Easily tuneable nonlinear optical loop mirror including low-birefringence,highly twisted fibre with invariant output polarisation

We investigate theoretically the operation of a versatile nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) structure to be used in optical communication systems. The proposed device is a fibre Sagnac interferometer that includes a low-birefringence, highly twisted fibre and a quarter-wave plate retarder in the loop. We study, both analytically and numerically, the evolution of the intensity-dependent NOLM transmission for both output polarisation components, using different models for the NOLM. From this analysis, we propose an easy way to adjust the position of the NOLM maximum transmission, simply by tuning the angle of the retarder. This procedure is particularly useful for amplitude regularisation of an optical signal. We also demonstrate that, if a tuneable optical attenuator is inserted in the loop, the positions of both maximum and minimum transmission can be tuned separately, using a perfectly reproducible procedure. It is therefore possible to optimise the NOLM transmission for both pedestal and amplitude fluctuations removal in an optical pulse train. For a circular input polarisation, this procedure ensures the highest possible contrast between minimum and maximum transmission, and an output polarisation state that is linear and independent of the input power. Finally, we demonstrate that the transmission characteristic of this NOLM is robust to environmentally induced changes in the fibre birefringence. Thanks to its versatility, robustness and polarisation invariance, this device is thought to be of primary interest for applications such as passive mode locking, pulse compression and pedestal suppression, amplitude regularisation in harmonically mode-locked, rational-harmonically mode-locked or subharmonic synchronous mode-locked lasers, as well as damping of relaxation oscillations.     

Optical pulse shaping at moderate power using a twisted-fibre NOLM with single output polarisation selection

We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that efficient signal shaping operation can be obtained at moderate power by using the transmission characteristic of a power-symmetric nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) including highly twisted fibre and operating through nonlinear polarisation rotation, when the circular polarisation state orthogonal to the input polarisation is selected at the NOLM output. By adjusting the angle of the quarter-wave retarder inserted in the loop, the phase bias of the transfer characteristic can be adjusted precisely to enable proper signal shaping for moderate values of input power, remaining well below switching power. The tolerance of the procedure to deviations of the input polarisation from the ideal circular case is investigated numerically. We demonstrate experimentally the capabilities of this setup for both power equalisation and extinction ratio enhancement. Finally, we show that this setup is also useful to shape ultrashort optical pulses from the relaxation oscillations of a DFB semiconductor laser. In comparison with other NOLM-based techniques, the proposed approach allows to reduce by a factor of 8-10 the peak power required for pulse shaping, for the same fibre length and Kerr coefficient.     

Demonstration of sharp switching from a power-symmetric NOLM and a polarizer

We demonstrate theoretically, experimentally and numerically that a steep all-optical transfer characteristic can be obtained from a power-symmetric NOLM, including a quarter wave retarder and highly twisted fibre, followed by a polarizer. We first develop a theoretical analysis to show that, if the input polarisation is chosen linear, then for a correct choice of the wave plate and input polarisation angles the transmission grows from zero with a 4 dB/dB slope as power is increased, two times faster than can be obtained with a NOLM alone. An experimental study is then realised, which supports the theoretical results. Steep switching is demonstrated for reasonably low peak power levels that do not exceed 8 W, less than one third of the NOLM critical power. In addition, using the same setup we demonstrate the possibility to obtain a sinusoidal transmission characteristic that cancels out for a particular nonzero value of input power, which can be easily adjusted simply through rotation of the wave plate and output polarizer. This setup would be very useful in the frame of optical pulse shaping and signal processing applications, among others.     

Short optical pulse profile characterization using a nonlinear optical loop mirror

We propose in this work a technique for short pulse profile retrieval based on the Kerr effect in a fiber nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM). Under some assumptions, the profile can be determined from the energy transfer characteristic of the pulses through the NOLM, which can be measured with a low-frequency detection setup. Two numerical approaches are considered, both relying on the resolution of a system of nonlinear algebraic equations, and which differ in the way that the profiles are discretized. We show numerically that both approaches allow proper profile retrieval for a wide variety of pulse shapes. The two techniques are compared, and their advantages and drawbacks are discussed. The effect of the amplitude noise of the pulses is assessed, as well as the impact of an inaccurate knowledge of the NOLM transfer function, or of the energy transfer characteristic. The technique is demonstrated in the frame of the characterization of both ns and ps pulses.     

Optical pulse compression and amplitude noise reduction using a non-linear optical loop mirror including a distributed Gires-Tournois etalon

We propose and analyse numerically a novel dispersion-imbalanced non-linear optical loop mirror (NOLM) scheme allowing simultaneous compression and amplitude noise reduction of chirped ultrashort-pulsed signals. An all-fibre distributed Gires-Tournois etalon (DGTE) made of two uniform fibre Bragg gratings is inserted asymmetrically in the loop, and is used both to dispersion imbalance the NOLM and to compress the pulses. The results show that the output pulses are accompanied by side lobes, which originate from the no-uniformity of the DGTE dispersion spectrum. We analyse the formation of these side lobes and show that, in the case of highly chirped input pulses, side lobes are strongly reduced by the NOLM architecture. In this case, the device operates well even when the signal optical spectrum extends over an entire free spectral range of the DGTE. We believe that this work will be useful for the design of all-optical regeneration schemes for highly chirped data streams in optical transmission systems.     

Figure-eight actively-passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser

The advantages of using nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) to compress pulse with slight amplitude fluctuation and reflected energy loss are analyzed in theory. Experimentally the NOLM is placed in an actively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber ring laser to form a figure-eight actively and passively mode-locked fiber laser. 12 ps mode-locked pulses centered at 1.543 μm were obtained with the modulation frequency of 2.498748700 GHz. 3.715 mW output power is achieved with 50 mW pump power.     

Experimental investigation of self-starting operation in a F8L based on a symmetrical NOLM

We experimentally analyze the self-starting operation of a figure-eight mode-locked fiber laser. The design is based on a power-balanced nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) with highly twisted low-birefringence fiber and a quarter-wave (QW) retarder in the loop. The NOLM operates by nonlinear polarization rotation. Self-starting mode-locking requires a careful adjustment of the NOLM low-power transmission, which is easily realized with our setup by adjusting the angle of the QW retarder. The laser is capable of generating ∼20 ps pulses at the fundamental repetition frequency of 0.78 MHz.     

一种基于非线性光纤环镜开关特性的超短光孤子产生方法

提出了一种利用非线性光纤环镜的开关特性将连续波同时转化为亮孤子和暗孤子的新方法 ,即让连续波和另一波长的调制脉冲串共同耦合入光纤环镜 ,交叉相位调制使得一部分连续波被环镜透射 ,其余部分被反射 ;再让透射波和反射波分别在反常色散光纤和正常色散光纤中传输 ,自相位调制和群速度色散之间的相互作用使得透射波和反射波分别演化为亮、暗孤子。数值计算表明 ,该方法不仅可产生脉宽比调制脉冲窄、重复频率比调制脉冲高的亮孤子和暗孤子 ,而且几乎可将全部的连续波能量转化为孤子能量。     

Polarization-insensitive nonlinear optical loop mirror demultiplexer with twisted fiber

We experimentally demonstrate reduction of the polarization sensitivity of a nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) from 5 to 0.5 dB by use of 550 m of twisted dispersion-shifted fiber with a twist rate of 8 turns/m (24 turns/beat length). The twisting of the fiber induces circular birefringence and equates the parallel-and the orthogonal-polarization nonlinear phase-shift terms. Experimental results show that the polarization sensitivity monotonically decreases from 5 dB for nontwisted fiber to 0.5 dB for fiber that is twisted at a rate of 8 turns/m, and the twist rate should be more than 4 turns/m (>10 turns/beat length) for emulation of circularly polarized fiber. The minimum polarization sensitivity occurs when the control-pulse polarization is aligned with one of the eigenmodes of the twisted fiber. With the fiber twisted at a rate of 8 turns/m in the NOLM, the nonlinear transmission is 23% at a switching energy of 4 pJ/pulse. Simulations confirm the observed behavior and show that the remaining polarization sensitivity results from energy transfer between orthogonal modes of the signal pulse.     

