Efficient phase noise suppression of an external-cavity diode-laser by optical filtering and resonant optical feedback

We experimentally demonstrated that the excess phase noise of an external cavity diode laser (ECDL) can be efficiently suppressed by optical filtering and resonant optical feedback techniques. A suppression of more than 40?dB phase noise was obtained for the first time using these methods. It made that the phase noise of the ECDL reached shot noise level from 15?MHz. This opens a new way to reduce the phase noise of diode lasers.     

Ultraviolet diode laser system based on the resonant optical feedback method with the capability of fast continuous sweep

An ultraviolet laser diode system stabilized to an external Fabry–Perot cavity by using the resonant optical feedback method is described. Both wide continuous sweep with fast response and drift compensation for long term operation are realized simultaneously by performing feedforward control along with feedback control of the system parameters. By utilizing the capability of synchronized sweep realized by the feedforward control, the modulation of the output frequency, due to dither for lock-in feedback control of the system parameters, is almost perfectly canceled. The method described here is useful for developing diode laser systems for practical use with such features as small short term fluctuation, long-term operability and fast continuous sweep. PACS 42.55.Px; 42.60.By; 32.80.Pj     

Effect of optical feedback noise on tunable diode laser spectroscopy

The effect of optical feedback noise of a laser diode on the stability of gas-absorption spectra was investigated by monitoring the optical absorption of CO₂ gas. Lasing longitudinal mode instability greatly degraded the shape of the absorption spectra, and coherence collapse in the laser diode greatly broadened the spectra. The correlation between the optical feedback noise of the laser diode and the shape of the gas-absorption spectra was clarified on the basis of these spectral behaviors. PACS 42.62.Fi; 42.55.Px; 42.68.Ca     

Frequency comb-referenced narrow line width diode laser system for coherent molecular spectroscopy

We analyze in detail the frequency noise properties of a grating enhanced external cavity diode laser (GEECDL). This system merges two diode laser concepts, the grating stabilized diode laser and the diode laser with resonant optical feedback, thus combining a large tuning range with an excellent short-term frequency stability. We compare the frequency noise spectrum of a GEECDL to that of a grating stabilized diode laser and demonstrate a 10-fold reduction of the frequency noise linear spectral density. The GEECDL is phase locked to a similar laser and to a fs-frequency comb with a servo loop providing an open-loop unity-gain frequency of only 237 kHz, which is a tenth of the bandwidth typically required for grating stabilized diode lasers. We achieve a residual rms phase error as small as 72 mrad (≈ 200 mrad) for stabilization to a similar laser (to the fs-frequency comb). We demonstrate that the novel diode laser can phase-coherently track a stable optical reference with an instability of 1.8×10^-16 at 1 s. This laser system is well suited for applications that require phase locking to a low-power optical reference under noisy conditions. It may also be considered for the implementation of optical clock lasers. PACS 42.55.Px; 42.60.Jf; 42.50.Gy     

Narrow bandwidth interference filter-stabilized diode laser systems for the manipulation of neutral atoms

We present and investigate different external cavity diode laser (ECDL) configurations for the manipulation of neutral atoms, wavelength-stabilized by a narrow-band high transmission interference filter. A novel diode laser, providing high output power of more than 1 W, with a linewidth of less than 85 kHz, based on a self-seeded tapered amplifier chip has been developed. Additionally, we compare the optical and spectral properties of two laser systems based on common laser diodes, differing in their coating, as well as one, based on a distributed-feedback (DFB) diode. The linear cavity setup in all these systems combines a robust and compact design with a high wavelength tunability and an improved stability of the optical feedback compared to diode laser setups using diffraction gratings for wavelength discrimination.     

Controlling mode locking in optical ring cavities

Imperfections in the surface of intracavity elements of an optical ring resonator can scatter light from one mode into the counterpropagating mode. The phase-locking of the cavity modes induced by this backscattering is a well-known example that notoriously afflicts laser gyroscopes and similar active systems. We experimentally show how backscattering can be circumvented in a unidirectionally operated ring cavity either by an appropriate choice of the resonant cavity mode or by active feedback control. PACS 42.60.Da; 45.40.Cc; 42.79.Bh; 42.55.-f     

Highly selective terahertz optical frequency comb generator

Using a 10.5-GHz resonant electro-optic modulator placed inside a resonant optical cavity, we generated an optical frequency comb with a span wider than 3 THz. The optical resonator consists of three mirrors, with the output coupler being a thin Fabry-Perot cavity with a free spectral range of 2 THz and a finesse of 400. Tuning this filter cavity onto resonance with a particular high-order sideband permits efficient output coupling of the desired sideband power from the comb generator, while keeping all other sidebands inside for continued comb generation. This spectrally pure output light was then heterodyne detected by another laser with a frequency offset of the order of 1 THz.     

