Fast wideband source tuning by extra-cavity parametric process.

Fundamental and practical performance limits of continuously tunable optical sources using extra-cavity mixing process are examined. While the parametric process cannot overcome the fundamental tunable limit set by the uncertainty principle, it offers a new path in overcoming the practical performance limits associated with conventional tunable lasers. Specifically, cavity reconfiguration speed is recognized as a limiting process in all tunable lasers that cannot be circumvented by any conventional approach. Recognizing this barrier, we introduce and experimentally demonstrate a decoupling concept that relies on extra-cavity mixing to increase the tuning speed and range of any tunable laser source.