Applications of ultralong Raman fibre lasers in photonics

This thesis presents a numerical and experimental investigation on applications of ultralong Raman fibre lasers in optical communications, supercontinuum generation and soliton transmission. The research work is divided in four main sections. The first involves the numerical investigation of URFL intra-cavity power and the relative intensity noise transfer evolution along the transmission span. The performance of the URFL is compared with amplification systems of similar complexity. In the case of intracavity power evolution, URFL is compared with a first order Raman amplification system. For the RIN transfer investigation, URFL is compared with a bi-directional dual wavelength pumping system. The RIN transfer function is investigated for several cavity design parameters such as span length, pump distribution and FBG reflectivity. The following section deals with experimental results of URFL cavities. The enhancement of the available spectral bandwidth in the C-band and its spectral flatness are investigated for single and multi-FBGs cavity system. Further work regarding extended URFL cavity in combination with Rayleigh scattering as random distributed feedback produced a laser cavity with dual wavelength outputs independent to each other. The last two sections relate to URFL application in supercontinuum (SC) generation and soliton transmission. URFL becomes an enhancement structure for SC generation. This thesis shows successful experimental results of SC generation using conventional single mode optical fibre and pumped with a continuous wave source. The last section is dedicated to soliton transmission and the study of soliton propagation dynamics. The experimental results of exact soliton transmission over multiple soliton periods using conventional single mode fibre are shown in this thesis. The effect of the input signal, pump distribution, span length and FBGs reflectivity on the soliton propagation dynamics is investigated experimentally and numerically.

Improved supercontinuum generation by dispersion tuning and dual wavelength pumping

Supercontinuum generation in ultra-long Raman fibre laser cavities is compared for a range of fibre dispersions in the anomalous and normal regimes. For normal dispersion improved performance and efficiency is achieved using dual wavelength pumping.

Soliton dynamics in transmission through ultralong lasers

We have studied the dynamics and stability of solitonic pulses (including soliton interaction) across URFL transmission links, as well as the dependence of these dynamics on cavity design (length, symmetry, reflectivity) and input pulse characteristics. The first experimental demonstration of long-distance ldquotruerdquo soliton propagation through optical fibre. The results conclude that even relatively long links of the order of 50 km show excellent nonlinear resilience and are capable of providing virtually transparent transmission under a broad range of input pulse characteristics.

True soliton transmission through ultra-long laser links

We present the first experimental demonstration of true (not loss managed) soliton pulse transmission in conventional optical fibre. Experimental FROG spectrograms and numerical simulations confirm the soliton pulse evolution dynamics.

Enhanced supercontinuum generation using multi-fibre ultra-long Raman cavities

Supercontinuum generation in a TrueWave and SMF fibre based ultra-long Raman fibre laser cavity is investigated experimentally. By including SMF in the ultra-long Raman cavity, bandwidth and flatness can be dramatically improved.

42.6Gb/s RZ-ASK transmission over 2500km using quasi-lossless transmission spans

Here, for the first time, we experimentally demonstrate optical data transmission through such quasi-lossless fibre spans, which provide an entirely different nonlinear propagation regime to conventionally EDFA/Raman amplified systems. We demonstrate 42.6 Gb/s transmission over 2500 km of SMF-28 with an 82 km span length, and investigate the optimisation of the system in terms of launch power and nonlinear tolerance. Our results show the first ever data transmission experiment using an ultra-long Raman laser to provide quasi-lossless conditions in the transmission fibre. For a span length of 82 km we have shown 2500 km transmission over SMF-28 fibre at 42.6 Gb/s. Our quasi-lossless configuration had 6 dB lower optimum power and improved nonlinear tolerance compared with a conventional EDFA only system.

Optical communications applications of ultra-long Raman fiber lasers

Recent work on ultra-long Raman fiber lasers has shown that it is possible to create quasi-lossless transmission conditions in fiber spans long enough to be considered for high speed optical communications. This paper reviews how quasi-lossless transmission conditions are reached and presents experimental results of 40Gb/s transmission in a quasi lossless system. The performance is compared with a conventional EDFA based system.

Dual-wavelength, ultralong Raman laser with Rayleigh-scattering feedback

We present experimental demonstration of a 200-km-long, dual-wavelength Raman laser utilizing two slightly different-wavelength fiber Bragg gratings, one on each side of the fiber span. The obtained results clearly prove the generation of two independent Raman lasers with a distributed “random” Rayleigh scattering mirror forming a cavity together with each of the individual fiber Bragg grating reflectors.

