Versatile supercontinuum generation in parabolic multimode optical fibers.

We demonstrate that the pump's spatial input profile can provide additional degrees of freedom in tailoring at will the nonlinear dynamics and the ensuing spectral content of supercontinuum generation in highly multimoded optical fibers. Experiments and simulations carried out at 1550 nm indicate that the modal composition of the input beam can substantially alter the soliton fission process as well as the resulting Raman and dispersive wave generation that eventually lead to supercontinuum in such a multimode environment. Given the multitude of conceivable initial conditions, our results suggest that it is possible to pre-engineer the supercontinuum spectral content in a versatile manner.

Instant and efficient second-harmonic generation and downconversion in unprepared graded-index multimode fibers.

We show that germanium-doped graded-index multimode silica fibers can exhibit relatively high conversion efficiencies (∼6.5%) for second-harmonic generation when excited at 1064 nm. This frequency-doubling behavior is also found to be accompanied by an effective downconversion. As opposed to previous experiments carried out in single- and few-mode fibers where hours of preparation were required, in our system, these χ(2) related processes occur almost instantaneously. The efficiencies observed in our experiments are, to the best of our knowledge, among the highest ever reported in unprepared fibers.

Tailoring frequency generation in uniform and concatenated multimode fibers.

We demonstrate that frequency generation in multimode parabolic-index fibers can be precisely engineered through appropriate fiber design. This is accomplished by exploiting the onset of a geometric parametric instability that arises from resonant spatiotemporal compression. By launching the output of an amplified Q-switched microchip laser delivering 400 ps pulses at 1064 nm, we observe a series of intense frequency sidebands that strongly depend on the fiber core size. The nonlinear frequency generation is analyzed in three fiber samples with 50 µm, 60 µm, and 80 µm core diameters. We further demonstrate that by cascading fibers of different core sizes, a desired frequency band can be generated from the frequency lines parametrically produced in each section. The observed frequency shifts are in good agreement with analytical predictions and numerical simulations. Our results suggest that core scaling and fiber concatenation can provide a viable avenue in designing optical sources with tailored output frequencies.

Decoupled polarization dynamics of incoherent waves and bimodal spectral incoherent solitons.

We consider the propagation of strongly incoherent waves in optical fibers in the framework of the vector nonlinear Schrödinger equation (VNLSE) accounting for the Raman effect. On the basis of the wave turbulence theory, we derive a kinetic equation that greatly simplifies the VNLSE and provides deep physical insight into incoherent wave dynamics. When applied to the study of polarization effects, the theory unexpectedly reveals that the linear polarization components of the incoherent wave evolve independently from each other, even in the presence of weak fiber birefringence. When applied to light propagation in bimodal fibers, the theory reveals that the incoherent modal components can be strongly coupled. After a complex transient, the modal components self-organize into a vector spectral incoherent soliton: The two solitons self-trap and propagate with a common velocity in frequency space.

Rogue waves in a normal-dispersion fiber laser.

Experimental evidence of rogue-wave formation in a normal-dispersion ytterbium fiber laser is reported. Spectral filtering is a primary component of pulse-shaping in normal-dispersion lasers, and we find that the choice of filter dramatically influences the distribution of noise-pulse energies produced by these lasers. With an interference filter in the cavity, non-Gaussian distributions with pulses as large as 6 times the significant wave height are observed. These correspond to pulse energies as high as ∼50 nJ. To our knowledge, the results presented are not accounted for by existing theoretical models of rogue-wave formation.

Generation of 8 nJ pulses from a dissipative-soliton fiber laser with a nonlinear optical loop mirror.

Theoretical and experimental investigations of the behavior of normal-dispersion fiber lasers with nonlinear optical loop mirrors are presented. The use of a loop mirror causes the laser to generate relatively long, flat-topped pulses. The pulse energy can be high, but the pulse duration is limited to greater than 300 fs. Experimentally, 8 nJ pulses that can be dechirped to 340 fs duration are obtained. The laser is a step toward an all-fiber, environmentally stable design.

Pulse generation without gain-bandwidth limitation in a laser with self-similar evolution.

With existing techniques for mode-locking, the bandwidth of ultrashort pulses from a laser is determined primarily by the spectrum of the gain medium. Lasers with self-similar evolution of the pulse in the gain medium can tolerate strong spectral breathing, which is stabilized by nonlinear attraction to the parabolic self-similar pulse. Here we show that this property can be exploited in a fiber laser to eliminate the gain-bandwidth limitation to the pulse duration. Broad (∼200 nm) spectra are generated through passive nonlinear propagation in a normal-dispersion laser, and these can be dechirped to ∼20-fs duration.

Generation of megawatt peak power picosecond pulses from a divided-pulse fiber amplifier.

Control of nonlinearity is a challenge in fiber amplifiers designed to generate pulses of a few picoseconds duration, and as a result, picosecond fiber amplifiers have failed to reach peak power of 1MW. Divided-pulse amplification, combined with the use of circular polarization, allows the generation of 2.2 ps pulses with energy as high as 2.5 µJ and peak power of 1 MW.

Ultrafast and octave-spanning optical nonlinearities from strongly phase-mismatched quadratic interactions.

Cascaded nonlinearities have attracted much interest, but ultrafast applications have been seriously hampered by the simultaneous requirements of being near phase matching and having ultrafast femtosecond response times. Here we show that in strongly phase-mismatched nonlinear frequency conversion crystals the pump pulse can experience a large and extremely broadband self-defocusing cascaded Kerr-like nonlinearity. The large cascaded nonlinearity is ensured through interaction with the largest quadratic tensor element in the crystal, and the strong phase mismatch ensures an ultrafast nonlinear response with an octave-spanning bandwidth. We verify this experimentally by showing few-cycle soliton compression with noncritical cascaded second-harmonic generation: Energetic 47 fs infrared pulses are compressed in a just 1-mm long bulk lithium niobate crystal to 17 fs (under 4 optical cycles) with 80% efficiency, and upon further propagation an octave-spanning supercontinuum is observed. Such ultrafast cascading is expected to occur for a broad range of pump wavelengths spanning the near- and mid-IR using standard nonlinear crystals.

Control of electron transfer from lead-salt nanocrystals to TiO2.

The roles of solvent reorganization energy and electronic coupling strength on the transfer of photoexcited electrons from PbS nanocrystals to TiO(2) nanoparticles are investigated. We find that the electron transfer depends only weakly on the solvent, in contrast to the strong dependence in the nanocrystal-molecule system. This is ascribed to the larger size of the acceptor in this system, and is accounted for by Marcus theory. The electronic coupling of the PbS and TiO(2) is varied by changing the length, aliphatic and aromatic structure, and anchor groups of the linker molecules. Shorter linker molecules consistently lead to faster electron transfer. Surprisingly, linker molecules of the same length but distinct chemical structures yield similar electron transfer rates. In contrast, the electron transfer rate can vary dramatically with different anchor groups.