR light from the satellite communication platform, which is converted to the third wavelength in a telecom band so that high speed and sensitive detectors available on the market can be used. This is then collimated down to a suitable beam width for nonlinear effects to occur with the help of an attached collimating optics 9.

[0019] FIG. 5 shows the same structure as shown in FIG. 4, but now the laser crystal 4, orientation patterned semiconductor 6, and beam combiner 5 have had high-reflection and anti-reflection coatings applied to improve the performance of the structure. The purpose of the coatings is discussed in the detailed description.

[0020] FIG. 6 shows the device in FIG. 5, except the beam combiner has been replaced by a dichroic mirror 5, which has nearly zero loss at λ1 and high reflection at λ2.

[0021] FIG. 7 illustrates the basic concept of backwards three wave mixing. In the diagram, the orientation patterned semiconductor (OP-SC) is used to generate an idler wavelength λi which travels in the opposite horizontal direction of the incident pump λp and signal λs wavelengths. This differs from a typical forward three wave mixing scheme, where the signal, idler, and pump would all be travelling in the same direction. The OP-SC can be designed to facilitate difference or sum frequency generation, and the resulting idler wavelength can be tuned over a wide wavelength range.

[0022] FIG. 8 shows a diagram of the proposed backwards three wave mixing in accordance with an example embodiment. It features the pump laser diode 1 and the optical pumped laser crystal 4, as well as a second laser 8 external to the laser cavity which will serve as the signal wavelength with the orientation patterned semiconductor 6 for difference frequency generation over a wide wavelength range. This is facilitated by the use of a beam combiner 5 to combine the pump and signal lasers prior to the orientation patterned semiconductor 6, as well as miscellaneous focusing and collimating optics 2. In this example, having the signal laser 8 and beam combiner 5 external to the cavity minimizes the internal cavity losses, leading to higher conversion efficiencies. The pump and signal lasers can be any laser that produces a suitable wavelength for the intended difference frequency generation, whether it is a diode pumped solid state laser, fiber laser, semiconductor laser diode, VECSEL, quantum cascade laser, or any other form of laser. The beam combiner 5, laser crystal 4, and OP-SC 6 have antireflection coatings to further minimize optical losses.

[0023] FIG. 9 shows a similar structure to the backwards three wave mixing proposed in FIG. 8. The main difference is that the orientation patterned semiconductor 6 has been designed for sum frequency generation instead of difference frequency generation. This also results in the anti-reflection coatings targeting the sum frequency wavelength as opposed to the difference frequency wavelength like the design in FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] In general, an FSO link consists of an optical signal transmitter and receiver. The transmitter is modulated at a high speed, encoding the information to be sent on the optical radiation emitted by the transmitter. The output light is then typically focused through a telescope to facilitate pointing the optical radiation towards the receiver. The receiver typically consists of a series of optical filters to remove background noise, while the signal from the detector is amplified and sent to a demodulator circuit to recover the information from the transmitted signal. The communication channel in this case is the Earth's atmosphere. FSO communication involving lasers is subject to a number of complications due to the non-ideal optical properties of the communication channel. More specifically, the laser signal will be attenuated by the atmosphere due to the presence of absorption, scintillation, scattering, propagation geometry, and other effects. The total radiation attenuation from the atmosphere can typically be calculated as [1]:

A(λ)=α.sub.fog(λ)+α.sub.snow(λ)+α.sub.rain(λ)+α.sub.scattering(λ),[dB/km]

where α.sub.x(λ) is attenuation caused by the given weather condition and λ is the operational wavelength.

