Patent ID: 7903697

Claim:
A tunable pulsed laser source comprising: a seed source adapted to generate a seed signal; an optical circulator, wherein the optical circulator includes at least a first port coupled to the seed source, a second port, and a third port; an amplitude modulator characterized by a first optical side and a second optical side, wherein: the first optical side is coupled to the second port of the optical circulator, and the amplitude modulator is adapted to receive a DC electrical signal from a digital-to-analog converter and a Radio Frequency (RF) electrical signal from a digital arbitrary waveform generator; a first optical amplifier characterized by an input end and a reflective end, wherein the input end is optically coupled to the second side of the amplitude modulator; a tap coupler optically coupled to the amplitude modulator, wherein the tap coupler is characterized by a pre-determined split ratio; and a first photo-detector optically coupled to the tap coupler and adapted to receive a portion of the seed signal transmitted through the amplitude modulator and to generate an output signal, wherein the DC electrical signal depends at least on the output signal.