Ultrabroadband SCG with quasi-continuous wave nanosecond-long pump pulses in PCF

An ultrabroadband supercontinuum (SC) is demonstrated in a pure silica photonic crystal fiber (PCF) pumped by quasi-continuous wave nanosecond-long pulses at 1,064 nm. The generated SC spectra extending from 450 to at least 2,400 nm have the salient feature of a short wavelength regime below the pump wavelength, which is much higher in intensity than the long-wavelength over the pump wavelength. The influence of pump power and repetition rates on SC generation (SCG) is explored. Results suggest that this pump source has both the advantages of short-pulse and continuous-wave pumps for SCG.     

Fiber optical parametric oscillator based on photonic crystal fiber pumped with all-normal-dispersion mode-locked Yb:fiber laser

We demonstrate a cost effective, linearly tunable fiber optical parametric oscillator based on a home-made photonic crystal fiber pumped with a mode-locked ytterbium-doped fiber laser, providing linely tuning ranges from 1018 nm to 1038 nm for the idler wavelength and from 1097 nm to 1117 nm for the signal wavelength by tuning the pump wavelength and the cavity length. In order to obtain the desired fiber with a zero dispersion wavelength around 1060 rim, eight sam- ples of photonic crystal fibers with gradually changed structural parameters are fabricated for the reason that it is difficult to accurately customize the structural dimensions during fabrication. We verify the usability of the fabricated fiber experimen- tally via optical parametric generation and conclude a successful procedure of design, fabirication, and verification. A seed source of home-made all-normal-dispersion mode-locked ytterbium-doped fiber laser with 38.57 ps pulsewidth around the 1064 nm wavelength is used to pump the fiber optical parametric oscillator. The wide picosecond pulse pump laser enables a larger walk-off tolerance between the pump light and the oscillating light as well as a longer photonic crystal fiber of 20 m superior to the femtosecond pulse lasers, resulting in a larger parametric amplification and a lower threshold pump power of 15.8 dBm of the fiber optical parametric oscillator.     

Anti-Stokes Frequency Shift and Evolution in Polarization-Maintaining Photonic Crystal Fiber with Two-Zero Dispersion Wavelengths

Using the tunable pump pulses with about lOO fs pulse duration and 1064 nm central wavelength; the polarization-, wavelength- and power-dependent anti-Stokes lines are generated and modulated simultaneously in a polarization-maintaining photonie crystal fiber （PM-PCF） with two zero-dispersion wavelengths. By accurately controlling the polarization directions, the wavelength and the power of the pump pulse in the fiber anomalous region close to the second zero-dispersion wavelength of the PM-PCF, the output anti-Stokes pulse spectra can be tuned between 563 nm and 603 nm, which is in good agreement with the theoretical simulation. The color conversion of the mode image from yellow to orange is also observed with the different polarization pump pulses. These results can be attributed to the combined interaction between the fiber birefringence （including linear- and nonlinear- birefringence） and dispersion, and are attributed to phase-matching parametric four-wave mixing.     

Widely tunable linear-cavity multiwavelength fiber laser with distributed Brillouin scattering

We demonstrate a multiple wavelength Brillouin/erbium fiber laser in a linear cavity configuration.The laser cavity is made up of a fiber loop mirror on one end of the resonator and a virtual mirror generated from the distributed stimulated Brillouin scattering effect on the other end.Due to the weak reflectivity provided by the virtual mirror,self-lasing cavity modes are completely suppressed from the laser cavity.At Brillouin pump and 1480-nm pump powers of 2 and 130 mW,respectively,11 channels of the demonstrated laser with an average total power of 7.13 dBm can freely be tuned over a span of 37-nm wavelength from 1530 to 1567 nm.     

A high-efficiency Brillouin fiber ring laser

A high-efficiency Brillouin fiber ring laser is demonstrated using the standard single-mode fiber. The laser exhibits a 3.6-mW threshold. The output power is 22 mW with 40-mW pump power, and the maximum optical-to-optical efficiency is 5570. The output is single wavelength with a 3-dB linewidth of 5 MHz, and the interval of center frequency between the laser and the pump light is 11 GHz （0.088 nm）. It is shown that the stimulated Brillouin scattering threshold of ring resonator is lower and the energy transfer efficiency is higher than those in fiber.     