Generation of high-energy pulses from an all-normal-dispersion figure-8 fiber laser

We propose and study numerically an all-normal-dispersion Ytterbium-doped figure-eight fiber laser scheme for generation of high-energy pulses. The monotonous pulse stretching that takes place in the fiber under the combined actions of normal dispersion and nonlinear Kerr effect is compensated by the amplitude modulation effect of a bandpass filter inserted in the ring section of the laser. The Nonlinear Optical Loop Mirror (NOLM) also contributes to shorten the pulses. An output coupler with a large output coupling ratio is inserted at the amplifier output in order to extract the maximal energy from the laser. A short segment of Ytterbium-doped fiber compensates for the losses. Stable single-pulse operation is predicted over a wide range of values of the laser parameters. If the laser parameters (ring and NOLM length, dispersion, filter bandwidth, output coupling ratio) are optimized, pulses with several tens of nanojoules energy are readily obtained, with picosecond duration and a large positive chirp which is linear near the peak. If small-signal gain is large enough, the use of very large output coupling ratios opens the way to pulse energies close to 100 nJ and, after dechirping outside the laser, to durations of ˜50 fs and peak powers of 1 MW.     

High-energy femtosecond stretched-pulse fiber laser with a nonlinear optical loop mirror

A stretched-pulse fiber laser with a nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) that produces 100-fs pulses with 1-nJ energy is demonstrated. These results constitute a 30-fold increase in pulse energy over previously reported femtosecond fiber lasers with a NOLM. Compared with previous stretched-pulse lasers, this laser offers a cleaner spectrum and improved stability, with comparable pulse duration and energy. Implications for the construction of truly environmentally stable lasers are discussed.     

利用非线性光学环路镜实现多个波长的同时变换

利用非线性光不路镜（ＮＯＬＭ）成功地实现了多个波长的同时变换,最大波长变换间距大于２５ｎｍ。实验系统中采用增益开关分布反馈半导体激光器（ＧＳ ＤＦＢ－ＬＤ）产生的超短光脉冲作为控制光,频谱分割法得到多波长激光作为信号光。改变控制光的输入功率或非线性光学环路镜中的偏振控制器的偏振方向能够改变不同变换波长信号的性能。     

Rational harmonic figure-eight actively-passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser

The nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) is used as a saturable absorbed to reshape pulses. Experimentally, an actively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber ring laser with figure-eight structure is set up. 2 - 4 order harmonic pulse train with stable amplitude has been obtained when the RF modulation frequency is about 2.5 GHz.     

有理数谐波主被动锁模掺铒光纤激光器

在理论上详细分析了利用非线性光学环形镜（NOLM）来减小输出脉冲幅度波动,消除噪声并对脉冲进行压缩整形的物理机制。在主动锁模掺铒光纤环形激光器中（AHML－EDFL）接入一个非线性光学环形镜,形成结构新颖的主被动锁模掺铒光纤激光器（APHML－EDFL）,利用非线性光学环形镜所具有的饱和吸收体功能,成功地制抑了4阶有理数谐波锁模（RHML）中较大的幅度噪声,在1GHz量级的调制频率下,由主被动锁模掺铒光纤激光器获产生重复频率为5．1GHz,幅度相当稳定的4阶有理数谐波锁模脉冲序列。     

Photonic multi-shape UWB pulse generation using a semiconductor optical amplifier-based nonlinear optical loop mirror

We propose and demonstrate a scheme to implement photonic multi-shape ultra-wideband(UWB) signal generation using a semiconductor optical amplifier(SOA) based nonlinear optical loop mirror(NOLM).By employing the cross phase modulation(XPM) effect,cross gain modulation(XGM),or both,multi-shape UWB waveforms are generated including monocycle,doublet,triplet,and quadruplet pulses.Both the shapes and polarities of the generated pulses are flexible to adjust,which may be very useful in UWB pulse shape modulation and pulse polarity modulation.     

