Doping-induced changes in the saturable absorption of monolayer graphene

Graphene is a broadband, fast saturable absorber well suited for passive mode-locking of lasers. The broadband absorption, ultra-short recovery time, and low cost of graphene absorbers compare favorably with traditional semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs). However, it remains difficult to tailor the parameters of a monolayer graphene absorber such as the modulation depth and the insertion loss; this limits the absorber??s design freedom, which is often required for mode-locking without Q-switching instability. We demonstrate in this work that, by hole-doping graphene chemically to various Fermi levels, the modulation depth and insertion loss are modified. Further control of graphene??s saturable absorption by electric-field gating and its application to active suppression of Q-switching in lasers is discussed.     

Changing photo-written Bragg wavelengths of fiber gratings via one phase mask and four mirrors

A phase mask interferometer is developed to photo-write long gratings with arbitrary Bragg wavelengths. In this system, the fiber Bragg grating is photo-written by UV interference stripes of 193 nm reflected from two rotatable mirrors and two fixed mirrors, where the phase mask is not only used as a beam splitter, but also initialized the reference quantity of Bragg wavelength; the fixed mirrors are used for reducing the incident angle; the rotatable mirrors are used for adjusting the corresponding photo-written Bragg wavelength. It is worth noting that the photo-written length is fourfold as high as the length in the Talbot interferometer with the same mirror size.     

Mode-locked thulium-doped fiber laser based on 0.3 nm diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes at 1.95 μm

Employing 0.3 nm diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes(SWCNTs)as saturable absorbers,we demonstrate a passively mode-locked fiber laser operating at 1950 nm.The 0.3 nm diameter SWCNTs are prepared by pyrolyzing dipropylamine in the channels of zeolite crystals Mg APO-11(AEL).The laser pumped by a 1550 nm laser source produces 972 fs pulses with a spectral width at half-maximum of 4.2 nm and a repetition rate of 21.05 MHz,an average output power of 2.3 mW corresponding to the maximum pump power of 420 mW with a 10%output coupler.     

Recent development of saturable absorbers for ultrafast lasers [Invited]

As one of the greatest inventions in the 20 th century, ultrafast lasers have offered new opportunities in the areas of basic scientific research and industrial manufacturing. Optical modulators are of great importance in ultrafast lasers, which directly affect the output laser performances. Over the past decades, significant efforts have been made in the development of compact, controllable, repeatable, as well as integratable optical modulators(i.e., saturable absorbers). In this paper, we review the fundamentals of the most widely studied saturable absorbers, including semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors and low-dimensional nanomaterials. Then, different fabrication technologies for saturable absorbers and their ultrafast laser applications in a wide wavelength range are illustrated. Furthermore, challenges and perspectives for the future development of saturable absorbers are discussed and presented. The development of ultrafast lasers together with the continuous exploration of reliable saturable absorbers will open up new directions for the mass production of the nextgeneration optoelectronic devices.     

半导体可饱和吸收镜作为被动调Q吸收体的发展状况

简介了近年来发展起来的若干种新型固体激光器被动调Q用吸收体：掺Cr4+系列，Cr，Nd∶YAG自调Q激光晶体，人眼安全激光器被动调Q用吸收体，GaAs吸收体，半导体可饱和吸收镜。着重介绍了固体激光器和光纤激光器调Q用半导体可饱和吸收镜的原理、研制方法及应用状况。     

Solid-state Er:Yb:glass laser mode-locked by using single-wall carbon nanotube thin film

We design single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) thin-film saturable absorbers (SAs) integrated onto semiconductor distributed Bragg reflectors for mode-locking solid-state Er:Yb:glass lasers. We characterize the low nonsaturable loss, high-damage-threshold SWNT SAs and verify their operation up to a pulse fluence of 2 mJ/cm(2). We demonstrate passive fundamental continuous-wave mode locking with and without group-delay dispersion compensation. Without compensation the laser produces chirped 1.8 ps pulses with a spectral width of 3.8 nm. With compensation, we obtain 261 fs Fourier-transform-limited pulses with a spectral width of 9.6 nm.     

Variable Wavelengths Fiber Bragg Gratings Written with A Phase Mask and Four Prisms

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Intrinsic fiber Fabry-Perot temperature sensor with fiber Bragg grating mirrors

A fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FFPI) sensor is formed with broadband (~3 nm, 3-dB bandwidth) fiber Bragg grating (FBG) mirrors. Repetitively modulating a distributed-feedback laser produces chirping that modulates the reflectance of the FFPI. Because the reflectance of the FBG mirrors varies with optical frequency, the fringes in the sensor reflectance modulation are distinguishable, making it possible to extend the sensor dynamic range versus that of a FFPI sensor with conventional wavelength-dependent mirrors. An ambient temperature is determined in the range from 25 to 170 degrees C with a resolution of 0.005 degrees C.     