Generation of a compact high-power high-efficiency normal-dispersion pumping supercontinuum in silica photonic crystal fiber pumped with a 1064-nm picosecond pulse

Broadband normal dispersion pumping supercontinuum （SC） generation in silica photonic crystal fiber （PCF） is investigated in this paper. A 1064-nm picosecond fiber laser is used to pump silica PCF for the SC generation. The length of PCF is optimized for the most efficient stimulated Raman scattering process in the picosecond pump pulse region. The first stimulated Raman Stokes peak is located in the anomalous dispersion regime of the PCF and near the zero dispersion wavelength; thus the SC generation process can benefit from both a normal dispersion pumping scheme and an anomalous dispersion pumping scheme. The 51.7-W SC spanning from about 700 nm to beyond 1700 nm is generated with an all-fiber configuration, and the pump-to-SC conversion efficiency is up to 90%. In order to avoid the output fiber end face damage and increase the stability of the system, an improved output solution for the high power SC is proposed in our experiment. This high-efficiency near-infrared SC source is very suitable for applications in which average output power and spectral power density are firstly desirable.     

Ultra-violet and mid-infrared continuum generation by cross-phase modulation between red-shifted solitons and blue-shifted dispersive waves in a photonic crystal fiber

Using a photonic crystal fiber with a zero dispersion wavelength of the fundamental mode at 780 nm designed and fabricated in our lab, the ultraviolet and mid-infrared continua are generated by cross-phase modulation between red-shift solitons and blue-shift dispersive waves. The dependences of continuum on the pump power and wavelength are investigated. With the pump working at 820 nm, when the pump power increases from 300 to 500 mW, the bandwidths of ultraviolet and mid-infrared continua change from 80 to 140 nm and 100 to 200 nm, respectively. The wavelength of ultraviolet continuum is below 246 nm, and the wavelength of mid-infrared continuum exceeds 2500 nm. Moreover, the influences of pump power on wavelength and conversion efficiency of different parts of continua are also demonstrated.     

Broadband tunable optical amplification based on modulation instability characteristic of high-birefringence photonic crystal fibers

A novel high-birefringence photonic crystal fiber (HB-PCF) with two zero-dispersion wavelengths (ZDWs) is designed, and an extraordinarily high modal birefringence of 1.56×10-2 is obtained at pump wavelength λp=1850nm. With the designed HB-PCF, the effect of the pump parameters on the modulation instability (MI) in the anomalous dispersion region close to the second ZDWs of the HB-PCF is comprehensively studied in this work. A broadband and tunable optical amplification is achieved by controlling the pump power and the pump wavelength based on the combined operation of Raman effect and cross phase modulation. By optimizing the pump parameters, the amplification bandwidth along the fiber slow axis reaches 152 nm for the pump power Pp=280W and the pump wavelength λp=1675nm, while the gain bandwidth along the fiber fast axis is 165 nm for the pump power Pp=600W and the pump wavelength λp=1818nm.     

Ultra broadband-flattened dispersion photonic crystal fiber for supercontinuum generation

We propose an improved design of photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with ultra broadband-flattened dispersion and ultra-low confinement loss in the telecommunication window.The design is considerably suitable for the generation of wideband supercontinuum spectrum.Numerical results reveal that the proposed PCF structure possesses a low dispersion of 0±1.5 ps/(nm·km) in the wavelengths ranging from 1.134 to 1.805 μm (approximately 700-nm bandwidth) with a confinement loss of less than 10 8 dB/km.In addition,a nonlinear coefficient greater than 11.47 (W·km) 1 and a dispersion slope of as low as 0.005694 ps/(nm 2 ·km) are obtained at 1.55-μm wavelength.Moreover,a symmetric flat supercontinuum spectrum with a 10-dB bandwidth of 190 nm is achieved in a 3-m-long fiber,verifying the excellent optical features of the innovative PCF.     

Study of mode propagation with 632.8-nm laser in tapered fiber

The material dispersion of a tapered fiber is described by Sellmeier＇s equation. The dependence of refractive index on wavelength and doping concentration is discussed. A He-Ne laser with the output wavelength of 632.8 nm is used in the experiment. When the cutoff frequency of the fiber is less than the laser frequency, the guiding modes of a singl~-mode fiber （at 1550 am） are investigated. The results show that the original single-mode fiber becomes a multi-mode waveguide. The propagation and mode coupling of the light in the taper region are analyzed. By controlling the taper end size of the fiber, the unique tapered fiber can convert a multi-mode beam into a single-mode one.     

