Effect of multimodal coupling in imaging micro-endoscopic fiber bundle on optical coherence tomography

The effect of higher-order modes in fiber bundle imager-based optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been theoretically modeled using coupled fiber mode analysis ignoring the polarization and core size variation in order to visualize the pure effect of multimodal coupling of the imaging bundle. In this model, the optical imaging fiber couples several higher-order modes in addition to the fundamental one due to its high numerical aperture for achieving light confinement to the single core pixel. Those modes become evident in a distance domain using A-mode (depth) OCT based on a mirror sample experiment where multiple peaks are generated by the spatial convolution and coherence function of the light source. The distance between the peaks corresponding to each mode can be estimated by considering the effective indices of coupled (guided) modes obtained from numerically solving the fiber mode characteristics equations and the fiber length. The results have been compared for various types (fiber dimensions and wavelengths) and lengths of fibers, which have mode separation of 715 μm (1404 μm) and 764 μm (1527 μm) for the measurement and analysis, respectively in a 152.5 mm (305 mm)-long imaging fiber.     

All-fiber ultra-narrow linewidth 50 pm Tm<Superscript>3+</Superscript>-doped double-clad fiber laser at 1948 nm

A high stability all-fiber LD-clad-pumped Tm³⁺-doped fiber laser was reported. The fiber laser had the ultra-narrow linewidth 50 pm at 1.948 μm with the maximal output power of 12.8 W. The slope efficiency was 28.9%, and threshold was 5.7 W. The double-clad Tm³⁺-doped fiber core was multi-mode, which had a demission of 25/250 μm with the core NA of 0.1 and inner-clad NA of 0.46. The high reflectivity coupler FBG was directly written into the single-mode passive photosensitive optical fiber core, which had a core diameter of 15 μm and NA of 0.1. The cavity was build-up by the high reflectivity FBG and the output fiber end Fresnel reflectivity.     

Theoretical and experimental studies on coupler based fiber optic displacement sensor with concave mirror

A new fiber optic displacement sensor (FODS) is proposed and demonstrated using a multimode fiber coupler as a sensor probe and a concave mirror as a reflective target. A mathematical model is also developed to investigate the performance of proposed FODS at various coupling ratio, fiber diameter, and surrounding media. Three slopes are obtained for the displacement response where the third slope starts at a displacement position of twice the focal length. The numerical results show that higher performance is attained at lower coupler ratio of 50:50 or smaller core diameter. The results also show that the proposed FODS has a potential application in liquid and gas chemical sensors. The experimental performances are also investigated for the proposed sensor where it is observed that the second peak of the displacement curve is located at exactly two times of the focal length or 20 mm.     

Multiplexer–Demultiplexer based on nematic liquid crystal photonic crystal fiber coupler

A novel design of Multiplexer–Demultiplexer (MUX–DEMUX) based on index guiding soft glass nematic liquid crystal (NLC) based photonic crystal fiber coupler is proposed and analyzed. The simulation results are obtained using the full vectorial finite difference method as well as the full vectorial finite difference beam propagation method. The numerical results reveal that the proposed MUX–DEMUX of length 3.265 mm can provide low crosstalk better than −20dB with great bandwidths of 40 and 24 nm around the wavelengths of 1.3 and 1.55 μm, respectively. In addition, the reported MUX–DEMUX has a tolerance of ±3% in its length which makes the design more robust to the perturbation introduced during the fabrication process.     

光纤陀螺用小尺寸高温度稳定性保偏光纤耦合器的研制

在熔融拉锥法制备保偏光纤耦合器工艺基础上,对小尺寸、高温度稳定性保偏光纤耦合器的研制工艺进行了研究.采用小火焰设计有效缩短了耦合器的封装尺寸,保偏光纤耦合器几何尺寸达到Φ3 mm×30 mm.通过不同封装工艺的实验,实现了具有高温度稳定特性的保偏光纤耦合器,器件在全温变化范围(－40℃～60℃)内分光比变化量小于2%,串音变化量小于3 dB.     

