Intense emission at 605†nm from Pr3+-doped fluorotellurite glass fibers.

Pr3+-doped fluorotellurite glass fibers (PDFTFs) were fabricated by using a rod-in-tube method. By using a 976/1400 nm dual-wavelength upconversion pump technique, an intense emission at 605 nm was obtained from a 6 cm long PDFTF, which was attributed to the transition 1D2 → 3H4 of Pr3+ ions. With an increase in power of the 1400 nm laser from ∼34 to ∼136 mW, the spectral bandwidth of the 605 nm emission decreased and the intensity of the 605 nm emission increased monotonically, indicating the generation of 605 nm amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of 605 nm ASE in PDFTFs. Our results showed that PDFTFs had the potential for constructing red fiber lasers and amplifiers.

Widely tunable S-band ring-cavity Tm3+-doped fluorotellurite fiber laser.

Tm3+-doped fluorotellurite fibers (TDFTFs) are fabricated by using a rod-in-tube method. A 2.1 m long TDFTF is used as the gain medium, in which both ends of the TDFTF are connected to a short piece of a silica fiber by direct fusion splicing. By inserting the above TDFTF and a tunable optical bandpass filter into a ring cavity and employing a 1400/1570 nm dual-wavelength pumping technique, tunable lasing from 1460 to 1526 nm is obtained, which almost covers the whole S-band. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of tunable Tm3+-doped fiber laser with a tunable range almost covering the whole S-band. Furthermore, by removing the tunable optical bandpass filter from the ring cavity, free-running multi-wavelength lasers at 1500 and 1901 nm are achieved. Our results show that TDFTFs are promising gain media for constructing S-band fiber lasers.

Watt-level 815†nm lasing from Tm3+-doped fluorotellurite glass fibers.

Tm3+-doped fluorotellurite fibers based on TeO2-BaF2-Y2O3(TBY) glasses were fabricated by using a rod-in-tube method. By using an 81 cm-long Tm3+-doped fluorotellurite fiber as the gain medium and a 1400 / 1570 nm dual-wavelength pump technique, lasing at 815 nm was obtained for a threshold pump power of 629 mW at 1400 nm and a fixed pump power of 960 mW at 1570 nm. As the 1400 nm pump power is increased to 1803 mW, the obtained maximum output power was about 1616 mW. The corresponding optical-to-optical conversion efficiency was about 58.5%. Our results show that Tm3+-doped fluorotellurite fibers are promising gain media for constructing 815 nm fiber lasers.

Decaying dynamics of harmonic mode-locking in a SESAM-based mode-locked fiber laser.

The entire decaying dynamics of harmonic mode-locking (HML) are studied utilizing the dispersive Fourier transform (DFT) technique in a SESAM-based mode-locked fiber laser. It is unveiled that the harmonic solitons do not disappear directly, but undergo transitional processes from the higher-order HML to the lower-order HML and then to the fundamental mode-locking (FML), and finally vanish. The "big corner" can also exist in the decaying process rather than just in the buildup process of HML, and there is at least one "big corner" during the decaying process between the consecutive multi-pulsing states. The energy stabilization phase (ESP) cannot be observed during every transitional process. A breathing behavior and a vibrating soliton molecule are observed in the decaying process from the 2nd HML to the FML and in the decaying process of the FML, respectively. Our work would enrich the understanding of HML behaviors and may contribute to the laser designs.

Multi-octave mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in tapered chalcogenide-glass rods.

We report on the experimental development of short-tapered chalcogenide-glass rods for mid-infrared supercontinuum generation. Multi-octave spectral broadening of femtosecond laser pulses is demonstrated from 1.6 to 15.6 µm in a 5-cm-long tapered Ge20Se70Te10 rod with a waist diameter of 25 µm. Despite the multimode nature of the optical waveguide used, this work clearly shows the potential of such simple post-processed rods for advancing fiber SC sources with infrared glasses, thereby unlocking new possibilities in terms of coupling efficiency, spectral coverage, and output power.

Numerical analysis of optical confinement in silica and tellurite multicore fibers for near-infrared image transportation.

We analyzed light confinement in circular step-index cores of tellurite and silica fibers through numerical calculations and also examined crosstalk between the fundamental modes of cores in multicore fibers. Our analysis showed that tellurite fibers have a pixel density about 2.2 times higher and a brightness about 1.4 times brighter than silica fibers. As a result, tellurite multicore image fibers have the potential to provide improved resolution and brightness for near-infrared image transportation compared with silica fibers.

Over 50 W all-fiber mid-infrared supercontinuum laser.

Broadband supercontinuum laser sources in the mid-infrared region have attracted enormous interest and found significant applications in spectroscopy, imaging, sensing, defense, and security. Despite recent advances in mid-infrared supercontinuum laser sources using infrared fibers, the average power of those laser sources is limited to 10-watt-level, and further power scaling to over 50 W (or hundred-watt-level) remains a significant technological challenge. Here, we report an over 50 W all-fiber mid-infrared supercontinuum laser source with a spectral range from 1220 to 3740 nm, by using low loss (<0.1 dB/m) fluorotellurite fibers we developed as the nonlinear medium and a tilted fusion splicing method for reducing the reflection from the fluorotellurite-silica fiber joint. Furthermore, the scalability of all-fiber mid-infrared supercontinuum laser sources using fluorotellurite fibers is analyzed by considering thermal effects and optical damage, which verifies its potential of power scaling to hundred-watt-level. Our results pave the way for realizing all-fiber hundred-watt-level mid-infrared lasers for real applications.

Spatial mode and wavelength switchable erbium-doped fiber laser based on a fiber beam shaper.

A fiber-based beam shaper to adjust the distribution of spatial modes in a few-mode fiber (FMF) is theoretically and experimentally investigated in this work. A compact and robust device, composed with a single mode fiber-graded index multimode fiber-few mode fiber (SMF-GIMF-FMF), is fabricated by simply fusion splicing of the fibers. Switchable spatial modes and multi-wavelength comb are obtained by the combination of the beam shaper and the few-mode fiber Bragg grating (FM-FBG). This combination acts as a filter to select the wavelength and spatial mode in the laser. A spatial mode switchable fiber laser with high mode purity is extended among LP01, LP11 and cylindrical vector beam (CVB) by adjusting the pressure applied on the beam shaper. Five-discrete wavelengths and their free combination wavelength comb are emitted with a slope efficiency higher than 10%. The fiber laser can be used in the spatial- and wavelength-division multiplexing (SWDM) fiber communication networks requiring particular structure light field.

Multimode interferometric sensor based on the no-core tellurite optical fiber for cryogenic temperature detection.

In this paper, a no-core tellurite optical fiber (NCTOF)-based sensor was proposed for cryogenic temperature detection in refrigeration process. The ultraviolet adhesive (UVA) dual-curing method was operated to stablish a sandwich-like composite structure, in which a section of NCTOF was compactly sandwiched between two segments of silica fiber to form multimode interference. The temperature sensing characteristics in cryogenic range were experimentally investigated by monitoring the transmission spectral movement, where a high sensitivity of 105.6 pm/°C was achieved in the range of -20-0 °C and 51.6 pm/°C in the range of -20-25 °C. The excellent performance was consistent with the simulation analysis. The maximum repeatability standard deviation and stability wavelength error of the sensor are 0.9799 pm/°C and 0.1676 nm, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on using tellurite optical fibers for cryogenic temperature detection, and the UVA dual-curing method provides a reliable solution for the integration and practical application of tellurite optical fiber. The proposed sensor is simple in structure, easy in fabrication, low in cost and excellent in performance. It can be expected to be used in food refrigeration, air-conditioning engineering, medical and health, industrial production, etc.