Integrative optimization of chirped mirrors for intracavity dispersion compensation

A new integrative optimization of three chirped mirrors for precise broadband intracavity group delay dispersion compensation in ring cavity is proposed. Simulation demonstrates that the residual group delay dispersion ripples of these three chirped mirrors are less than 25 fs² for most of the wavelengths from 600 to 1200 nm. Pulse evolution simulation shows that these three matched chirped mirrors compensate the group delay dispersion in the Ti:Sapphire ring cavity laser well to obtain an octave-spanning spectrum.     

Variable Wavelengths Fiber Bragg Gratings Written with A Phase Mask and Four Prisms

Using only one diffractive element, the Talbot interferometer provides a robust and inherently stable method for reproducing fiber Bragg gratings with variable wavelengths, and reduces the complexity of the fiber grating fabrication system. However, the usable length of the grating is limited by the practical length of the mirrors. This paper presents a phase mask with two fixed prisms and two rotational prisms to inscribe fiber Bragg gratings with variable Bragg wavelengths. In this system, the fiber Bragg grating is inscribed by UV interference stripes of 193 nm derived from two rotational prisms and two fixed prisms, where phase mask is used as a beam splitter of ±1 order diffraction light. It is noteworthy that the tunable phase mask interferometer decreases the demand of the length of prism evidently.     

Experimental Study of a Pulsed Ytterbium-Doped Fibre Laser with Fast and Slow Saturable Absorbers in a Linear Cavity

We present a linear-cavity stretched-pulse fibre laser and by semiconductor saturable-absorber mirrors. A with mode locking by a nonlinear polarization rotation Q-switched mode-locking cw train and a mode-locking pulse train are obtained in the experiment. We investigate the effects of the equivalent fast saturable absorber and the slow saturable absorbers in experiment. It is found that neither the nonlinear polarization evolution effect nor a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror is enough to produce the stable cw mode-locking pulses in this experiment. A nonlinear polarization evolution effect controls the cavity loss to literally carve the pulses; semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors provide the self-restarting and maintain the stability of the modelocking operation.     

Switchable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser based on a four-mode FBG

We propose a switchable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser based on a four-mode fiber Bragg grating(FBG). The four-mode FBG is fabricated in a hydrogen pre-loaded fiber by the phase mask method, which can support four linearly polarized modes around 1550 nm. The five operation wavelengths are at 1547.5, 1546.8,1546.0, 1545.1, and 1544.2 nm, respectively. Through adjusting the polarization state and the lateral offset coupling in cavity, the laser can be switched into the operation state of single, dual, or triple wavelengths. The proposed laser has the advantages of simple configuration, stable operation, and easy adjustment.     

Discretely tunable and multiwavelength erbium doped fibre lasers with Fabry-Perot etalon

Modern WDM telecommunication systems require stable and calibrated laser sources. In this paper, we present examples of such lasers based on erbium doped fibres, i.e., discretely tunable and multiwavelength ring lasers. For the first case, tuning is possible due to a tunable Bragg grating overlapping spectrally the third telecommunication window (1550 nm). When a Fabry-Perot etalon is inserted into the cavity, discrete tunable operation with appropriate spacing between operating wavelengths is possible. Different free spectral ranges (FSR) of applied etalons ensured operation at a wavelength spacing 0.4 nm, 0.8 nm or 1.6 nm, respectively. When an acoustooptical Bragg frequency shifter was inserted together with the Fabry-Perot etalon, the stable simultaneous multiwavelength operation covering the erbium doped gain range was achieved.     

Mode-locked fiber laser in the C-band region for dual-wavelength ultrashort pulses emission using a carbon nanotube saturable absorber

A saturable absorber is commonly employed to generate an ultrashort laser with a mode-locking scheme. In an erbium-doped fiber laser system, the laser regimes of either 1530 or 1550 nm wavelength are procured based on the absorption profile of the erbium-doped fiber. The absorption of the erbium-doped fiber is designed to emit at both wavelengths by controlling the net gain of the laser cavity. Subsequently, simultaneous erbium-doped fiber laser emission is attained at 1533.5 and 1555.1 nm with the pulse duration of 910 and 850 fs, respectively.Therefore, this work maximizes the output portfolios of a mode-locking fiber laser for dual-wavelength ultrashort pulses emission.     