12 W mid-infrared output,singly resonant,continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator pumped by a Yb<Superscript>3+</Superscript>-doped fiber amplifier

We report a continuous-wave singly resonant optical parametric oscillator (SRO) with more than 12 W of idler power at 3414 nm when it was operated at 30°C. The SRO was directly pumped by a single-frequency, ytterbium-doped fiber laser with 49 W linear polarization pump powers, and based on 50 mm long periodically poled MgO:LiNbO₃ crystal (PPMgLN) in two-mirror linear cavity with 30.5 μm grating period. It’s pump power at threshold was 5.4 W. The slope-efficiency and quantum-limited performance reached 26 and 79.2%, respectively. The beam polarization matched the e → e + e interaction in crystal. The idler waves were temperature tuned in the range of 3654 to 3811 nm and 3248 to 3414 nm based on two 50 mm long PPMgLN with 29.5 and 30.5 μm grating period. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest continuouswave mid-IR output obtained for a fiber laser pumped optical parametric oscillator (OPO).     

Widely tunable difference frequency generation around 3.4 μm using index dispersion property of PPLN

In this paper, the wide difference frequency generation (DFG) tuning characteristics around 3.4 μm are investigated by using the index dispersion property of PPLN. With a ytterbium doped fiber laser (YDFL) and an erbium doped fiber laser (EDFL) as the fundamental light sources, our simulation results show that the quasi-phase matching (QPM) wavelength acceptance bandwidth (BW) for the pump is much larger than that for the signal. Although the positions of the broadened QPM pump bands vary with the poling period and the signal wavelength, the corresponding idler tuning ranges center around 3.4 μm. With a signal wavelength of 1.57 μm, an idler tuning range of greater than 170 nm is experimentally obtained in the 30 uniform grating PPLN. When the signal wavelength and the poling period are respectively changed to 1.55 and 29.50 μm, wide DFG tuning operations around 3.4 μm are also achieved with the crystal temperature adjusted to adapt the change.     

A 385–500 GHz SIDEBAND-SEPARATING (2SB) SIS MIXER BASED ON A WAVEGUIDE SPLIT-BLOCK COUPLER

We have developed a 385–500 GHz sideband-separating (2SB) mixer, which is based on a waveguide split-block coupler at the edge of the H-plane of the 508 μm × 254 μm (WR 2.0) waveguide, for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). An RF/LO coupler, which contains an RF quadrature hybrid, two LO couplers, and an in-phase power divider, was designed with the issue of mechanical tolerance taken into account. The RF/LO coupler was measured optically with a microscope and electrically with a submillimeter vector network analyzer. The image rejection ratio (IRR) and the single-sideband (SSB) noise temperature of the receiver using the RF/LO coupler have also been measured. The IRR was found to be larger than 8 dB and typically ∼ 12 dB in the 385–500 GHz band. The SSB noise temperature of this receiver is 80 K at the band center, which corresponds to 4 times the quantum noise limit (hf/k) in SSB, and 250 K at the band edges. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Micro-displacement sensor with multimode fused coupler and concave mirror

Fiber optic displacement sensor is demonstrated using a multimode fused coupler probe and a concave mirror target. It is observed that a focal length of the concave mirror make a significant influence to the displacement response, which illustrates three linear slopes with the second slope peaks at the position that is in vicinity of two times of the focal length. The highest sensitivity of 0.56 mV/mm is obtained with an infinity focal length and it is decreased as the focal length of the concave mirror decreases. The widest linear range of approximately 3.3 mm is observed in the third slope region with focal length of 6.0 mm. The highest linear range obtained with the use of 50:50 coupler.     

