A novel ultra-narrow transmission-band fiber Bragg grating and its application in a single-longitudinal-mode fiber laser with improved efficiency

A novel design approach to ultra-narrow transmission-band fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is proposed and demonstrated for the first time. The new grating consists of multiple identical distributed-Bragg reflector (DBR) cavities and a it-phase-shifted gap, and hence, the proposed laser is constructed by the cascade of these identical DBR fiber lasers. By manufacturing the proposed grating in a piece of Er-Yb codoped fiber, a single-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) fiber laser with improved efficiency is demonstrated experimentally. The experimental results show that the pump-to-signal conversion efficiency of the proposed laser is improved by a factor of two in comparison with the optimized distributed-feedback (DFB) fiber lasers. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Theoretical design or single-polarization single-mode microstructured polymer optical fibres

Using the full-vector plane-wave expansion method, a kind of PMMA-based polarization-maintaining microstructured optical fibre (PM-mPOF) is theoretically studied. Dependence of the cutoff wavelengths of the two orthogonal polarization states (polarized along the two principal axes of PM-mPOF) on the structure parameters of the fibre is investigated in detail. A single-polarization single-mode (SPSM) PM-mPOF working in the visible region is designed and optimized with the result of the maximum SPSM bandwidth of 140 nm.

Harmonic mode-locked ytterbium-doped fibre ring laser

We demonstrate a harmonic mode-locked ytterbium-doped fibre ring laser, which consists of a polarization-sensitive isolator, two polarization controllers, two 976 nm laser diodes as the pump source and a two-segment ytterbium-doped fibre. Utilizing an additive pulse mode-locked technique based on nonlinear polarization evolution, the ytterbium-doped fibre laser can operate in mode-locked state by adjusting the position of polarization controllers. The cavity fundamental repetition rate is 23.78 MHz. We also observe the second- and third-harmonic mode locking in the normal dispersion region, and their repetition rates are 47.66 MHz and 71.56 MHz, respectively. Over-driving of the saturable absorber in the harmonic mode-locking pulse is analysed and discussed in detail.

Non-collinear CPOPA seeded by an Yb3+-doped self-starting passive mode-locked fiber laser

Using a home-made seed at 1053 nm from a Yb3+-doped passively mode-locked fiber laser of 1.5 nJ/pulse, 362 ps pulse duration with a repetition rate of 3.842 MHz, a compact, low cost, stable and excellent beam quality non-collinear chirped pulse optical parametric amplifier omitting the bulky pulse stretcher has been demonstrated. A gain higher than 4.0 x 10(6), single pulse energy exceeding 6 mJ with fluctuations less than 2% rms, 14 nm amplified signal spectrum and recompressed pulse duration of 525 fs are achieved. This provides a novel and simple amplification scheme. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.

Eye-safe, high-energy, single-mode all-fiber laser with widely tunable repetition rate

We present a novel high-energy, single-mode, all-fiber-based master-oscillator-power-amplifier (MOPA) laser system operating in the C-band with 3.3-ns pulses and a very widely tunable repetition rate, ranging from 30 kHz to 50 MHz. The laser with a maximum pulse energy of 25 mu J and a repetition rate of 30 kHz is obtained at, a wavelength of 1548 nm by using a double-clad, single-mode, Er:Yb co-doped fiber power amplifier.

CHARACTERIZATION OF PHOTOCONDUCTIVE SEMICONDUCTOR SWITCHES UNDER NONLINEAR MODE CONDITION

A photoconductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) would work in a nonlinear mode under high biased electrical field. The experimental results of nonlinear critical state have shown that both the biased voltage and the laser energy may have working thresholds to turn on the nonlinear modes. The relation between the biased voltage (aid the laser energy is inverse ratio, i.e., higher biased field need lower laser energy for nonlinear mode, and vise versa. At the nonlinear critical point, the output of PCSS is unstable, as both the linear and nonlinear pulse may occur. As the laser energy and biased field increase, the PCSS would work in the nonlinear mode steadily. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 56-59 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOT 10.1002/mop.24001

