Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
  • G02B6/10—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings of the optical waveguide type
  • G02B6/12—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings of the optical waveguide type of the integrated circuit kind
  • G02B6/122—Basic optical elements, e.g. light-guiding paths
  • G02B6/125—Bends, branchings or intersections
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
  • G02B6/10—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings of the optical waveguide type
  • G02B6/12—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings of the optical waveguide type of the integrated circuit kind
  • G02B6/12002—Three-dimensional structures
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
  • G02B6/10—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings of the optical waveguide type
  • G02B6/12—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings of the optical waveguide type of the integrated circuit kind
  • G02B6/12004—Combinations of two or more optical elements
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
  • G02B6/10—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings of the optical waveguide type
  • G02B6/12—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings of the optical waveguide type of the integrated circuit kind
  • G02B2006/12166—Manufacturing methods
  • G02B2006/12169—Annealing
  • G02B2006/12171—Annealing using a laser beam
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01S—DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
  • H01S5/00—Semiconductor lasers
  • H01S5/005—Optical components external to the laser cavity, specially adapted therefor, e.g. for homogenisation or merging of the beams or for manipulating laser pulses, e.g. pulse shaping

Definitions

• the invention relates to the field of wave propagation.
• Laser diode arrays are monolithic assemblies of diodes.
• the light beams, which they make it possible to deliver, have high optical powers.
• Their emissive surface is, in general, 1cm wide in the direction parallel to the plane of the junction (D // ). And, in the perpendicular direction (D ⁇ ), it is approximately " I ⁇ m high.
• a strip is, thus, a source of emission presenting a strong asymmetry. Indeed, it is approximately 10,000 times wider than high.
• the radiation from the emission source does not diverges symmetrically: it is greater than 25 ° (30 ° to 50 °) according to Di, it is approximately 10 ° along D // .
• l "Geometric extent is the product of dimension by divergence in one direction. The product of these two characteristics leads to a linear geometric extent. Indeed, it is about 2.000 times greater according to D // than according to Dj ..
• the present invention overcomes or, at the very least, reduces the drawbacks of existing solutions.
• the geometrical extent is distributed by inscribing three-dimensional waveguides in a solid material.
• the advantage of such a system is the obtaining of a source whose geometric extent is distributed more uniformly according to the two directions than the original source. Hence a field of application which is much wider.
• the invention provides a converter for one or more parameters of a wave beam comprising N sub-beams, characterized in that it comprises at least one solid material comprising at least:
• a first end comprising at least N inputs, each of the N sub-beams being received by one of the N inputs, and
• a second end comprising at least one output delivering the beam, the conversion parameter or parameters of which have one or more predetermined values.
• This converter makes it possible to modify the geometric extent by implementing a method of converting one or more parameters of a wave beam comprising N sub-beams, characterized in that it comprises at least the guidance of each of the N sub-beams by N index lines in the three-dimensional space constituted by a solid material, the index lines forming elementary waveguides.
• the invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a converter for one or more parameters of a wave beam comprising N sub-beams, characterized in that it includes the local modification of the index of a solid material so as to form N lines of indices constituting elementary waveguides between a first and the second end of the material such that the parameter or parameters of the beam delivered by the material at its second end have one or more predetermined values.
• FIG. 1 a block diagram of a system for transmitting a rectangular geometric extent according to the invention
• an initial component 1 generates a beam whose geometric extent has the shape of a more or less thick line.
• the initial component 1 has at least several wave transmitters, for example the three wave transmitters 1a, 1b and 1c, which each generate a sub-beam.
• the beam passes through a coupling member 3 before entering the converter 2.
• the converter 2 has at least the same number of elementary waveguides as the initial component 1 has emitters. These elementary waveguides 2a, 2b and 2c are inscribed in a solid material.
• the three elementary waveguides 2a, 2b and 2c each have an input E2a, E2b and E2c which is associated with one of the transmitters 1a, 1b, and 1c.
• the coupling member 3 makes it possible to adapt the sub-beams coming from the transmitters 1 a, 1b and 1c to the inputs E2a, E2b and E2c.
• the conversion of the geometric extent of this beam is carried out, for example, by superimposing the outputs S2a, S2b and S2c of the elementary waveguides 2a, 2b and 2c.
• the geometric extent at the outlet of the converter 2 has the shape of a rectangle.
• the converter 2 can modify one or more parameters. For example, it can convert the beam size. Or, it can transform its divergence in one or more directions.
• the sub-beams coming from the three emitters 1a, 1b and 1c are emitted independently of each other. They are emitted in the same direction, the direction [Oz) in FIG. 1.
• the initial component 1 can be, for example, an array of laser diodes or a stack of arrays.
• the representation of the converter 2 in FIG. 1 is not complete.
• the digital aperture of a beam from a laser diode 1a, 1b or 1c is, in general, of the order of 0.5 depending on the direction [Oy).
• the member 3 makes it possible to reduce the digital aperture of this beam.
• it can be reduced to a value less than or equal to that of the input E2a, E2b or E2c.
• This reduction can be achieved using, for example, one (or more) cylindrical lens.
• the lens collectively serves all the emitters 1a, 1b and 1c of a diode array.
• the beam can be adapted to the input E2a, E2b or E2c.