[0025] This attenuation occurs as the atmosphere is made up of various small particles and molecules (fog, dust, aerosols, etc.) which results in absorption, scattering, and scintillation. Fortunately, there are atmospheric scintillation windows where transmittance through the atmosphere is high. The four main windows to consider are the visible, near-infrared (NIR), mid-infrared (Mid-IR), and long wave infrared (LWIR). Each of these windows have relatively high optical transmittance, although there are various advantages and drawbacks to each window. It would be relatively simple to implement an FSO system based on the visible system if it were not for eye safety concerns due to the power of the lasers involved coupled with the ability of the human eye to focus visible light. As a result, the visible window is typically neglected in favor of the NIR, Mid-IR, and FIR bands. The human eye does not focus light greater than 1400 nm strongly, so it is possible to transmit using high-power optical signals that can help offset some of the attenuation effects.

[0026] One of the main factors to consider regardless of the wavelength used is scattering, which takes the form of Rayleigh and Mie scattering. Rayleigh scattering occurs when the light interacts with particles that are significantly smaller than the wavelength, and is characterized by a scattering cross-section:

[00001]${\sigma }_{\mathrm{Rayleigh}}=\frac{8{{\pi }^3\left(n^2-1\right)}^2}{3N^2{\lambda }^4}$

[0027] The most important feature to note is the λ.sup.−4 dependency, which means that smaller wavelengths will scatter much more significantly than larger wavelengths. Fortunately, the NIR, MIR, and FIR bands have long enough wavelengths that Rayleigh scattering can typically be neglected versus Mie scattering. Mie scattering occurs when the particle size is within the same size as the wavelength. This form of scattering is not nearly as dependent on the wavelength as Rayleigh scattering, with a ˜λ.sup.−1 scattering cross-section dependence that varies somewhat with wavelength. As we can see, it is still advantageous to prioritize the use of longer wavelengths to minimize scattering, which is a large source of attenuation with FSO signals. This brings us to the use of infrared signals for communication purposes, starting with the NIR band.

[0028] The NIR band (˜800-1550 nm) has the advantage in that we have access to mature laser diodes and detectors for this band, in particular the 1300-1550 nm range due to the proliferation of telecommunications technology based fiber communication using these wavelengths. Many satellite communication systems have successfully utilized a 1550 nm laser diode-based system for ground-to-satellite and satellite-to-satellite communication. These systems have the benefit of being able to be modulated at extremely high speeds (>10 Gbps), allowing for large amounts of data to be sent during the limited time a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite may be in range of the ground station. Unfortunately, even at this wavelength, there is significant attenuation from weather such as fog where the airborne particles are comparable in size to the wavelength, leading to heavy losses from Mie scattering. In extremely dense fog, it is possible to be limited to a maximum range of 500 meters, which is unacceptable for LEO communications that can take place over distances >400 km [2]. This results in a link availability as low as 10-40% for a single satellite and ground station, which can be unacceptable for certain missions. As a result, there is a desire to improve on the ability of the FSO link to mitigate atmospheric attenuation.

[0029] The Mid-IR band (3-5 microns) is a promising prospect for FSO communication, as it features significantly improved performance over the NIR and can even compare to the FIR band for certain weather conditions, as known by a person skilled in the art. While it is possible to generate Mid-IR light using QCLs, there is currently a lack of high speed and high power QCLs on the market. Other potential options such as holmium fiber lasers or interband cascade lasers suffer similar problems, being unable to target the 3-5 micron window effectively or lacking watt-level output power, respectively. A novel approach to nonlinear wavelength conversion for the generation of high power, high modulation speed MIR sources is currently being investigated by the research team. The present disclosure instead focuses on the LWIR atmospheric transmission window.