Frequency noise suppression in a diode laser locked to a travelling wave resonator incorporating a Brewster prism

A polarisation locking technique was applied to stabilise an extended cavity diode laser using a travelling wave resonator incorporating a Brewster prism. Despite the fact that the employed unbalanced detection was sensitive to optical power fluctuations, the in-loop photodetector measured 90 dB of noise suppression at 10 Hz in comparison to the free running frequency noise spectrum. Excess intensity noise measured with an out-of-loop detector, indicated the presence of correction-correlated noise in the output of the stabilised diode laser.     

Optical feedback cavity ring-down technique for accurate measurement of ultra-high reflectivity

A novel cavity ring-down (CRD) technique, based on the optical feedback effect of Fabry–Perot diode lasers, is developed for accurate reflectivity measurement of highly reflective cavity mirrors. The strong optical feedback, including the direct reflection from the front cavity mirror of a linear ring-down cavity, is re-injected into the oscillator cavity of the diode laser, and large resonant peaks are observed in the ring-down cavity output signals. The diode laser is switched off by a threshold circuit when the amplitude of a resonant peak exceeds a pre-defined threshold. Exponentially decayed signals recorded immediately after switching off the laser are used to determine the cavity decay time. The ultra-high reflectivity of cavity mirrors is measured to be 99.99606% with a reproducibility of 0.00003%. Compared with the previous phase-shift CRD technique, the signal-to-noise ratio of the cavity output signals is improved with an enhancement factor of over 100.     

Compact TEM<Subscript>00</Subscript> grazing-incidence Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser using a folded cavity

A compact diode-side-pumped Nd:GdVO₄ laser system using a folded cavity and grazing-incidence configuration is presented. The highest multimode output power obtained was 21.8 W at 36 W of effective diode pump power. Highest optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 61.5% was achieved at 33 W of effective diode pump power with 20.3 W of multimode output power. For single-mode TEM₀₀ operation, an intracavity telescope was adopted for mode matching in the horizontal direction. Because of the folded cavity and the intracavity telescope, this laser head was the most compact to our knowledge of the TEM₀₀ grazing-incidence laser geometry. At last, an output power of 15 W was produced at 36 W of effective diode pump power. The stable Q-switching operation was also obtained. PACS 42.55.-f; 42.55.Xi; 42.60.Gd     

Sub-ppb NO2 detection by optical feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy with a blue diode laser

We report preliminary results on the first application of optical feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy with a blue (411 nm) extended cavity diode laser (ECDL) for NO₂ detection. While this technique was originally developed to operate with distributed feedback diode lasers in the near infrared, it is here extended to ECDLs and applied to the blue spectral region. With a simple and compact optical setup, we demonstrate from the baseline noise a minimum detectable NO₂ concentration of 6×10⁹ molecules/cm³ for a single laser scan (70 ms), which extrapolated under atmospheric conditions corresponds to 200 pptv. Signal averaging should allow further lowering of this limit. Observed absorption spectra display more structure than previous spectra obtained at lower resolution by Fourier-transform spectroscopy at the same wavelength. PACS 07.88.+y; 42.55.Px; 42.62.Fi     

Low-threshold singly-resonant continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator based on MgO-doped PPLN

We present a 532 nm-pumped singly-resonant cw optical parametric oscillator based on MgO-doped PPLN with a minimum threshold pump power of 0.3 W. The OPO with a two-mirror standing-wave cavity is optimized by using a tunable diode laser on the path of the resonant signal beam. The maximum output power is 200 mW at an idler wavelength near 1330 nm at a pump power of 2 W. We report the degradation of the output power and beam characteristics at high pump power indicating a strong thermal lensing in the crystal. The continuous tuning range of the OPO is measured to be 800 MHz which is close to 90% of the free spectral range of the OPO cavity.     

The effects of external optical feedback on the power penalty of DFB-LD modules for 2.5Gbs−1 optical transmission systems

We report the effects of external optical feedback on the power penalty of commercial distributed feedback laser diode (DFB-LD) modules for 2.5Gbs–1 optical transmission systems. External optical feedback presented to the DFB-LD modules causes the excitation of external cavity modes, resulting in increased relative intensity noise (RIN) and intensity noise ripples at low frequency region below 500MHz. For a 10–10 bit error rate (BER), the minimum power penalty is as much as 1.25dB for a feedback ratio of –8.8dB. An excess power penalty of 0.5dB per 3dB increase in the feedback ratio was also empirically obtained. We suggest that optical isolators in 2.5Gbs–1 DFB-LD modules used in conventional optical transmission systems or WDM systems must have a peak isolation ratio of better than 54.5dB, instead of the previously recommended 30dB, for negligible power penalty induced by external optical feedback.     