Equal channel spacing Sagnac filter using high-birefringent photonic crystal fibers

An equal channel spacing Sagnac filter is proposed using a high-birefringent photonic crystal fiber （PCF） with birefringence square to the operation wavelength. A PCF with four smaller central air holes sur-rounded by larger air holes is applied in a Sagnac filter with optimized parameters to achieve equal channel spacing of 0.8 nm. Given that the birefringence of this PCF is square to the operation wavelength, the channel spacing of the proposed filter changes by only 0.03 nm within a wavelength range from 1400 to 1650 nm; this is about one order of magnitude less than that constructed with conventional high-birefringent fibers.     

All-fiberized Tm-doped fiber MOPA with 30-W output power

We demonstrate a 30-W all-fiberized laser in a master oscillator power amplifier(MOPA) structure with a central wavelength of 1 950 nm.The laser is a continuous-wave(CW) operation with double-clad Tm-doped silica fiber pumped by pigtailed laser diodes with a central wavelength of 793 nm.The optical-to-optical efficiency of the MOPA system is 37.5% with respect to the total 80-W pump power.The maximal slope efficiency of the system is approximately 43%,which belongs to the main amplifier and exceeds the Stoke limit.No obvious amplified spontaneous emitting(ASE) is observed in the experiment,and the power can be scaled straightforwardly by improving the pump power.     

Brillouin Lasing with a Reduced Self-Pulsing Characteristic Using a Short-Length Erbium-Doped Fiber as the Nonlinear Gain Medium

A single-wavelength Brillouin laser is demonstrated by using a 3-m-long erbium doped fiber （EDF） in a ring cavity. The EDF is used to provide both nonlinear and linear gains to generate a stimulated Brillouin scattering （SBS） and to amplify the generated SBS, respectively. The Brillouin erbium fiber laser （BEFL） operates at 1561.5 nm, where the operating wavelength is up-shifted by 0.08nm from the Brillouin pump. The operation wavelength is also tunable within 1560.6-1562.6nm. The BEFL Mso shows a self-pulsing characteristic with repetition of 66. 7kHz when the BP is set around the threshold pump power of 13roW. Compared to the conventional Brillouin fiber laser with a long cavity length, the proposed BEFL exhibits a significantly lower amplitude of pulse. This laser has many potential applications, such as in optical communication and sensors.     

Tunable microwave signal generation based on an Opto-DMD processor and a photonic crystal fiber

Frequency-tunable microwave signal generation is proposed and experimentally demonstrated with a dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode （SLM） erbium-doped fiber ring laser based on a digital Opto-DMD processor and four-wave mixing （FWM） in a high-nonlinear photonic crystal fiber （PCF）. The high-nonlinear PCF is employed for the generation of the FWM to obtain stable and uniform dual-wavelength oscillation. Two different short passive sub-ring cavities in the main ring cavity serve as mode filters to make SLM lasing. The two lasing wavelengths are electronically selected by loading different gratings on the Opto-DMD processor controlled with a computer. The wavelength spacing can be smartly adjusted from 0.165 nm to 1.08 nm within a tuning accuracy of 0.055 nm. Two microwave signals at 17.23 GHz and 27.47 GHz are achieved. The stability of the microwave signal is discussed. The system has the ability to generate a 137.36-GHz photonic millimeter signal at room temperature.     

Stable single longitudinal mode erbium-doped silica fiber laser based on an asymmetric linear three-cavity structure

We present a stable linear-cavity single longitudinal mode (SLM) erbium-doped silica fiber laser. It consists of four fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) directly written in a section of photosensitive erbium-doped fiber (EDF) to form an asymmetric three-cavity structure. The stable SLM operation at a wavelength of 1545.112 nm with a 3-dB bandwidth of 0.012 nm and an optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) of about 60 dB is verified experimentally. Under laboratory conditions, the performance of a power fluctuation of less than 0.05 dB observed from the power meter for 6 h and a wavelength variation of less than 0.01 nm obtained from the optical spectrum analyzer (OSA) for about 1.5 h are demonstrated. The gain fiber length is no longer limited to only several centimeters for SLM operation because of the excellent mode-selecting ability of the asymmetric three-cavity structure. The proposed scheme provides a simple and cost-effective approach to realizing a stable SLM fiber laser.     

