Generation of a sequence of frequency-modulated pulses in longitudinally inhomogeneous optical waveguides

The conditions for the generation and efficient amplification of frequency-modulated soliton-like wave packets in longitudinally inhomogeneous active optical waveguides have been studied. The possibility of forming a sequence of pico- and subpicosecond pulses from quasi-continuous radiation in active and passive optical waveguides with the group-velocity dispersion (GVD) changing over the waveguide length is considered. The behavior of a wave packet in the well-developed phase of modulation instability with a change in the waveguide inhomogeneity parameters has been investigated based on the numerical analysis.     

Determination of the Subpicosecond Laser Pulse Chirp in the Middle IR Range Based on the Fourth Harmonic Noncollinear Generation

A new method is proposed to determine the subpicosecond laser pulse chirp in the middle IR range at the central wavelength of 10 μm, based on the generation of the second-harmonic pulses both by the bandwidth-limited and frequency-modulated subpicosecond pulses and the subsequent noncollinear generation of the fourth-harmonic radiation by the corresponding second-harmonic pulses. The time dependences are given of the instantaneous frequency of the frequency-modulated second-harmonic pulse at the central wavelength of 5 μm, generated in the field of the frequency-modulated subpicosecond IR pulse, propagating in the negative uniaxial AgGaS₂ crystal along the direction of 61°36′ relative to the optical axis. These results can be used in designing a nonlinear optical phase correlator to determine the phase and time profile of the subpicosecond laser pulse in the middle IR range.     

Amplification of chirped pulses in inhomogeneous three-level active optical fibers

The possibility of efficient amplification of self-similar frequency-modulated wave packets in amplifiers inhomogeneous along their length is investigated. Special features of the amplification dynamics in erbium fiber amplifiers that operate according to the three-level scheme are analyzed. It is shown that active optical fibers with a specially designed profile of the normal group-velocity dispersion allow amplifying subpicosecond pulses with high efficiency.     

Soliton formation in hollow-core photonic bandgap fibers

The formation of solitons upon compression of linearly chirped pulses in hollow-core photonic bandgap fibers is investigated numerically. The dependence of soliton duration on the chirp and power of the input pulse and on the dispersion slope of the fiber is investigated, and the validity of an approximate scaling relation is tested. It is concluded that compression of input pulses of several ps duration and sub-MW peak power can lead to a formation of solitons with ∼100 fs duration and multi-megawatt peak powers. The dispersion slope of realistic hollow-core fibers appears to be the main obstacle for forming still shorter solitons.     

Generation of soliton-like wave packets and wave packets with linear phase modulation in gaining optical wave-guides with saturable nonlinearity

We have considered the dynamics of soliton-like pulses and stable frequency-modulated self-similar pulses in an active medium with saturable nonlinearity and a parabolic refractive-index profile. We show that, based on gaining gradient fibers with a parabolic distribution of the refractive index and saturable nonlinearity, it is possible to create complexes that ensure generation of laser pulses with a high (above 1 TW) peak power.     

Amplification of frequency-modulated soliton-like pulses in inhomogeneous optical waveguides with normal dispersion

The possibility of effective amplification of self-similar frequency-modulated pulses (FMPs) in longitudinally inhomogeneous active optical waveguides is studied. Peculiarities of the dynamics of parabolic pulses with a constant frequency modulation rate are considered. An optimal profile of variation of the group velocity dispersion was obtained in correspondence with optimal amplification of a similariton-like pulse. The use of FMPs in amplifying and longitudinally inhomogeneous optical waveguides with a correspondingly matched profile of normal dispersion of group velocities is shown to be capable of providing for an amplification of subpicosecond pulses up to energies above 1 nJ.     

Fiber based high repetition rate, high energy laser source applying chirped pulse amplification

We demonstrate the potential of a high-gain Yb-fiber amplifier system to provide ultrashort pulses with high energies. 100 μJ pulses generated at a repetition rate of 32 kHz exhibit nearly diffraction limited output (M²≈1.7) at a 1060 nm center wavelength. Using chirped pulse amplification, temporally streched laser pulses from a femtosecond oscillator could be compressed after amplification to subpicosecond pulse duration. The achievable intensities are high enough to create plasmas which can efficiently convert laser light to the extreme ultraviolet radiation. In a multimode Yb-doped fiber amplifier we obtained average powers of up to 22 W and single pulse energies up to 130 μJ.     

