Variable bandwidth birefringent filter for stable femtosecond lasers

A design for a birefringent filter is described, which is suitable for tunable femtosecond lasers. Using a single plate, which has a steeply diving optic axis, two-octave tunability is attained with negligible deterioration of the stopband rejection. For a specific wavelength region, it means that the filter's bandwidth can be changed by a factor of four. Another characteristic of the design is that, for the same bandwidth, the proposed plate is five times thicker than a conventional plate in which the optic axis is parallel to the surface. Thus, etalon effects can be avoided. Tuning characteristics of color center lasers utilizing the new filter are also presented.< >