高峰值功率脉冲激光与石英光纤耦合的空气击穿问题

 研究了15 MW峰值功率脉冲激光与600 μm芯径石英光纤耦合中存在的空气击穿现象。对聚焦区域的空气击穿现象进行了理论和实验研究,测得空气击穿阈值为0.79×10⁹ W/cm²。测得固体介质的激光损伤阈值为2.12×10⁹ W/cm²,与理论计算结果相符。提出了七合一光纤耦合器用于解决空气击穿的办法,实验测得7根光纤并束的耦合效率为67.21%。结果表明光纤耦合器可有效解决15 MW峰值功率脉冲激光与600 μm芯径石英光纤的耦合。     

用于光纤传像束的折-衍混合光学耦接器研究

在光学耦接器设计中引入衍射面,根据衍射光学元件的三级像差理论,分析了衍射面初始结构参量的求解规律,通过理论计算和ZEMAX光学软件的优化,给出工作波长0.4~0.7 μm,焦距27.5 mm,光学长度为64 mm,采用一个衍射面的耦接器设计实例.该耦接器适用于单丝直径16 μm,截面直径为6 mm的光纤传像束.对设计结果的分析表明,折-衍混合耦接器不仅在光学性能方面优于传统的光学耦接器,而且在尺寸和重量上有非常显著的减少.     

High-speed machining of glass materials by laser-induced plasma-assisted ablation using a 532-nm laser

+ :YAG laser (532 nm). The plasma generated from a silver (Ag) target by the laser irradiation effectively assists in ablation of the fused quartz substrate by the same laser beam, although the laser beam is transparent to the substrate. A grating with a cross-sectional shape like a square-wave (period ≈ 20 μm) is achieved using the mask projection technique. The ablation rate reaches several tens nm/pulse. In addition, LIPAA is applied to high-speed hole drilling (700 μm in diameter) of fused-quartz (0.5 mm thick) and Pyrex glass (0.5 mm thick). Received: 25 May 1998/Accepted: 19 June 1998     

Optical Coherence Tomography Implemented by Photonic Crystal Fiber

We report a photonic crystal fiber (PCF)-based optical coherence tomography (OCT) system, in which conventional single-mode fiber for the transmission line and the fiber coupler for the beam splitter/combiner are replaced with PCF and PCF coupler. The PCF coupler fabricated using the fused biconical tapered (FBT) method showed a nearly flat coupling ratio over a broad spectral bandwidth of 400 nm, which provided an axial resolution of 3-μm for OCT imaging. With a white-light source, the 8-μm thick air gap between two stacked cover glasses was measured, and with a conventional superluminecent diode (SLD) source, the in vitro images of rat eye and Misgurnus mizolepis skin were successfully obtained. The PCF and PCF coupler might enable a white-light as the source for the cost effective and high-resolution OCT system.     

Widely-wavelength-tunable few-cycle optical pulse generation from an all-fiber erbium-doped laser system

A scheme for the construction of fiber laser systems for the generation of tunable ultrashort optical pulses is proposed. The scheme is based on the self-Raman shift of the soliton frequency in dispersion-decreasing fibers with the subsequent spectral broadening owing to the supercontinuum generation in a short highly nonlinear fiber and the compression in the corresponding fiber compressor. An all-fiber laser system for the generation of ultrashort laser pulses in the wavelength range 1.6–2.0 μm is experimentally demonstrated. In particular, the shortest pulses with a duration of 24 fs are generated at wavelengths of 1.8–1.9 μm, which corresponds to less than four optical cycles.     

一种硅基SiO_2波导耦合器的设计与分析

波导耦合器是组成光纤传感系统和光纤通信系统光收发组件及模块的重要元器件,是实现光收发模块一体化光电集成的基础。给出了一种用光纤陀螺系统的X型四端口波导耦合器的工作原理,采用有效折射率法和BPM(Beam propagation method)法建立了耦合器的数学模型,计算并分析了耦合器尺寸在尽可能小的情况下和在满足单模传输的条件下耦合器的耦合系数、有效耦合长度、分光比以及回波损耗等参数之间的关系,并对其关键技术进行了系统的研究。仿真结果表明,所设计的波导耦合器在低损耗情况下分光比可达到50%∶50%,耦合器全长为33.5mm,输入输出波导间距为410μm,芯层截面积为6μm×6μm。     