Design and performance of two-channel EUV multilayer mirrors with enhanced spectral selectivity

In this paper, we present a study on two-channel multilayer mirrors which can operate at two wavelengths in Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) spectral range. We propose a new method to design two-channel EUV multilayer mirrors with enhanced spectral selectivity. The mirror structure is a stack of two periodic multilayers separated by a buffer layer. We have defined the main parameters which allow adjustment of the distance between different order Bragg’s peak and of wavelength positions of reflectivity minima. Two mirrors have been designed and deposited for solar EUV telescope applications by using this method. The first mirror reflects Fe IX–X line (17.1 nm) and Fe XVI (33.5 nm) lines with attenuation of the He II line (30.4 nm). The second mirror reflects Fe IX–X and He II lines with attenuation of Fe XV (28.4 nm) and Fe XVI lines. Measurements with synchrotron radiation source confirm that, in both cases, for these mirrors, we are able to adjust reflectivity maxima (Bragg peak position) and minima. Such multilayers offer new possibilities for compact design of multi-wavelength EUV telescopes and/or for high spectral selectivity.     

Transmittance Characteristics of Buckled Fabry--Perot Tunable Filter with Membrane Structure

A wavelength tunable thermo-optic filter has been designed and fabricated for 1550 nm transmission. It has a Fabry--Perot resonator at the center with two sets of distributed Bragg reflector mirrors at both ends. The filter is fabricated as a free-standing membrane of alternating poly-Si and SiO₂ films surrounded by a thick silicon frame. The membrane is buckled due to the residual stress. Because of the buckling effect, high tuning efficiency of more than 0.17 nm/°C is observed. When the filter has a buckled surface, the incident light normal to the filter should have a range of non-zero angle of incidence to the membrane, which is dependent on the degree of buckling that depends again on the temperature. The transmittance calculations which integrate each incoming ray from a different incident angle show good qualitative agreement with the temperature dependence of the center wavelength and bandwidth.     

Solgel grating waveguides for distributed Bragg reflector lasers

Solgel grating waveguides and their application to the fabrication of external-cavity distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) lasers are demonstrated. A new composition of aluminosilicate material is developed for the fabrication of single-mode waveguides and Bragg reflectors. An average loss of <0.2 dB/cm is measured in the single-mode waveguides at 1550 nm. The reflectors show filtering greater than 97% near 1530 nm, with a bandwidth of ~0.6 nm . The Bragg reflectors are used as feedback resonators for DBR lasers. Single-mode lasing with a sidemode suppression of better than 25 dB is demonstrated.     

Simultaneous dual-wavelength-band common-path swept-source optical coherence tomography with single polygon mirror scanner

We report a novel (to the best of our knowledge) simultaneous 1310/1550 two-wavelength band swept laser source and dual-band common-path swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT). Synchronized dual-wavelength tuning is performed by using two laser cavities and narrowband wavelength filters with a single dual-window polygonal scanner. Measured average output powers of 60 and 27 mW have been achieved for the 1310 and 1550 nm bands, respectively, while the two wavelengths were swept simultaneously from 1227 to 1387 nm for the 1310 nm band and from 1519 to 1581 nm for the 1550 nm band at an A-scan rate of 65 kHz. Broadband wavelength-division multiplexing is used for coupling two wavelengths into a common-path single-mode GRIN-lensed fiber probe to form dual-band common-path SS-OCT. Simultaneous OCT imaging at 1310 and 1550 nm is achieved. This technique allows for in vivo high-speed OCT imaging with potential application in functional (spectroscopic) investigations.     

Er/Yb co-doped fiber amplifier with wavelength-tuned Yb-band ring resonator

Erbium-ytterbium co-doped fiber amplifier with wavelength-tuned Yb-band loop resonator is presented. The amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) from Yb ions is utilized to stimulate a laser emission at several wavelengths from the 1 μm band in the 1550 nm amplifier. The wavelength of this lasing is tuned by introducing a fiber Bragg grating (FBG). The results show, that the overall efficiency of the amplifier at nominal 1550 nm wavelength can be increased by introducing a feedback loop with 1040 nm and 1050 nm FBG. This loop also protects the Er/Yb amplifier from parasitic lasing at 1 μm and allows significant output power scaling without risk of self-pulsing.