SBIR Phase II: Material Processing for Optimizing the Performance of an Embedded Bragg Grating

Advr, Inc, Bozeman MT

Investigators

Abstract

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will enable the fabrication of waveguides in potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) containing Bragg gratings with specified spectral and electro-optic characteristics. These characteristics include reflectivity, bandwidth, central wavelength, and electro-optic tuning range. To achieve this goal, the relationship between the processing steps used to form the Bragg grating and its resulting spectral and electro-optic properties will be fully quantified. The ability to control the spectral characteristics and electro-optically tune these gratings will enable a broad range of new and commercially useful devices. Using the processing steps developed, an array of Bragg gratings will be fabricated with each grating optimized for stabilizing the wavelength of a laser diode. Translating the waveguide array with respect to the laser diode will tune its wavelength. This novel tuning technique will have significant technical and cost advantages over other tuning techniques. Potential commercial applications include tunable filters for active dispersion compensation, high-speed add/drop filters for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), and a broadly tunable source for test and evaluation of network components. Other applications include stabilizing laser diodes for spectroscopy, seeding high power lasers, and frequency doubled diode-based replacement lasers for low power Argon-Ion and helium cadmium (HeCd) lasers.