Patent ID: 8693508
Filing Date: 2014-04-08
Classification: G01B,H01S

Abstract:
1. A light source apparatus comprising: an optical resonator including an optical amplification medium configured to amplify light and an optical switch; and a light irradiation source configured to apply an optical pulse to the optical switch, wherein the light source apparatus emits the light amplified by the optical amplification medium from the optical resonator, wherein the light irradiation source includes a wavelength-tunable light source, and the optical switch changes a transmittance or a reflectance thereof when receiving the optical pulse emitted from the wavelength-tunable light source, wherein the light source apparatus emits the amplified light from the optical resonator in correspondence with a center wavelength of the optical pulse, wherein a resonator length L of the optical resonator satisfies the following condition: where f represents a repetition frequency of the optical pulse applied from the light irradiation source to the optical switch, n represents an effective refractive index of the optical resonator, and c represents the speed of light in a vacuum, and wherein a recovery time τ in which the changed transmittance or reflectance of the optical switch recovers satisfies the following condition: