US Patent 8488640 Integrated optical comb source system and method

The present invention provides a system and method for creating a coherent optical comb comprising a plurality of lasers, each laser providing an optical output channel; means for combining each optical channel output; a modulator for modulating the combined optical channel outputs, to provide a modulated signal; means for feeding back said modulated signal to said plurality of lasers, such that each laser output channel is phase and/or frequency locked with respect to at least one other of said plurality of lasers. A discrete optical comb is obtained without the need for excessively high power laser outputs and only employs a single (optional) wavelength locker for all channels.