Chalcogenide all-solid hybrid microstructured optical fiber with polarization maintaining properties and its mid-infrared supercontinuum generation.

In this paper, we report a successful fabrication of a highly nonlinear chalcogenide all-solid hybrid microstructured optical fiber with polarization maintaining properties and a mid-infrared SC generation. Up to 4.5 × 10-4 at 10 µm of the fiber birefringence can be realized by employing a single As2Se3 core and two As2S5 rods horizontally aligned in the AsSe2 cladding. The fiber possesses a near-zero and flattened all-normal chromatic dispersion profile over the wavelength range from 5 to 10 µm. The polarization maintaining properties of the fiber is experimentally confirmed and a broadband supercontinuum spectrum from 2 to 10 µm in the mid-infrared window was experimentally demonstrated.

Plug-in tip sensor based on upconversion fluorescence in Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped tellurite glass for thermal monitoring of a miniature winding coil.

We demonstrate a plug-in tip sensor with a maximum cross section diameter of only 1 mm for real-time thermal monitoring of a high-density miniature winding coil, which can meet the miniaturization development needs of electromagnetic actuators. Due to the high upconversion luminescence efficiency, tellurite glass with an optimized Er3+/Yb3+ doping ratio is adhered to the end face of silica fiber for a temperature-sensitive tip. Temperature information is demodulated using the fluorescence intensity ratio technique, yielding a nonlinear response with R2 up to 0.9978. Within a wide temperature range of 253.55-442.45 K, the tip sensor exhibits good repeatability, excellent stability, high sensitivity of 52.7 × 10-4 K-1, small absolute error within ±1 K, and fast time response of 2.03 s. It has been successfully proven to be a miniaturized device with strong anti-interference ability for the health management of high-density winding coils.

Frequency conversions of nine peaks based on dispersive waves and solitons in a tellurite microstructured optical fiber.

We demonstrate the generation of broadband dispersive waves (DWs) and solitons in an 80-cm tellurite microstructured optical fiber (TMOF) designed and fabricated with 78TeO2-5ZnO-12LiCO3-5Bi2O3 (TZLB) glass. A 1810-nm femtosecond laser is used as the pump source with an average pump power ranging from 33 mW to 175 mW, where the tunable frequency range is 211.1 THz, which corresponds to the tunable wavelength range of 1742.9 nm. At 175 mW, the trapped multiple DWs are located at 923.8 nm, 1039.2 nm, 1121.6 nm, and 1204.6 nm and the multiple solitons are located at 2666.7 nm, 2426.1 nm, 2165.9 nm, 1952.7 nm, and 1842.1 nm. The experimentally obtained maximum DW conversion efficiency is 14%, and the maximum soliton conversion efficiency is 43%. The experimental and theoretical results of pulse evolution in the TMOF agree very well. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that nine peaks of frequency conversions have been realized simultaneously in non-silicon fibers. The exceptionally high nonlinearity and broadband-tunable characteristics of the proposed TMOF are promising components for the development of compact and highly efficient tunable mid-infrared fiber lasers, wavelength converters, and time-frequency metrology.

Thulium-doped fluorotellurite glass fibers for broadband S-band amplifiers.

We demonstrated broadband S-band (1460-1530 nm) amplification in Tm3+-doped fluorotellurite glass fibers (TDFTFs) by using a 1400/1570 nm dual-wavelength pump technique. TDFTFs based on TeO2-BaF2-Y2O3 (TBY) glass were fabricated by using a rod-in-tube method. For an input signal power of 0 dBm (or 1 mW), a broadband positive net gain ranging from <1440 nm to 1546 nm was achieved in a 1.55-m-long TDFTF with a Tm3+ doping concentration of ∼4000 ppm, as the pump powers of the 1400 nm and 1570 nm lasers were 1.7 W and 0.14 W, respectively. The corresponding bandwidth for a net gain of >20 dB was ∼66 nm (1458-1524 nm), and the measured saturated output power was ∼24.84 dBm at 1490 nm. In addition, numerical simulation was performed by using the parameters of the TDFTFs and the pump lasers, and the noise figure was calculated to be <5.6 dB in the S band. Our results showed that the TDFTFs were promising gain media for constructing efficient broadband S-band fiber amplifiers.

