Investigation of ion-ion interaction effects on Yb3+-doped fiber amplifiers.

Ytterbium (Yb3+)-doped materials have been widely used for high efficiency high energy laser sources at the 1 µm wavelength region because of their very low quantum defect and the unique simple energy level structure of Yb3+, resulting in no excited-state absorption and low occurrence probability of deleterious ion-ion interaction processes. It has been generally recognized that these ion-ion interaction processes have very little influence on the operation of Yb3+-doped fiber lasers at low and moderate power levels. However, our recent study shows that the performance of Yb3+-doped fiber amplifiers operating at low power levels is still influenced by the ion-ion interaction processes due to the large amount of population at the upper laser level 2F5/2. In this paper, experimental evidences of the ion-ion interaction effects in Yb3+-doped fiber amplifiers are presented and a new model including these effects is developed for the numerical simulation. Our experimental and numerical investigations on the 976 nm and 1030 nm Yb3+-doped silica and phosphate fiber amplifiers show that ion-ion interaction has non-negligible impact on the performance of Yb3+-doped fiber amplifiers indeed, and compared to Yb3+-doped silica fibers, Yb3+-doped phosphate fibers suffer much less from the ion-ion interaction effects due to the much less clustered ions.

Power scalable 10 W 976 nm single-frequency linearly polarized laser source.

A 10 W level 976 nm single-frequency linearly polarized laser source was demonstrated with a two-stage all-fiber amplifier configuration. The continuous-wave output power of 10.1 W was obtained from the second stage amplifier by using a 20/130 µm single-mode, polarization maintaining, 1.5 wt. % ytterbium-doped phosphate double-clad fiber. This all-fiber single-frequency laser source is very promising for watt-level deep ultraviolet laser generation via frequency quadrupling.

Dual-wavelength fiber laser operating above 2 µm based on cascaded single-mode-multimode-single-mode fiber structures.

A stable dual-wavelength Tm3+:Ho3+ co-doped fiber laser operating above 2 µm based on cascaded single-mode-multimode-single-mode (SMS) fiber structures is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Based on the theoretical analysis of the transmission properties of the SMS fiber structure, two cascaded SMS fiber devices with different multimode fiber (MMF) lengths were used in our laser system, where one acted as a long-pass filter to suppress the competitive laser below 2 µm, and the other worked as a band-pass filter to select the specific operating wavelengths of the laser. Dual-wavelength operation of the fiber laser at 2002.8 and 2016.1 nm has been achieved in the experiment with a signal to a noise ratio up to 50 dB.

Passive Q-switching of an all-fiber laser induced by the Kerr effect of multimode interference.

A novel passively Q-switched all-fiber laser using a single mode-multimode-single mode fiber device as the saturable absorber based on the Kerr effect of multimode interference is reported. Stable Q-switched operation of an Er(3+)/Yb(3+) co-doped fiber laser at 1559.5 nm was obtained at a pump power range of 190-510 mW with the repetition rate varying from 14.1 kHz to 35.2 kHz and the pulse duration ranging from 5.69 µs to 3.86 µs. A maximum pulse energy of 0.8 µJ at an average output power of 27.6 mW was achieved. This demonstrates a new modulation mechanism for realizing Q-switched all-fiber laser sources.

High-power synchronously pumped femtosecond Raman fiber laser.

We report a high-power synchronously pumped femtosecond Raman fiber laser operating in the normal dispersion regime. The Raman laser is pumped by a picosecond Yb(3+)-doped fiber laser. It produces highly chirped pulses with energy up to 18 nJ, average power of 0.76 W and 88% efficiency. The pulse duration is measured to be 147 fs after external compression. We observed two different regimes of operation of the laser: coherent and noise-like regime. Both regimes were experimentally characterized. Numerical simulations are in a good agreement with experimental results.

All-fiber bidirectional optical parametric oscillator for precision sensing.

We present the design and operation of an all-fiber, synchronously pumped, bidirectional optical parametric oscillator (OPO) for precision sensing applications. The fiber-based OPO (FOPO) generates two frequency combs with identical repetition rates but different carrier offset frequencies. A narrow beatnote was observed with full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) linewidth of <10 Hz when the two frequency combs were overlapped on a photodetector. The all-fiber design removes the need for free-space alignment and adjustment. In addition, an external delay line to overlap the two pulse trains in time on the detector is not needed since our unique design provides automatic delay compensation. We expect the novel FOPO to find important applications in precision measurements including rotation sensing with ultra-large sensing area and sensitivity.

Towards ten-watt-level 3-5 µm Raman lasers using tellurite fiber.