Linearly polarized operation of Yb-doped fiber laser by Brewster's angle-polished fiber end

<正>A new method to obtain linear polarization operation by Brewster's angle-polished fiber end is demonstrated. By using the special polarization operation technique together with introducing a narrow-linewidth fiber grating into the laser cavity,a cladding-pumped linear polarization and single-transverse-mode (M~21.1) Yb-doped fiber laser with narrow linewidth whose full-width at half-maximm(FWHM) is less than 0.2 nm,is obtained in a simple configuration.The output power is up to 10 W which is continuouswave output at 1085 nm,and the slope efficiency is 63%with respect to the coupled pump power and 75%with respect to the absorbed pump power,respectively.The measured 21-dB polarization extinction ratio does not degrade with the output power.The simplicity of such an approach is highly beneficial for a number of applications,including the use of a fiber laser for the nonlinear wavelength conversion (especially for the intracavity frequency doubling) and for the coherent and spectral beam combination.     

Mid-IR Dual-Wavelength Difference Frequency Generation Using Fiber Lasers as Pump and Signal Light Sources

A continuous-wave mid-IR difference frequency laser source, which respectively uses an ytterbium-doped fiber laser as the pump source and a multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber laser cascaded with an erbium-doped fiber amplifier as the signal source, is demonstrated. Our experimental results show that two stable mid-IR radiation lines with a spacing of about 5.4nm may be simultaneously emitted by a suitable setting the pump and signal polarization orientations. The number of the mid-IR radiation lines is limited by the quasi-phase-matching acceptance bandwidth. By changing the PPMgLN temperature the two mid-IR radiation lines may be synchronously tuned in the mid-IR range between 3295 and 3356.3nm.     

Characteristics of stable L-band SFS using dual-forward synchronous pumping technique

We investigate the characteristics of the dual-forward synchronously pumped L-band erbium-doped su- perfiuorescent fiber source （SFS）. The effects of pump ratio and fiber length arrangements on the output characteristics of the L-band SFS in terms of mean wavelength, spectral linewidth, and output power are analyzed. It is shown that the optimized pump ratio and fiber length arrangements provide broadening spectral linewidth and enhanced pumping efficiency, while the synchronous pump ensures stable mean wavelength operation. A new single-forward pumping scheme with a section of unpumped fiber is pro- posed to achieve a mean wavelength stable L-band SFS with a broadening linewidth of 50.4 nm and a pumping efficiency of 33.5%.     

Generation of Anti-Stokes Line in Fundamental Mode of Photonic Crystal Fibre

A photonic crystal fibre （PCF） with zero-dispersion wavelength around 800 nm is designed and fabricated. Simulated results show that the zero-dispersion wavelength of fundamental mode for this PCF is at 826nm, and phase-matched four-wave mixing can be achieved in fundamental mode. Using 20ors Ti：sapphire laser with central wavelength at 810nm as pump, the anti-Stokes line around 610hm ＆ generated efficiently. The output signal has a Gaussian-like profile, which indicates that the anti-Stokes signal is in the fundamental mode of the PCF. The energy of anti-Stokes signal is higher than that of residual pump laser and the maximum ratio of the anti-Stokes signal to the pump component in the output spectrum is estimated to be 1.2.     

Mid-infrared Er:ZBLAN fiber laser reaching 3.68 μm wavelength

We report a continuous-wave Er:ZBLAN fiber laser with the operation wavelength reaching 3.68 μm.The midinfrared Er:ZBLAN fiber laser is pumped with the dual-wavelength sources consisting of a commercial laser diode at 970 nm and a homemade Tm-doped fiber laser at 1973 nm.By increasing the launched pump power at1973 nm,the laser wavelength can be switched from 3.52 to 3.68 μm.The maximum output power of 0.85 W is obtained with a slope efficiency of 25.14% with respect to the 1973 nm pump power.In the experiment,the laser emission at 3.68 μm is obtained with a significant power of 0.62 W,which is the longest emission wavelength in free-running Er:ZBLAN fiber lasers.