Transverse Anderson localization of mid-infrared light in a chalcogenide transversely disordered optical fiber.

We successfully fabricate a transversely disordered optical fiber made of AsSe2 and As2S5 glasses for high-resolution mid-infrared image transport. By using the fabricated fiber, we experimentally observe transverse Anderson localization of mid-infrared light at the wavelength of 3 µm. Moreover, we numerically evaluate the localization in the fiber by using a cross-sectional image of the fiber.

Third-order cascaded Raman shift in all-solid fluorotellurite fiber pumped at 1550†nm.

In this Letter, we demonstrate a third-order cascaded Raman shift in an all-solid fluorotellurite fiber pumped by a 1550 nm nanosecond laser. The fluorotellurite glass with a composition of TeO2-BaF2-Y2O3 (TBY) has a usable Raman shift of ∼785 cm-1 and a Raman gain coefficient of ∼1.65 × 10-12 m/W at 1550 nm, which is approximately 25.4 times larger than that of silica glass. By using a 5.38 m fluorotellurite fiber as the Raman gain medium and a 1550 nm nanosecond laser as the pump light, a third-order cascaded Raman shift is obtained via spontaneous cascaded Raman amplification in the fluorotellurite fiber, causing the generation of the first-, second-, and third-order Stokes emissions that peak at 1765, 2049, and 2438 nm, respectively. For an average pump power of ∼491.5 mW, the output power of the generated first-, second-, and third-order Stokes light is approximately 14.1, 67.4, and 31.6 mW, respectively. The corresponding conversion efficiency is approximately 2.87%, 13.70%, and 6.43%, respectively. Our results show that fluorotellurite fibers are promising Raman gain media for constructing cascaded Raman fiber lasers with a wide range of wavelengths.

Single-mode tellurite optical fiber for temperature measurement based on the self-phase modulation effect.

In this paper, the self-phase modulation (SPM) effect in a double-cladding single-mode tellurite optical fiber (DC-SMTOF) was exploited for temperature sensing. The DC-SMTOF was fabricated based on a TeO2-ZnO-Li2O-Bi2O3 (TZLB) glass material that has a thermo-optical coefficient as high as -16.4×10-6/°C. The temperature sensing performance was evaluated by detecting the 3-dB bandwidth of the SPM spectra with the variation of temperature at different pump wavelength and different average pump power. The temperature sensitivity was obtained to be -2.971 nm/°C with a resolution of 0.0168°C. Both simulation and experiment confirmed that a longer pump wavelength and higher average pump power will result in a higher temperature sensitivity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study concerning SPM-based temperature sensing in a tellurite optical fiber. The proposed temperature sensor has a compact structure, and it can realize temperature sensing of high sensitivity without any fiber modification. This work opens the road toward explorations of a novel temperature sensing technology combined with soft glass fibers and nonlinear phenomenon, and is expected to deepen our understanding in the application of these complex nonlinear phenomena.

Experimental investigation of supercontinuum generation in a birefringence tellurite microstructured optical fiber.