[0030] The LWIR band (8-12 microns) was ignored until the 1980's when quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) capable of emitting in the 8-10 micron range were developed, along with accompanying mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) photodiodes. The benefits of such a system over NIR-based FSO systems is that Mie and Rayleigh scattering are significantly reduced for wavelengths in the FIR band. Additionally, the background radiation from the sun, earth, moon, etc. is significantly lower for this wavelength as well, leading to the potential for significantly higher signal-to-noise ratios. Unfortunately, adoption of communications involving QCLs in the FIR window has been limited due to the lack of affordable high-speed optical sources and detectors operating in this wavelength region [3]. However, the LWIR band shows favorably low attenuation over the NIR and MIR bands for moderate and heavy cloud and fog cover, which motivates the development of high speed and high power LWIR sources and receivers for optical satellite communication [4][5][6]. As a result, we look to novel methods of generating LWIR light. One such method is the use of orientation patterned semiconductors to generate LWIR light through the use of difference frequency generation. The orientation patterning process is comparable to the usage of ferroelectric domain engineering to produce periodically poled nonlinear crystals, such as periodically poled lithium niobate. The orientation patterning method involves growing a substrate of a semiconductor with a strong optical nonlinearity, such as gallium phosphide or gallium arsenide, and then depositing a thin layer of a group 4 element such as germanium or silicon. Then, a domain inverted crystal can be grown on top of the group IV element, and the resulting wafer can be etched with the desired poling pattern with a higher degree of precision than traditional ferroelectric domain engineering methods, thanks to modern electron beam lithography developments [7][8]. The use of orientation patterned semiconductors is required due to the limited transparency region of popular photonic crystals such as lithium niobate, which is only transparent from 0.4 to 5 microns. Gallium phosphide and gallium arsenide, on the other hand, both span the 1.4 to 12 micron region, allowing the generation of LWIR light. Another advantage of orientation patterned semiconductors is that the nonlinear optical coefficient that governs the efficiency of nonlinear wavelength conversion is anywhere from 2 to 5 times greater in OP-SCs versus ferroelectric crystals such as lithium niobate. This could lead to devices with much greater conversion efficiencies, or much more compact devices using OP-SCs with conversion efficiencies equal to their ferroelectric crystal counterparts.

[0031] As mentioned previously, the proposed transmitter uses difference frequency generation in an orientation patterned semiconductor to generate LWIR light. Difference frequency generation involves two input photons at angular frequencies ω1 and ω2 that are annihilated within the orientation patterned semiconductor order to generate one output photon of frequency ω3. This is a parametric process and so energy conservation is maintained. The output frequency can be determined with the following relation:

hω1−hω.sub.2=hω.sub.3

Using this process, it is possible to generate LWIR light with careful selection of the two input laser frequencies. The information is encoded on the transmitter via modulating one of the input lasers at wavelength λ2 or frequency ω2, which will typically consist of a telecommunications band 1550 nm laser diode modulated at >1 Gbps speeds. In this application, the pump laser would likely be a Nd:YAG or Nd:YVO4 crystal emitting in the 1320-1340 nm band, which is a well-known but less used wavelength over the more common 1064 nm transition associated with such diode pumped solid state lasers.

[0032] The proposed detector is very similar in structure to the DFG based transmitter, except the DFG orientation patterned semiconductor has now been replaced with a sum frequency generation (SFG) OP-SC. The relation for SFG is very similar to the DFG relation, except this time the sum of the two input angular frequencies provides an output photon (which is familiar to a person skilled in the art):

hω.sub.1+hω.sub.2=hω.sub.3

This allows us to convert the incoming MIR light transmitted from the satellite to the 1320 nm band telecom wavelength range where high-sensitivity, high-speed detectors are commercially available. This conversion allows us to avoid one of the major problems with using LWIR light, which is finding affordable detectors with a suitable speed and sensitivity.

