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Lecture 8: Laser amplifiers

Lecture 8: Laser amplifiers

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Amplified spontaneous emission<br />

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<br />

The resonant medium that provides amplification via<br />

stimulated emission also generates spontaneous emission.<br />

The light arising from the spontaneous emission, which is<br />

independent of the input to the amplifier, represents a<br />

fundamental source of laser amplifier noise.<br />

Whereas the amplified signal has a specific frequency,<br />

direction, and polarization, the noise associated with<br />

amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) is broadband,<br />

multidirectional, and unpolarized.<br />

=> it is possible to filter out some of this noise by following the<br />

amplifier with a narrowband optical filter, a collection<br />

aperture, and a polarizer.<br />

107

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