A four-hole birefringence tellurite microstructured optical fiber (BTMOF) was designed and fabricated based on 76.5T e O 2-6Z n O-11.5L i 2 O-6B i 2 O 3 glass, and its core (slow and fast axes were) measured to be approximately 4.74 µm and 4.29 µm, respectively. The experimentally measured results demonstrated that the maximum supercontinuum (SC) spectra extended from ∼914.1n m to ∼1885.1n m when the polarization state of the pump pulse was parallel to the fast axis at 1400 nm with an average power of 460 mW. We performed numerical simulations based on the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, which support the experimentally measured results. The SC generation in birefringent silica microstructured fiber with the same geometric parameters was simulated, and the results showed that the enhanced nonlinear refractive index of the BTMOF yielded a spectrum with a significantly larger bandwidth. Furthermore, the two polarization states along the fast axis and slow axis exhibit different dispersion characteristics, which provide a convenient way of tuning the properties of the generated SC. This work highlights BTMOF as a promising platform for the development of a SC light source, which can be widely used in food quality inspection, early cancer diagnostics, gas sensing, and high-spatial-resolution imaging.

Maintaining chromatic dispersion and signal gain performances in a chalcogenide buffer step-index optical fiber.

Aiming at maintaining the chromatic dispersion properties and fiber optical parametric amplification (FOPA) performance when fiber core fluctuation occurs, we propose a buffer step-index optical fiber. The AsSe2 chalcogenide glass is employed as the core material due to its high nonlinearity and broad transmission spectrum. The calculated results in this study show that the chromatic dispersion variation due to the change of core diameter can be greatly suppressed and a continuous and very broad FOPA signal gain spectrum can be obtained and maintained by carefully controlling the core, buffer and cladding properties such as refractive index and diameters. The calculated results in this study showed that by using the proposed 3-cm-long fiber pumped at 5.02 µm, a broad signal gain bandwidth from 3 to 14 µm at about 15 dB is attainable although the fiber core diameter Dc drastically fluctuated from 2 to 5 µm and the buffer diameter Db varies from 8.9 to 9.3 µm. Moreover, when Dc varies in smaller range from 3 to 4 µm, the FOPA signal gain spectra calculated at different fixed values of Db in the range from 8.9 to 9.3 µm are highly maintained. When Db is kept at 9.0 µm and Dc varies from 3 to 4 µm, the calculated FOPA signal gain spectra at different pump wavelengths from 4.98 to 5.02 µm are also nearly identical in the wavelength range from 3 up to 13 µm.

Efficient ∼4 µm emission from Pr3+/Yb3+ co-doped fluoroindate glass.

Pr3+/Yb3+ co-doped fluoroindate (InF3) glasses were prepared by using a traditional melt-quenching method in dry N2 atmosphere. Pumped by a 976 or 1570 nm laser diode, efficient emissions at ∼4µm were obtained from the Pr3+/Yb3+ co-doped glasses, which could be ascribed to the transition 3F4→3H6 of Pr3+ ions. The relative stimulated emission cross section was calculated to be ∼1.44×10-24m2 at 4 µm, which was ∼4.2 times larger than that of transition Ho3+:5I5→5I6 (3.4×10-25m2). In addition, combined with transitions 1G4→3F3 and 1G4→3F4 of Pr3+ ions, ultra-broadband emission ranging from 2.7 to 4.2 µm was also obtained. Our results indicate that Pr3+/Yb3+:InF3 glasses could be used to develop efficient ∼4µm lasers and widely tunable mid-infrared lasers.

Mid-infrared cascaded stimulated Raman scattering and flat supercontinuum generation in an As-S optical fiber pump at 2 µm.

We demonstrate broadband mid-infrared cascaded stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and flat supercontinuum (SC) generation in a chalcogenide optical fiber made from As2S5 glass. By using a 2 µm nanosecond laser as the pump source, mid-infrared cascaded SRS up to six orders ranging from 2149 to 3425 nm was experimentally observed, and this all-fiber Raman laser operating at 3.43 µm was realized for the first time to our knowledge. By introducing a 2 µm femtosecond laser as the excited source, the broadband flat mid-infrared SC with the spectral range of ∼10dB (from ∼1030 to 3441 nm) was observed. Our results verify that the As2S5 optical fibers possess promising applications for tunable mid-infrared Raman fiber lasers and SC light sources pumped by 2 µm pulsed lasers.