In-band pumped Ho:YAP laser by Tm-Doped fiber laser at 1936 and 1948 nm,respectively

We present for the first time a highly efficient Ho:YAP laser at 2117.9 nm, which is double-end inband pumped by two all-fiber Tm-doped fiber lasers at 1936 and 1948 nm. Using a single 50 mm long Ho:YAP rod in a simple L-shaped resonator geometry, a maximum laser output power of 10.1 W and a slope efficiency of 43.6% with respect to the incident pump power are acquired. The Ho:YAP crystals work under room temperature 24°C, and without any active thermal management. This experimental results verify the Ho:YAP crystals can be pumped by the versatile laser sources in the 1.9 μm regions.     

Efficient high-power Ho:YAG laser directly in-band pumped by a GaSb-based laser diode stack at 1.9 μm

An efficient high-power Ho:YAG laser directly in-band pumped by a recently developed GaSb-based laser diode stack at 1.9 μm is demonstrated. At room temperature a maximum continuous wave output power of 55 W at 2.122 μm and a slope efficiency of 62% with respect to the incident pump power were achieved. For narrow linewidth laser operation a volume Bragg grating was used as output coupler. In wavelength stabilized operation a maximum output power of 18 W at 2.096 μm and a slope efficiency of 30% were obtained. In this case the linewidth is reduced from 1.2 nm to below 0.1 nm. Also spectroscopic properties of Ho:YAG crystals at room temperature are presented.     

Quantitative measurement of dynamic flow induced by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tetrahymena pyriformis</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">T. pyriformis</Emphasis>) using micro-particle image velocimetry

Abstract  

In-depth quantitative visualization studies are required to understand the flow induced by swimming micro-organisms and find potential applications. The present study visualized the flow induced by Tetrahymena pyriformis of size 45–50 μm, which swam freely and via stimulation by galvanotaxis in a PDMS micro-chamber using a micro-particle image velocimetry system. The results showed that the maximum velocity of the induced flow was around 430 μm/s for free swimming and 700 μm/s for galvanotactic-controlled swimming. Due to the applied electric field, the electro-osmosis flow led to increased velocity of roughly 135 μm/s at 3 V/mm. The increased velocity stems from the increased motility of the cell under the electric field. Therefore, it was demonstrated that galvanotaxis can control the swimming direction and increase the induced velocity.     

Differential mode delay (DMD) in graded-index multimode fiber: effect of DMD on bandwidth tuned by restricted launch conditions

The bandwidth behavior of graded-index multimode fibers (GI-MMFs) for different launching conditions is investigated to understand and characterize the effect of differential mode delay. In order to reduce the launch-power distribution the near field of a single-mode fiber is used to produce a controlled restricted launch. The baseband response is measured by observing the broadening of a narrow input pulse (time-domain measurement). The paper verifies the degradation in bandwidth due to profile distortion by scanning the spot of the single-mode fiber with a transversal offset from the center of the test sample. In addition, the impact of the launch-power distribution tuned by different spot-size diameters is demonstrated. Measurements were taken on ‘older’ 50-μm and 62.5-μm GI-MMFs as well as on laser-performance-optimized fibers more recently developed. Received: 12 November 2001 / Final version: 26 June 2002 / Published online: 25 September 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +49-781/205-242, E-mail: opto@fh-offenburg.de     

一种热光可调谐级联微环滤波器的理论分析

根据Vernier效应可大幅度提高滤波器自由光谱范围和调谐范围,设计了一种热光可调谐级联微环滤波器. 利用传输矩阵方法和有限元方法从理论上计算了对于第一级微环半径为48 μm,第二级半径为50 μm的级联微环滤波器的自由光谱范围和调谐范围可以达到75.6 nm,而功耗仅为103.1 mW,这是目前为止我们 所知的基于微环谐振腔的硅基热光可调谐滤波器中最大的自由光谱范围和在如此低功耗下最大的调谐范围. 利用有限元方法,还计算了半径为50 μm微环的热光调谐响应时间,上升沿时间为3.5 μs,下降沿时间仅为0.8 μs.