Mode field diameter and nonlinear properties of air-core nanowires

Exact solutions of Maxwell's equations describing the lightwave through 3-layer-structured cylindrical waveguide are obtained and the mode field diameter and nonlinear coefficient of air-core nanowires (ACNWs) are numerically calculated. The simulation results show that ACNWs offer some unique optical properties, such as tight field confining ability and extremely high nonlinearity. At a certain wavelength and air core radius, we optimize the waveguide design to maximize the nonlinear coefficient and minimize the mode field diameter. Our results show that the ACNWs may be powerful potential tools for novel micro-photonic devices in the near future.

Guiding mode in elliptical core microstructured polymer optical fiber

A kind of microstructured polymer optical fiber with elliptical core has been fabricated by adopting in-situ chemical polymerization technology and the secondary sleeving draw-stretching technique. Microscope photography demonstrates the clear hole-structure retained in the fiber. Though the holes distortion is visible, initial laser experiment indicates that light can be strongly confined in the elliptical core region, and the mode field is split obviously and presents the multi-mode characteristic. Numerical modeling is carried out for the real fiber with the measured parameters, including the external diameter of 150 pin, the average holes diameter of 3.3 mu m, and the average hole spacing of 6.3 mu m. by using full-vector plane wave method. The guided mode fields of the numerical simulation are consistent with the experiment result. This fiber shows the strong multi-mode and weak birefringence in the visible and near-infrared band, and has possibility for achieving the fiber mode convertors, mode selective couplers and so on.

Low Threshold Stretched-pulses Mode-locked Er3+-doped Fiber Laser with Ring Cavity

National Natural Science Foundationa of China(602537060，60408002)

Broadly tunable SOA-based active mode-locked fibre ring laser by forward injection optical pulse

We present a broadly tunable active mode- locked. bre ring laser based on a semiconductor optical ampli. er ( SOA), with forward injection optical pulses. The laser can generate pulse sequence with pulsewidth about 12 ps and high output power up to 8.56dBm at 2.5 GHz stably. Incorporated with a wavelength- tunable optical bandpass. lter, the pulse laser can operate with a broad wavelength tunable span up to 37nm with almost constant pulsewidth. A detailed experimental analysis is also carried out to investigate the relationship between the power of the internal cavity and the pulsewidth of the output pulse sequence. The experimental con. guration of the pulse laser is very simple and easy to setup with no polarization- sensitive components.

40-GHz wavelength tunable mode-locked SOA-based fiber laser with 40-nm tuning range

A 40-GHz wavelength tunable mode-locked fiber ring laser based oil cross-gain modulation in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is presented. Pulse trains with a pulse width of 10.5 ps at 40-GHz repetition frequency are obtained. The laser operates with almost 40-nm tuning range. The relationship between the key laser parameters and the output pulse characteristics is analyzed experimentally.

SOA-based actively mode-locked fiber ring laser by forward injecting an external pulse train

An actively mode-locked fiber ring laser based on cross-gain modulation (XGM) in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is demonstrated to operate stably with a simple configuration. By forward injecting an easily-generated external pulse train, the mode-locked fiber laser can generate an optical-pulse sequence with pulsewidth about 6 ps and average output power about 7.9 mW. The output pulses show an ultra-low RMS jitter about 70.7 fs measured by a RF spectrum analyzer. The use of the proposed forward-injection configuration can realize the repetition-rate tunability from I to 15 GHz for the generated optical-pulse sequences. By employing a wavelength-tunable optical band-pass filter in the laser cavity, the operation wavelength of the designed SOA-based actively mode-locked fiber laser can be tuned continuously in a wide span between 1528 and 1565 nm. The parameters of external-injection optical pulses are studied experimentally to optimize the mode-locked fiber laser. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Distortion management of SBS slow light in a single-mode optical fiber by optimization of broadband SBS gain spectrum

SPIE