[0033] In addition to the proposed transmitter and receiver, the present disclosure also describes a structure for efficient backwards optical parametric oscillation. This structure, utilizing the same orientation patterned semiconductors mentioned previously, enables highly efficient tunable optical radiation over a wide wavelength range. The distinction between a forward and backward three wave mixing is explained in the following. In order for nonlinear optical processes to proceed in an efficient manner, the phase matching of the various wavelengths involved in the nonlinear processes must be perfect. In a forward three wave mixing, there is a pump, signal, and idler wavelength, where the pump and signal are typically provided and the idler is produced through either difference frequency generation or sum frequency generation. Due to the refractive index of the nonlinear medium varying with wavelength, there will be a momentum mismatch between the three waves, typically denoted Δk:

Δk=k.sub.p−k.sub.s−k.sub.i

where the pump, signal, and idler are all travelling in the same horizontal direction. In order for perfect phase matching to be achieved, it is required that the momentum mismatch be zero (Δk=0). This is typically accomplished through the introduction of a periodic structure in the nonlinear medium in order to establish quasi-phase matching. The periodic structure serves to compensate for the momentum mismatch, allowing efficient nonlinear wavelength conversion. The additional momentum of the poled nonlinear medium is typically represented by

[00002]$\Delta k_{\mathrm{medium}}=\frac{2\pi m}{\Lambda },$

where m is an integer representing the order of phase matching (typically first order, m=1) and Λ is the period of the nonlinear medium, typically in microns. In a backwards three wave mixing, one of the beams (typically the idler) travels in the opposite direction, leading to a momentum mismatch of [9][10]:

Δk=k.sub.p−k.sub.s+k.sub.i

The phase matching concept remains the same, but now the momentum provided by the nonlinear medium must be larger, meaning the required period is significantly smaller. This can pose an issue for ferroelectric crystals that are poled via ferroelectric domain engineering (FDE), as the first order phase matched period for LWIR generation would be on the order of sub-micron, which is hard to achieve in the FDE. This can be compensated for by using higher order phase matching, however higher order phase matching leads to significantly lower conversion efficiencies. The benefit of the proposed orientation patterned semiconductor structure is that modern semiconductor photolithography and etching techniques have resolutions on the order of nanometers, allowing the fabrication of nonlinear periodic semiconductors with periods small enough for first order phase matching. To the best of our knowledge, this would be the first practical demonstration of a first order phase matched backwards three wave mixing. The backwards three wave mixing can be fabricated without the use of mirrors, leading to greatly simplified optical system design [9][10]. One potential implementation of this backwards three wave mixing utilizing orientation patterned semiconductors is presented in the provided figures.

[0034] Now that the general overview of the physics behind the devices described herein have been discussed, various example implementations presented in the figures will be explained in detail.

[0035] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example transmitter design. This design consists of a pump diode 1 (Ex: 808 nm), focused by a fast-axis collimating lens 2 onto an optically pumped laser diode 4 (Ex: Nd:YAG 1338 nm crystal). A second laser 8 is the high-speed modulated source (an erbium doped fiber amplified [EDFA] 1550 nm laser diode modulated at >1 Gbps) onto which the information to transmit is encoded. Both lasers are then coupled into the DFG orientation patterned semiconductor 6 through the use of a beam combiner 5. The laser cavity consists of two mirrors 3 and 7, which confine the first laser beam at wavelength λ1 (e.g. 1338 nm) completely within the laser cavity, and the output power of the transmitter is determined by the Q-factor of the intracavity design as well as the output power of the two input lasers.

[0036] FIG. 2 has a similar structure to FIG. 1, except the performance of the system has been optimized through the addition of various high-reflection and anti-reflection coatings. In this case, the laser crystal 4 is coated with a high-transmission coating at the pump diode wavelength λ0, as well as a high-reflection coating 31 for the output wavelength λ1 at the input facet, while the output facet features an anti-reflection coating 32 for the second laser wavelength λ2. The DFG orientation patterned semiconductor has an input facet 61 coated with an anti-reflection coating at λ1 and λ2, as well as a high-reflection coating at λ0 and

[00003]$\mathrm{\lambda 3}=\frac{1}{\frac{1}{{\lambda }_1}-\frac{1}{{\lambda }_2}},$

where λ3 is the output light generated via DFG. The output facet 62 features a high-reflection coating at λ1, and probably λ2, as well as a high-transmission coating for λ3. The high-reflection coatings serve as the cavity mirrors 3,7 in FIG. 1. Finally, the beam combiner has an input facet 51 coated with an anti-reflection coating at an output facet along the direction of the laser cavity axis 52 coated with an anti-reflection coating at λ1 and λ2, and has an input facet perpendicular to the laser cavity axis 53 with an anti-reflection coating at λ2.