Raman lasers based on mid-infrared fibers operating at 3-5 µm atmospheric transparency window are attractive sources for several applications. Compared to fluoride and chalcogenide fibers, tellurite fibers are more advantageous for high power Raman fiber laser sources at 3-5 µm because of their broader Raman gain bandwidth, much larger Raman shift and better physical and chemical properties. Here we report on our simulations for the development of 10-watt-level 3-5 µm Raman lasers using tellurite fibers as the nonlinear gain medium and readily available continuous-wave (cw) and Q-switched erbium-doped fluoride fiber lasers at 2.8 µm as the pump sources. Our results show that a watt-level or even ten-watt-level fiber laser source in the 3-5 µm atmospheric transparency window can be achieved by utilizing the 1st- and 2nd-order Raman scattering in the tellurite fiber. The presented numerical study provides valuable guidance for future 3-5 um Raman fiber laser development.

Graphene Q-switched Ho(3+)-doped ZBLAN fiber laser at 1190 nm.

We report Q-switched pulse operation of holmium (Ho(3+))-doped ZrF(4)-BaF(2)-LaF(3)-AlF(3)-NaF (ZBLAN) at ∼1190 nm in an all-fiber ring laser by using a fiber-optic graphene saturable absorber, which was fabricated by depositing graphene onto the flat surface of a side-polished D-shaped fiber. Stable Q-switched operation was established at a pump power of 180 mW with a repetition rate of 24 kHz and pulse width of 5.7 µs. When the pump power was increased to 1125 mW, 0.44 µJ Q-switched pulses with a repetition rate of 111 kHz and a pulse width of 0.8 µs were generated.

Fiber lasers and their applications [Invited].

Fiber lasers have seen progressive developments in terms of spectral coverage and linewidth, output power, pulse energy, and ultrashort pulse width since the first demonstration of a glass fiber laser in 1964. Their applications have extended into a variety of fields accordingly. In this paper, the milestones of glass fiber laser development are briefly reviewed and recent advances of high-power continuous wave, Q-switched, mode-locked, and single-frequency fiber lasers in the 1, 1.5, 2, and 3 µm regions and their applications in such areas as industry, medicine, research, defense, and security are addressed in detail.

Structure-based optical filtering by the silica microshell of the centric marine diatom Coscinodiscus wailesii.

Diatoms are a renewable (biologically reproducible) source of three-dimensional (3-D) nanostructured silica that could be attractive for a variety of photonic devices, owing to the wide range of quasi-periodic patterns of nano-to-microscale pores available on the silica microshells (frustules) of various diatom species. We have investigated the optical behavior of the silica frustule of a centric marine diatom, Coscinodiscus wailesii, using a coherent broadband (400-1700 nm) supercontinuum laser focused to a fine (20 µm diameter) spot. The C. wailesii frustule valve, which possessed a quasi-periodic hexagonal pore array, exhibited position-dependent optical diffraction. Changes in such diffraction behavior across the frustule were consistent with observed variations in the quasi-periodic pore pattern.

Watt-level short-length holmium-doped ZBLAN fiber lasers at 1.2 µm.

In-band core-pumped Ho3+-doped ZBLAN fiber lasers at the 1.2 µm region were investigated with different gain fiber lengths. A 2.4 W 1190 nm all-fiber laser with a slope efficiency of 42% was achieved by using a 10 cm long gain fiber pumped at a maximum available 1150 nm pump power of 5.9 W. A 1178 nm all-fiber laser was demonstrated with an output power of 350 mW and a slope efficiency of 6.5%. High Ho3+ doping in ZBLAN is shown to be effective in producing single-frequency fiber lasers and short-length fiber amplifiers immune from stimulated Brillouin scattering.

Label-free multi-photon imaging using a compact femtosecond fiber laser mode-locked by carbon nanotube saturable absorber.

We demonstrate label-free multi-photon imaging of biological samples using a compact Er(3+)-doped femtosecond fiber laser mode-locked by a single-walled carbon nanotube (CNT). These compact and low cost lasers have been developed by various groups but they have not been exploited for multiphoton microscopy. Here, it is shown that various multiphoton imaging modalities (e.g. second harmonic generation (SHG), third harmonic generation (THG), two-photon excitation fluorescence (TPEF), and three-photon excitation fluorescence (3PEF)) can be effectively performed on various biological samples using a compact handheld CNT mode-locked femtosecond fiber laser operating in the telecommunication window near 1560nm. We also show for the first time that chlorophyll fluorescence in plant leaves and diatoms can be observed using 1560nm laser excitation via three-photon absorption.

Slow light based on stimulated Raman scattering in an integrated liquid-core optical fiber filled with CS2.

We demonstrate a fiber-based slow light system using a carbon disulfide (CS2)) filled integrated liquid-core optical fiber (i-LCOF). Using 1 meter of i-LCOF we were able to delay 18ps pulses up to 34ps; a delay of 188% of the pulse width. This experimental setup serves as a foundation for slow-light experiments in other nonlinear liquids. Numerical simulations of pulse-propagation equations confirmed the observed delay and a simplified method is presented that can be applied to calculate induced delay for non-cw Stokes pulses. The system is all-fiber and compact with delays greater than a pulse width, indicating potential application as an ultrafast controllable delay line for time division multiplexing in multiGb/s telecommunication systems.