Experimental investigation of a passively mode-locked fiber laser based on a symmetrical NOLM with a highly twisted low-birefringence fiber

We experimentally investigate the passive mode-locking operation of a figure eight-fiber laser based on a symmetrical nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) with a highly twisted low-birefringence fiber in the loop. NOLM switching is achieved by the polarization asymmetry between the counterpropagating beams in the loop. The most efficient switching is obtained when we have linear polarization for one of the beams and the circular polarization for the other. We used a quarter-wave retarder (QWR) in the NOLM loop to break the polarization symmetry. Through the QWR position, it is possible to adjust the transmission behavior from a maximum to a minimum at a low input power. With our configuration, it is possible to get self-starting mode-locking operation at a specific position of the QWR. This QWR position corresponds to a value close to the minimal transmission. The pulse repetition frequency was 0.8 MHz. The mode-locked laser ran in a stable operation for hours. We achieved a stable generation of picosecond pulses with milliwatts of an average output power.     

滤波对8字腔掺铒光纤激光器锁模运转的影响

构建了基于损耗非对称非线性光学环镜的8字腔掺铒光纤锁模激光器,并讨论了腔内滤波带宽对腔内脉冲演化和激光器输出特性的影响.在非线性光学环镜中引入双向输出耦合器,耦合器和传输光纤位置的不对称产生非互易性,实现锁模运转.利用自制的可调谐滤波器实验研究了滤波带宽对激光器的影响.当滤波带宽为2.1 nm时,腔内脉冲的演化过程受滤波和孤子效应的共同作用,激光器顺时针和逆时针输出脉冲半高全宽分别为583.7fs和2.94 ps.随着滤波带宽增大,滤波的作用逐渐减弱,激光器两路输出脉冲参数逐渐接近,并接近傅里叶变换极限脉冲.当滤波带宽较大时,腔内脉冲的演化过程受增益谱和孤子效应的共同作用,激光器顺时针和逆时针输出脉冲均为变换极限脉冲,半高全宽约为440 fs.通过调节滤波器中心波长实现了对激光器输出脉冲光谱的连续调谐,调节范围大于30 nm.     

反向交叉相位调制对NOLM开关特性影响

提出了NOLM中反向信号脉冲与控制脉冲耦合方程,研究了正、反向信号脉冲在传输过程中共同作用的非线性相移,分析了高斯脉冲和NRZ码在此情况下的开关特性,得到了有反向交叉相位调制时的第一最佳解复用长度、开关窗口和输出信号波形等对实际应用有价值的数据和波形.     

全光纤高功率被动锁模掺铥光纤激光器

利用非线性光环形镜(NOLM)的可饱和吸收特性实现了可自启动的2μm全光纤高能量被动锁模掺铥光纤激光器。当泵浦功率大于3W时,激光器工作在连续或不稳定脉冲运转状态;泵浦功率达到4.69W后,输出为自启动锁模脉冲,重复频率4.26MHz,中心波长2 061.5nm,光谱半极大宽度18.1nm,平均输出功率8.8mW;继续增加泵浦功率到最大值7.56W,可以得到中心波长2 062.2nm、光谱半极大宽度17.1nm、斜率效率为6.2%、脉冲宽度和能量分别为424fs和65.6nJ的稳定锁模脉冲。这是目前已报道的在未经放大情况下脉冲能量最高的2μm锁模脉冲光纤激光器。     

自启动被动锁模掺铒光纤激光器的研究

在非线性光纤环形镜非线性开关效应和块状半导体波导饱和吸收效应的共同作用下，实现了掺铒光纤激光器的自启动被动锁模，获得了十分稳定的锁模脉冲序列，观察到高次谐频锁模脉冲输出。分析了非线性光纤环形镜的非线性开关反射特性。