[0037] FIG. 3 illustrates another potential transmitter design that is almost identical to FIG. 2, except the beam combiner has been replaced with a dichroic mirror 5 that has nearly zero loss at λ1 and high reflection at λ2. Additionally, all transmitter designs feature an input laser λ2 that is a tunable laser with narrow linewidth, or a modulated high-power laser from a seed laser diode and an optical amplifier (which may be an EDFA or other relevant optical amplifier).

[0038] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example receiver design. This design consists of a pump diode 1 (Ex: 808 nm), focused by a fast-axis collimating lens 2 onto an optically pumped laser diode 4 (Ex: Nd:YVO4 1342 nm crystal). The second laser input from the transmitter design has been replaced with the input LWIR light from the satellite or high-altitude communications platform 8. This light is then collimated to a beam size of less than 100 microns via the attached collimating optics 9, which will typically consist of a receiver Cassegrain-style telescope to collect the light followed by a series of optical filters, polarization controllers, and collimators to simulate a second laser. Both lasers are then coupled into the SFG orientation patterned semiconductor 6 through the use of a beam combiner 5. The laser cavity consists of two mirrors 3 and 7, which confine the first laser beam at wavelength λ1 (e.g. 1342 nm) completely within the laser cavity, and the output power of the transmitter is determined by the Q-factor of the intracavity design as well as the output power of the two input lasers. The output of the SFG crystal is then focused onto a detector 10 which may consist of a high speed telecom band receiver or any other commercially available detector with suitable sensitivity and speed.

[0039] FIG. 5 is a similar structure to FIG. 4, except the performance of the system has been optimized through the addition of various high-reflection and anti-reflection coatings. In this case, the laser crystal 4 is coated with a high-transmission coating at the pump diode wavelength λ0, as well as a high-reflection coating for the output wavelength λ1 at the input facet 31, while the output facet 32 features an anti-reflection coating for λ1. The SFG orientation patterned semiconductor has an input facet 61 coated with an anti-reflection coating at λ1 and λ2. The output facet 62 features a high-reflection coating at λ1, and probably λ2, as well as a high-transmission coating for λ3. The high-reflection coatings serve as the cavity mirrors 3,7 in FIG. 4. Finally, the beam combiner has an input facet 51 coated with an anti-reflection coating at λ1, an output facet along the direction of the laser cavity axis 52 coated with an anti-reflection coating at λ1 and λ2, and has an input facet perpendicular to the laser cavity axis 53 with an anti-reflection coating at λ2. The detector 10 remains the same as the detector described in FIG. 4.

[0040] FIG. 6 illustrates another potential receiver design that is almost identical to FIG. 5, except the beam combiner has been replaced with a dichroic mirror 5 that has nearly zero loss at λ1 and high reflection at λ2. The detector 10 remains the same as the detector described in FIG. 4.

[0041] FIG. 7 illustrates the direction of the pump, signal, and idler wavelengths with respect to the orientation patterned semiconductor (OP-SC) in the backwards three wave mixing design. In the figure, the pump has angular frequency ωp, the signal ωs, and the idler ωi. It is important to note that while the idler is shown in the figure as the backward propagating wavelength, it is possible for the signal or pump to be the backwards travelling wave relative to the other two wavelengths. The idler is used here simply due to it being the most common notation among those skilled in the art.

