LSL logo Birefringent Filter Tuning
Photo of BF

One of the most widely used methods of primary narrowing of the emission spectra of CW tunable lasers employs various modifications of the Birefringent Filters (BF), commonly reffered to as the Lyot filters.

The birefringent filters, which we use in the CW Dye Lasers and in the Ti:Sapphire lasers, are specially optimized for reception of the largest tuning ranges of wavelengths of the radiation at various levels of the pump power and at the various active mediums. The some our papers is devoted to the analysis of the selective properties of BF. By result of the our detailed researches the BF is an establishment of new properties of birefringent filters in the optical cavity. The main results is:
a general formula is found for the angle of tilt at which the BF transmission function has the highest contrast;
it is determined optimum the ratios of plate thicknesses for a three-element BF for a case of integral and nonintegral ratios;
variations of the free spectral range and the BF tuning factor with the angle between the optic axis and the main plane of the phase plate are calculated;
the dependence of the tuning range of a BF for a given degradation of the transmission function contrast on the orientation of the optic axes of the phase plate is obtained;
the possibilities and advantages of using a BF with plate thiknesses differing by a factor other than an integer are shown;
the criteria for the selection of the parameters of BF for the pico- and femtosecond tuning lasers are formulated.
B.V.Bondarev, S.M.Kobtsev.
Calculation and Optimization of a Birefringent Filter for a CW Dye Laser.
Opt. Spectrosc., 1986, v.60, N4, p.501-504. pdf (445 kB)

S.M.Kobtsev.
Properties of Birefringent Filters.
Opt. Spectrosc., 1987, v.63, N5, p.672-675.

S.M.Kobtsev, N.A.Sventsitskay.
Application of Birefringent Filters in Continuous-Wave Tunable Lasers: a Reviev.
Opt. Spectrosc., 1992, v.73(1), p.114-123. pdf (846 kB)

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