Supermode-noise suppression using a nonlinear Fabry–Pérot filter in a harmonically mode-locked fiber ring laser

A simple efficient method for stabilizing a harmonically mode-locked fiber ring laser is proposed. In this method, a linear optical filter and a nonlinear Fabry–Pérot filter in which the refractive index is optical intensity dependent are located in the laser cavity. The linear filter is used to select a fixed lasing wavelength, and the Fabry–Pérot filter introduces a negative all-optical feedback mechanism that is able to suppress pulse-to-pulse amplitude fluctuations in the laser cavity. The scheme was experimentally demonstrated using a fiber Bragg grating as the linear filter and a laser diode biased below threshold as the nonlinear Fabry–Pérot, and stable harmonically mode-locked pulses with a supermode noise suppression ratio >55 dB were obtained.

Noise suppression in a harmonically mode-locked fibre ring laser

A simple and efficient method to stabilise harmonically mode-locked fibre ring laser is proposed. In this method, a linear optical filter and a nonlinear Fabry-Perot filter are introduced into the laser cavity. Stable harmonically mode-locked pulses with supermode noise suppression ratio more than 55dB was demonstrated.

Stable dual-wavelength oscillation of an Er-doped fiber ring laser at room temperature

We propose a simple Er-doped fiber laser configuration for achieving stable dual-wavelength oscillation at room temperature, in which a high birefringence fiber Bragg grating was used as the wavelength-selective component. Stable dual-wavelength oscillation at room temperature with a wavelength spacing of 0.23 nm and mutually orthogonal polarization stages was achieved by utilizing the polarization hole-burning effect. An amplitude variation of less than 0.7 dB over an 80 s period was obtained for both wavelengths.

Stable dual-wavelength oscillation of an erbium-doped fiber ring laser at room temperature

We propose a simple Er-doped fiber laser configuration for achieving stable dual-wavelength oscillation at room temperature, in which a high birefringence fiber Bragg grating was used as the wavelength-selective component. Stable dual-wavelength oscillation at room temperature with a wavelength spacing of 0.23nm and mutually orthogonal polarisation states was achieved by utilising the polarisation hole burning effect. An amplitude variation of less than 0.7dB over 80s period was obtained for both wavelengths.

Realisation of single polarisation state of fibre ring laser by utilising intracavity 45° tilted fibre Bragg grating

Single polarisation operation of fibre ring laser has been realised by employing an intracavity 45°tilted fibre Bragg gratings (45° TFBGs). The degree of polarisation of 99.94% of the laser was demonstrated with good stability.

Multi-wavelength switchable fibre ring laser based on polarisation selective tilted fibre gratings capable of strain and temperature sensing

Using three fibre gratings with excessively tilted structures in the cavity, we have experimentally demonstrated a multiwavelength switchable erbium-doped fibre ring laser system. The three tilted gratings act as in-fibre polariser and polarisation dependent loss filters to induce the polarisation hole burning effect in the cavity for the operation of the laser at single, double, triple and quadruple wavelengths. The laser system has demonstrated good stability under room temperature conditions and also achieved a high degree of polarization (~30dB), high optical signal to noise ratio (up to 63dB) and high side mode suppression (~50dB). The system has also been investigated for temperature and strain sensing by subjecting the seeding fibre Bragg gratings (FBG) to temperature and strain variations. Since the loss band of the polarisation dependent loss filter is broader than the bandwidth of the seeding FBG, the laser output shifts in wavelength with the applied temperature and strain. The fibre ring laser has shown good responses to the temperature and strain, providing sensitivities of approximately 11.7 pm/°C and 0.85pm/µe respectively.

Higher-order soliton generation in hybrid mode-locked thulium-doped fiber ring laser

A thulium-doped all-fiber laser passively mode-locked by the co-action of nonlinear polarization evolution and single-walled carbon nanotubes operating at 1860-1980 nm wavelength band is demonstrated. Pumped with the single-mode laser diode at 1.55 μm laser generates near 500-fs soliton pulses at repetition rate ranging from 6.3 to 72.5 MHz in single-pulse operation regime. Having 3-m long cavity average output power reached 300 mW, giving the peak power of 4.88 kW and the pulse energy of 2.93 nJ with slope efficiency higher than 30%. At a 21.6-m long ring cavity average output power of 117 mW is obtained, corresponding to the pulse energy up to 10.87 nJ and a pulse peak power of 21.7 kW, leading to the higher-order soliton generation.

Polarization switchable single/multi-wavelength fiber ring laser with an intra-cavity all fiber Lyot filter

we demonstrate a polarization switchable, single/ multi-wavelength fiber ring laser based on an intra-cavity all fiber Lyot filter. The laser can operate at single-, multi-wavelength by adjusting polarization controller, and givessingle polarization output. © 2015 OSA.

Single polarisation output of erbium-doped fibre ring laser utilising a small tilted fibre grating structure

Single polarisation operation of a fibre ring laser was realised by employing an intra-cavity 9.3°-tilted fibre Bragg grating as an in-fibre polariser. The laser showed a polarisationextinction-ratio of ~ 31dB with a good stability. © 2010 Optical Society of America.