Long-distance soliton transmission through ultralong fiber lasers

We present the first experimental demonstration (to our knowledge) of long-distance unperturbed fundamental optical soliton transmission in conventional single-mode optical fiber. The virtual transparency in the fiber required for soliton transmission, over 15 complete periods, was achieved by using an ultralong Raman fiber laser amplification scheme. Optical soliton pulse duration, pulse bandwidth, and peak intensity are shown to remain constant along the transmission length. Frequency-resolved optical gating spectrograms and numerical simulations confirm the observed optical soliton dynamics.

Optical communications applications of ultra-long Raman fiber lasers

Recent work on ultra-long Raman fiber lasers has shown that it is possible to create quasi-lossless transmission conditions in fiber spans long enough to be considered for high speed optical communications. This paper reviews how quasi-lossless transmission conditions are reached and presents experimental results of 40Gb/s transmission in a quasi lossless system. The performance is compared with a conventional EDFA based system.

Enhanced supercontinuum generation using multi-fibre ultra-long Raman cavities

Supercontinuum generation in a TrueWave and SMF fibre based ultra-long Raman fibre laser cavity is investigated experimentally. By including SMF in the ultra-long Raman cavity, bandwidth and flatness can be dramatically improved.

42.6Gb/s RZ-ASK transmission over 2500km using quasi-lossless transmission spans

Here, for the first time, we experimentally demonstrate optical data transmission through such quasi-lossless fibre spans, which provide an entirely different nonlinear propagation regime to conventionally EDFA/Raman amplified systems. We demonstrate 42.6 Gb/s transmission over 2500 km of SMF-28 with an 82 km span length, and investigate the optimisation of the system in terms of launch power and nonlinear tolerance. Our results show the first ever data transmission experiment using an ultra-long Raman laser to provide quasi-lossless conditions in the transmission fibre. For a span length of 82 km we have shown 2500 km transmission over SMF-28 fibre at 42.6 Gb/s. Our quasi-lossless configuration had 6 dB lower optimum power and improved nonlinear tolerance compared with a conventional EDFA only system.

Improved supercontinuum generation by dispersion tuning and dual wavelength pumping

Supercontinuum generation in ultra-long Raman fibre laser cavities is compared for a range of fibre dispersions in the anomalous and normal regimes. For normal dispersion improved performance and efficiency is achieved using dual wavelength pumping.

Ultra-long range distributed fibre sensing using virtually transparent propagation

Distributed fibre sensors provide unique capabilities for monitoring large infrastructures with high resolution. Practically, all these sensors are based on some kind of backscattering interaction. A pulsed activating signal is launched on one side of the sensing fibre and the backscattered signal is read as a function of the time of flight of the pulse along the fibre. A key limitation in the measurement range of all these sensors is introduced by fibre attenuation. As the pulse travels along the fibre, the losses in the fibre cause a drop of signal contrast and consequently a growth in the measurement uncertainty. In typical single-mode fibres, attenuation imposes a range limit of less than 30km, for resolutions in the order of 1-2 meters. An interesting improvement in this performance can be considered by using distributed amplification along the fibre [1]. Distributed amplification allows having a more homogeneous signal power along the sensing fibre, which also enables reducing the signal power at the input and therefore avoiding nonlinearities. However, in long structures (≥ 50 km), plain distributed amplification does not perfectly compensate the losses and significant power variations along the fibre are to be expected, leading to inevitable limitations in the measurements. From this perspective, it is simple to understand intuitively that the best possible solution for distributed sensors would be offered by a virtually transparent fibre, i.e. a fibre exhibiting effectively zero attenuation in the spectral region of the pulse. In addition, it can be shown that lossless transmission is the working point that allows the minimization of the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise build-up. © 2011 IEEE.

Líneas de investigación experimentales del grupo de dinámica no lineal y fibras ópticas del Instituto de Óptica "Daza de Valdes del CSIC"

Se presenta y describen las líneas de trabajo experimentales que se vienen cultivando en el Grupo de investigación en Dinámica no Lineal y Fibras ópticas, recientemente creado en el Instituto de Óptica del CSIC. We present the experimental lines developed in last years in the Nonlinear Dynamics and Fiber Optics Group (NDFO) of the Optics Institute "Daza de Valdés" (IO-CSIC). © Sociedad Española de Óptica.