• the digital aperture of a beam from a diode 1 a, 1 b or 1 c is, in general, less than 0.1 in this direction. It is therefore possible that it is compatible with that of the input E2a, E2b or E2c.
• its spatial dimension is much larger (typically 50 to 500 ⁇ m) than the following thickness [Oy) of the beam at the output of the emitter 1a, 1b, 1c.
• the profile of the inputs E2a, E2b and E2c is preferably rectangular.
• the coupling member 3 could be an array of cylindrical lenses. These lenses are placed in the member 3 such that each of them is associated with one of the laser diode arrays of this stack.
• the coupling member 3 thus makes it possible to reduce the divergence in the direction [Oy).
• the coupling optics 3 can therefore include:
• FIG. 2 shows the massive material that makes up the converter
• the traces E2a, E2b, E2c of the elementary waveguides 2a, 2b, 2c are drawn on the input face 21. This face 21 is the first end of the material. And, the traces S2a, S2b, S2c of the elementary waveguides 2a, 2b, 2c are drawn on the face of outlet 22. This face 22 is the second end of the material.
• the inputs E2a, E2b and E2c, and the outputs S2a, S2b and S2c are plotted for a better understanding of the converter 2.
• the inlet 21 and / or outlet 22 faces are anti-reflective treated at one or more given lengths. This reduces the losses due to coupling. In particular, if the wavelength is the wavelength of use emitted by the initial component 1.
• the inlet 22 and outlet 22 faces of the system are not necessarily parallel. They can be perpendicular. However, the inlet face 21 and the outlet face 22 may be two parts of one and the same face of the material. This allows deflection of the direction of the output beam from the original direction [Oz).
• the three elementary waveguides 2a, 2b and 2C are parallel to each other. And, they are perpendicular to the output face 22. This is the configuration preferably used within a converter 2 whatever the number of elementary waveguides. However, it is not necessary for the operation of converter 2.
• the network of inputs E2a, E2b, E2c ... of the elementary waveguides 2a, 2b, 2c can have various forms.
• the network of the inputs E2a, E2b, E2c of the converter 2 adapts to the network of the transmitters 1a, 1b, 1c of the initial component 1.
• the shape of the network can, therefore, be adapted to a possible defect in the known strips 1 under the name of "smile".
• the transmitters 1a, 1b, 1c are arranged in a curve. The deflection of this curve can be, for example, from 1 to 20 ⁇ m depending on the transfer technique used.
• the output beam is thus rearranged by the converter 2.
• the geometry obtained is more compact and it can, above all, be square, for example. Unlit areas between outputs S2a, S2b and S2c may be negligible. This is not the case for the inter-transmitter shadow zones 1a, 1b, 1c.
• the outputs S2a, S2b, S2c ... can, therefore, be adjacent or not and even merged.
• the outputs S2a, S2b, S2c ... can be distributed according to a matrix which has X rows and Y columns (for XY elementary guides).
• the pattern followed by the outputs S2a, S2b, S2c ... is arbitrary.
• the pattern is an Anglo-Saxon term which designates the distribution grid. It is defined by its basic shape which is a rectangle or an oval or any polygon ...
• the shape of the outputs S2a, S2b and S2c is arbitrary. It is independent of the form of the inputs E2a, E2b and E2c.
• the elementary waveguides 2a, 2b and 2c, the shape of which differs between the input and the output, have undergone a transformation which is, for example, adiabatic or almost adiabatic.
• the outputs S2a, S2b and S2c can be not rectangular but circular, for example.
• the outputs S2a, S2b, S2c are such that the parameter (s) of the incident beam are converted. For example, they allow the geometric extent to have a given shape. This shape can be close to the symmetry of revolution so that the wave beam is used more effectively.
• the elementary waveguides 2a, 2b and 2c are lines of indices in the material 2. These lines of indices are obtained by locally modifying the index of a solid material.
• the modified index is, for example, the refractive index.
• the index modification is carried out on a volume of the order of 1 ⁇ m 3 with light pulses. These are, for example, femtosecond pulses. And, to modify the volume index, they can, for example, be ultra intense. This type of high-speed pulses makes it possible to quickly write the lines of indices.
• These pulses are delivered by a source.
• the source can, for example, be a femtosecond oscillator.
• an amplifier can be coupled to the oscillator. Consider the case where the oscillator delivers 15nJ pulses at a frequency of 25MHz. The index lines are then written at a speed of 20 mm / s.
• any pattern is feasible in volume.
• the index lines are created in three dimensions in the material 2 using, for example, conventional techniques of programmable micro-positioning. There is only one only condition. This is because the material 2 is transparent or almost transparent at one or more wavelengths of use.
• the section of the lines can, for example, be 1x1 ⁇ m 2 .
• the numerical aperture of the elementary waveguides 2a, 2b and 2c thus obtained is approximately 0.06.
• the lines of index 2a, 2b and 2c of the example of FIG. 1 were written using conventional techniques of programmable micro-positioning with femtosecond pulses at high frequency.
• the converter 2 presented as an example in FIGS. 1 and 2.
• the elementary waveguides 2a, 2b, 2c can be multimode, monomode or multimode in one direction and monomode according to another ...
• the number of guides of elementary waves 2a, 2b, 2c depends, more generally, on the number of elementary beam coming from the initial component 1 which can comprise a flat, matrix or other network of wave sources (strip or stack of strips of laser diodes, for example) but also a flat, matrix or other network of optical fibers or of any device having at least one wave output ...
• Some examples of possible direct uses for this type of beam are, for example, the longitudinal optical pumping of solid lasers, marking, welding, cutting of various materials, etc. It can also be used, for example, for injection into an optical fiber.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• Optical Integrated Circuits (AREA)
• Waveguide Aerials (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

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• 2000
  • 2000-07-28 FR FR0009973A patent/FR2812407B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2001
  • 2001-07-27 EP EP01958197A patent/EP1305667A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2001-07-27 WO PCT/FR2001/002479 patent/WO2002011251A2/fr not_active Application Discontinuation

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