A novel scheme of optical pulse width compression using a feedback optical phase modulator

This paper presents a scheme for the compression of optical pulse widths by using a feedback optical phase modulator. In the first part of the proposed circuit, the carrier and two fourth-order sidebands on either side of the carrier are amplified and phase shifted before getting combined by an optical power combiner to generate a picosecond optical pulse. The optical pulse generated by this part of the circuit has a calculated width of 3.5 ps. This optical pulse when passed through a feedback optical phase modulator produces a compressed optical pulse at the output. By making the drive frequency of the feedback optical phase modulator equal to 100 GHz, we found the output optical pulse to have a calculated width of 1.0 ps. PACS 42.65.Re; 42.79.Sz; 42.62.-b; 42.30.Lr; 42.55.Px; 42.60.Fc; 42.70.Mp     

Efficient continuous-wave eye-safe region signal output from intra-cavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator

We report an efficient continuous-wave (CW) tunable intra-cavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on the multi-period periodically poled lithium niobate and using a laser diode (LD) end-pumped CW 1064 nm Nd:YVO₄ laser as the pump source. A highly efficiency CW operation is realized through a careful cavity design for mode matching and thermal stability. The signal tuning range is 1401-1500 nm obtained by varying the domain period. The maximum output power of 2.2 W at 1500 nm is obtained with a 17.1 W 808 nm LD power and the corresponding conversion efficiency is 12.9%.     

Efficient sub-nanosecond intracavity optical parametric oscillator pumped with a passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser

An efficient diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO₄/Cr⁴⁺:YAG laser was employed to generate a high-repetition-rate, high-peak-power eye-safe laser beam with an intracavity optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on a KTP crystal. The conversion efficiency for the average power is 8.3% from pump diode input to OPO signal output and the slope efficiency is up to 10%. At an incident pump power of 14.5 W, the compact intracavity OPO cavity, operating at 46 kHz, produces average powers at 1571 nm up to 1.2 W with a pulse width as short as 700 ps. PACS 42.60.Gd; 42.65.Yj; 42.55.X     

Tunable dual wavelength emission and bandwidth narrowing of a laser diode array with a simple external cavity

We report on the performance of a commercial, non-AR-coated diode laser bar of 20 W output power, consisting of 20 emitters, which uses an external cavity to achieve tunable, dual-wavelength emission. The separation between the wavelength peaks can be continuously tuned from 0 nm to 5 nm. An output power of 2.9 W is achieved at 3.7 nm peak-to-peak separation and higher powers are achieved for less separation. This is the highest dual wavelength output power reported so far using a standard diode laser array. PACS 42.55.Px; 42.60.-v; 42.60.Da; 42.60.Fc     

低噪声光纤激光器的实验研究

光传感和光通信领域的迅速发展迫切需要相位噪声和强度噪声都很低的激光光源,为满足这一需求,设计出一种新型低噪声光纤激光器。激光器采用复合腔结构,以掺铒光纤作为工作物质,通过在未被抽运的掺铒光纤中形成的瞬态自写入光纤光栅的窄带滤波特性进行选模和压窄线宽,产生稳定的单频激光输出;经过光路改进,激光输出光谱信噪比优于62 dB;利用光电负反馈电路,弛豫振荡峰下降了约25 dB,低频段强度噪声也大为改善,有效地抑制了光源的强度噪声。激光器的输出光功率大于1 dBm,线宽小于1 kHz,边模抑制比超过50 dB。优异的低噪声特性使得该激光器在光传感和光通信领域具有重要的应用价值。     

Modulation-free optical locking of an external-cavity diode laser to a filter cavity

Optical locking to a filter cavity is an effective method to eliminate the limitations of an external-cavity diode laser, such as broad spontaneous emission backgrounds and frequency jitters. Stable operation of the optical locking requires simultaneous control of the feedback phase and the diode-laser frequency. Frequency dither is usually used to extract the two error signals, but this causes extra frequency modulation in the output beam. A modulation-free method for deriving the error signals by modulating the laser-cavity coupling strength is demonstrated with a violet diode laser. A modulation-free linewidth upper limit of about 7 kHz for a 1 s measurement is realized by the method.