Brillouin lasing in integrated liquid-core optical fibers.

We report Brillouin lasing in an integrated liquid-core optical fiber filled with neat CS2. This is the first observation of Brillouin lasing in an optical fiber filled with a liquid, to the best of our knowledge. The linewidth of the single frequency liquid-based Brillouin laser was estimated to be <1 kHz by beating two similar but independent lasers against one another.

Single-frequency Ho(3+)-doped ZBLAN fiber laser at 1200 nm.

A single-frequency (SF) fiber laser at 1200 nm was developed with a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) configuration by splicing a 22 mm long highly holmium-doped ZBLAN (ZrF(4)-BaF(2)-LaF(3)-AlF(3)-NaF) fiber with a pair of silica fiber Bragg gratings. The linewidth was estimated to be less than 100 kHz based on the measured frequency noise. The relative intensity noise was measured to be <110 dB/Hz at the relaxation oscillation peak and the polarization extinction ratio was measured to be >19 dB. Our results highlight the exciting prospect that wavelength coverage of SF DBR fiber lasers can be expanded significantly by using rare-earth-doped ZBLAN fibers.

Passively continuous-wave mode-locked Er(3+)-doped ZBLAN fiber laser at 2.8 µm.

An Er(3+)-doped ZrF(4)-BaF(2)-LaF(3)-AlF(3)-NaF (ZBLAN) fiber laser was passively mode-locked by inserting a Fe(2+):ZnSe crystal into the free space part of the cavity. Continuous-wave mode-locked pulses at 2.8 µm with a pulse duration of 19 ps estimated from the spectral bandwidth and an average power of 51 mW were generated when a collimated beam traversed the Fe(2+):ZnSe crystal, while Q-switched mode-locked pulses were obtained when the Fe(2+):ZnSe crystal was illuminated by the focused beam.

All-optical switching based on inverse Raman scattering in liquid-core optical fibers.

We report on a new platform for all-optical switching based on inverse Raman scattering in liquids. Narrowband switching, which could be suitable for wavelength-division-multiplexed applications, is demonstrated using integrated liquid-core optical fiber infiltrated with both neat liquids (CCl(4) and CS(2)) as well as an organic chromophore (ß-carotene) dissolved in CCl(4). Compared to standard glass optical fibers, these liquids have much larger Raman loss coefficients, which help reduce the pump power by at least an order of magnitude. Further improvements can be expected with the development of highly soluble organic compounds possessing large Raman cross sections.

Integrated liquid-core optical fibers for ultra-efficient nonlinear liquid photonics.

We have developed a novel integrated platform for liquid photonics based on liquid core optical fiber (LCOF). The platform is created by fusion splicing liquid core optical fiber to standard single-mode optical fiber making it fully integrated and practical - a major challenge that has greatly hindered progress in liquid-photonic applications. As an example, we report here the realization of ultralow threshold Raman generation using an integrated CS2 filled LCOF pumped with sub-nanosecond pulses at 532 nm and 1064 nm. The measured energy threshold for the Stokes generation is 1nJ, about three orders of magnitude lower than previously reported values in the literature for hydrogen gas, a popular Raman medium. The integrated LCOF platform opens up new possibilities for ultralow power nonlinear optics such as efficient white light generation for displays, mid-IR generation, slow light generation, parametric amplification, all-optical switching and wavelength conversion using liquids that have orders of magnitude larger optical nonlinearities compared with silica glass.

Simple way for achieving passive all-optical switching of continuous waves lasers using pure nematic liquid crystal.

We have examined pure nematic liquid crystal (LC), 4'-pentyl-4-biphenylcarbonitrile (5-CB), with a 90° twisted alignment within a cell made of two cross-polarized absorptive plastic polarizers, and investigated the nonlinear transmission properties using cw (532 nm) lasers. We observed optically self-activated polarization switching with a factor of three lower switching power than a dye-doped LC cell with similar linear transmittance using glass substrates. We also studied the dynamics of the switching processes and observed millisecond switching time. These studies have demonstrated a simpler but more efficient way for fabricating broadband, low switching power, millisecond time scale switching, and optical limiting devices.

Interdigitated coplanar electrodes for enhanced sensitivity in a photorefractive polymer.

Organic photorefractive polymer composites can be made to exhibit near 100% diffraction efficiency and fast writing times, though large external slants are needed to project the applied field onto the grating vector. We show here that the use of interdigitated electrodes on a single plane provides similar performance to these standard devices and geometries but without a external slant angle. This new device's structure also greatly improves the diffraction efficiency and sensitivity compared to less slanted standard devices necessary for some real applications, such as holographic displays, optical coherence imaging, and in-plane switching.