[0042] FIG. 8 is a backwards three wave mixing structure for difference frequency generation similar to FIG. 1, except the performance of the system has been optimized through the addition of various high-reflection and anti-reflection coatings. Additionally, the signal laser emitting at wavelength λ2 and the beam combiner are located outside of the laser cavity. This is done in order to minimize the total intracavity loss that the beam combiner would introduce, increase the attainable intracavity power and thus increasing the total conversion efficiency. In this case, the laser crystal 4 is coated with a high-transmission coating at the pump diode wavelength λ0 and high reflection coating at λ1 at the input facet 41, while the output facet 42 features an anti-reflection coating for λ1. The DFG orientation patterned semiconductor has an input facet 61 coated with an anti-reflection coating at λ1. The output facet 62 features a high reflective coating at λ1 and an anti-reflection coating at λ2, and

[00004]$\frac{1}{\frac{1}{{\lambda }_1}-\frac{1}{{\lambda }_2}}.$

The laser cavity consists of two mirrors 41 and 62, which confine the first laser beam at wavelength λ1 (e.g. 1338 nm) completely within the laser cavity, and the output power of the backwards three wave mixing is determined by the Q-factor of the intracavity design as well as the output power of the pump and signal lasers. Finally, the beam combiner has an input facet 51 coated with an anti-reflection coating at λ2 and

[00005]$\frac{1}{\frac{1}{{\lambda }_1}-\frac{1}{{\lambda }_2}},$

an output facet 52 along the direction of the laser cavity axis coated with an anti-reflection coating at

[00006]$\frac{1}{\frac{1}{{\lambda }_1}-\frac{1}{{\lambda }_2}},$

and has an input facet 53 perpendicular to the laser cavity axis with an anti-reflection coating at λ2.

[0043] FIG. 9 is almost identical to the backwards three wave mixing structure presented in FIG. 8, except the orientation patterned semiconductor has been designed for sum frequency generation instead of difference frequency generation. As a result, all anti-reflection coatings that target the difference frequency generation wavelength

[00007]$\frac{1}{\frac{1}{{\lambda }_1}-\frac{1}{{\lambda }_2}}$

in FIG. 8 instead target the sum frequency generation wavelength

[00008]$\frac{1}{\frac{1}{{\lambda }_1}-\frac{1}{{\lambda }_2}}.$

[0044] Unless otherwise indicated, the definitions and embodiments described in this and other sections are intended to be applicable to all embodiments and aspects of the present application herein described for which they are suitable as would be understood by a person skilled in the art.

[0045] In understanding the scope of the present application, the term “comprising” and its derivatives, as used herein, are intended to be open ended terms that specify the presence of the stated features, elements, components, groups, integers, and/or steps, but do not exclude the presence of other unstated features, elements, components, groups, integers and/or steps. The foregoing also applies to words having similar meanings such as the terms, “including”, “having” and their derivatives. The term “consisting” and its derivatives, as used herein, are intended to be closed terms that specify the presence of the stated features, elements, components, groups, integers, and/or steps, but exclude the presence of other unstated features, elements, components, groups, integers and/or steps. The term “consisting essentially of”, as used herein, is intended to specify the presence of the stated features, elements, components, groups, integers, and/or steps as well as those that do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristic(s) of features, elements, components, groups, integers, and/or steps.

[0046] Terms of degree such as “substantially”, “about” and “approximately” as used herein mean a reasonable amount of deviation of the modified term such that the end result is not significantly changed. These terms of degree should be construed as including a deviation of at least ±5% of the modified term if this deviation would not negate the meaning of the word it modifies.

[0047] The term “and/or” as used herein means that the listed items are present, or used, individually or in combination. In effect, this term means that “at least one of” or “one or more” of the listed items is used or present.

[0048] While the present application has been described with reference to examples, it is to be understood that the scope of the claims should not be limited by the embodiments set forth in the examples but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.

[0049] All publications, patents and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference in its entirety. Where a term in the present application is found to be defined differently in a document incorporated herein by reference, the definition provided herein is to serve as the definition for the term.

CITATIONS FOR DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THE APPLICATION

[0050]

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