Optical loading sensor based on ring-cavity fiber laser incorporating a 45°-tilted fiber polarizing grating

We have experimentally demonstrated an active loading sensor system based on a fiber ring laser with singlepolarization output using an intra-cavity 45°-tilted fiber grating. When the laser cavity fiber is subjected to loading, the laser output is encoded with the loading information that can be measured and monitored by a standard power meter. The achieved loading sensitivity is 0.033/kg • m-1 and 0.042/kg • m-1 for two different interaction lengths. The experimental results clearly show that such a single-polarization fiber laser may be commercially developed into a low-cost, high-sensitivity loading sensor system.

Cavity-enhanced laser spectroscopic studies of vibrational overtones of acetylene

This thesis contains five experimental spectroscopic studies that probe the vibration-rotation energy level structure of acetylene and some of its isotopologues. The emphasis is on the development of laser spectroscopic methods for high-resolution molecular spectroscopy. Three of the experiments use cavity ringdown spectroscopy. One is a standard setup that employs a non-frequency stabilised continuous wave laser as a source. In the other two experiments, the same laser is actively frequency stabilised to the ringdown cavity. This development allows for increased repetition rate of the experimental signal and thus the spectroscopic sensitivity of the method is improved. These setups are applied to the recording of several vibration-rotation overtone bands of both H(12)C(12)CH and H(13)C(13)CH. An intra-cavity laser absorption spectroscopy setup that uses a commercial continuous wave ring laser and a Fourier transform interferometer is presented. The configuration of the laser is found to be sub-optimal for high-sensitivity work but the spectroscopic results are good and show the viability of this type of approach. Several ro-vibrational bands of carbon-13 substituted acetylenes are recorded and analysed. Compared with earlier work, the signal-to-noise ratio of a laser-induced dispersed infrared fluorescence experiment is enhanced by more than one order of magnitude by exploiting the geometric characteristics of the setup. The higher sensitivity of the spectrometer leads to the observation of two new symmetric vibrational states of H(12)C(12)CH. The precision of the spectroscopic parameters of some previously published symmetric states is also improved. An interesting collisional energy transfer process is observed for the excited vibrational states and this phenomenon is explained by a simple step-down model.

Optimization of the multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber laser in a unidirectional cavity without an isolator

A highly uniform multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser with an intracavity sine phase modulator is demonstrated. The flat output spectrum is achieved by optimizing the cavity structure, modulation amplitude, and frequency of the sine phase modulator. Fifteen lasing lines with wavelength spacing of 0.9 nm appear simultaneously and stably with power differences less than 2 dB and side-mode suppression ratio higher than 32 dB. In addition, the proposed cavity can support unidirectional operation without optical isolators. An output power difference of about 20 dB is realized between the counterclockwise and clockwise directions, which is almost independent of the pump power and lasing wavelengths. (c) 2005 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Optimization of the multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber laser in a unidirectional cavity without an isolator

A highly uniform multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser with an intracavity sine phase modulator is demonstrated. The flat output spectrum is achieved by optimizing the cavity structure, modulation amplitude, and frequency of the sine phase modulator. Fifteen lasing lines with wavelength spacing of 0.9 nm appear simultaneously and stably with power differences less than 2 dB and side-mode suppression ratio higher than 32 dB. In addition, the proposed cavity can support unidirectional operation without optical isolators. An output power difference of about 20 dB is realized between the counterclockwise and clockwise directions, which is almost independent of the pump power and lasing wavelengths. (c) 2005 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Waveguide lasers in Er:Yb-doped phosphate glass fabricated by femtosecond laser writing

Advanced waveguide lasers, operating both in continuous wave and pulsed regimes, have been realized in an active phosphate glass by direct writing with femtosecond laser pulses. Stable single mode operation was obtained; the laser provided more than 50 m W in single longitudinal and transverse mode operation with 21% slope efficiency. Furthermore, by combining a high gain waveguide and an innovated fiber-pigtailed saturable absorber based on carbon nanotubes, a mode-locked ring laser providing transform limited 1.6 ps pulses was demonstrated. © 2007 IEEE.

Influences of quantum noises on direct-modulated properties of 1.3-mu m InGaAsP/InP laser diodes

Due to the zero dispersion point at 1.3-mu m in optical fibres, 1.3-mu m InGaAsP/InP laser diodes have become main light sources in fibre communication systems recently. In fluences of quantum noises on direct-modulated properties of single-mode 1.3-mu m InGaAsP/InP laser diodes are investigated in this article. Considering the carrier and photon noises and the cross-correlation between the two noises, the power spectrum of the photon density and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the direct-modulated single-mode laser system are calculated using the linear approximation method. We find that the stochastic resonance (SR) always appears in the dependence of the SNR on the bias current density, and is strongly affected by the cross-correlation coeffcient between the carrier and photon noises, the frequency of modulation signal, and the photon lifetime in the laser cavity. Hence, it is promising to use the SR mechanism to enhance the SNR of direct-modulated InGaAsP/InP laser diodes and improve the quality of optical fibre communication systems.