Frequency doubling of femtosecond pulses in walk-off-compensated N-(4-nitrophenyl)-L-prolinol

We show how to exploit the high quadratic nonlinear coefficient of the organic crystal N-(4-nitrophenyl)-L-prolinol for generation and parametric mixing of ultrashort pulses by use of tilted-pulse techniques. The effective crystal length for subpicosecond operation is shown to be enhanced from tens of micrometers to tens of millimeters. Efficient frequency doubling of 100-fs pulses is predicted in walk-off-compensated geometries with peak intensities of a few megawatts per square centimeter.     

Nonlinear cross-phase modulation with intense single-cycle terahertz pulses

We have demonstrated nonlinear cross-phase modulation in electro-optic crystals using intense, single-cycle terahertz (THz) radiation. Individual THz pulses, generated by coherent transition radiation emitted by subpicosecond electron bunches, have peak energies of up to 100 microJ per pulse. The time-dependent electric field of the intense THz pulses induces cross-phase modulation in electro-optic crystals through the Pockels effect, leading to spectral shifting, broadening, and modulation of copropagating laser pulses. The observed THz-induced cross-phase modulation agrees well with a time-dependent phase-shift model.     

Microstructure fibers as frequency-tunable sources of ultrashort chirped pulses for coherent nonlinear spectroscopy

Microstructure fibers are shown to allow the creation of new tunable sources for femtosecond nonlinear spectroscopy. These fibers provide a high efficiency of frequency upconversion of regeneratively amplified femtosecond pulses of a Cr:forsterite laser, permitting the generation of subpicosecond anti-Stokes pulses with a smooth temporal envelope and a linear positive chirp. These pulses from a microstructure fiber were used to measure the spectra of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) of toluene solution by cross-correlating these pulses with the femtosecond second-harmonic output of the Cr:forsterite laser in boxcars geometry (XFROG CARS). PACS 42.65.Wi; 42.81.Qb     

Microwave source of multigigawatt peak power based on a relativistic backward-wave oscillator and a compressor

The effect of passive compression of frequency-modulated pulses in dispersive media is used to raise the microwave radiation peak power to a multigigawatt level. A waveguide with a helically corrugated surface is applied as a dispersive medium, and a relativistic 3-cm backward-wave oscillator with an accelerating voltage decaying within the pulse duration serves as a source of frequency-modulated pulses. The compression of pulses to an FWHM of 2.2 ns attended by a rise in the peak power by a factor of 4.5 (to 3.2 GW) is demonstrated with a SINUS-6 accelerator.     

Dynamics of frequency-modulated soliton-like pulses in a longitudinally inhomogeneous active optical waveguide

Conditions of the formation and amplification of frequency-modulated soliton-like pulses in longitudinally inhomogeneous active optical waveguides with anomalous dispersion of group velocities are studied. Group velocity dispersion profiles that are necessary for existence and amplification for active and passive optical waveguides are determined, and the dependences on the distance passed along the waveguide, duration, and chirp of the pulse are established.     

High average power ultra-fast fiber chirped pulse amplification system

We report on a high-gain diode-pumped ytterbium-doped fiber-amplifier system delivering pulse energies in the 100-μJ range at high repetition rates (32 kHz) with nearly-diffraction-limited beam quality (M²∼1.7) at a 1060-nm center wavelength. Femtosecond seed-laser pulses are stretched in a commercially available single-mode fiber and compressed after amplification to subpicosecond pulse duration. In a multimode Yb-doped fiber amplifier we have demonstrated average powers of up to 22 W and single-pulse energies of up to 130 μJ. Received: 16 August 2000 / Revised version: 4 September 2000 / Published online: 8 November 2000     

Ultrafast pulse sources based on multi-mode optical fibers

Ultrafast pulse sources based on multi-mode optical fibers are discussed. High-power passively mode-locked fiber lasers based on multi-mode rare-earth-doped optical fibers greatly exceed the power limitations of single-mode oscillators. Ultrafast multi-mode fiber amplifiers operating in conjunction with multi-mode oscillators provide even higher power levels, where nonlinear propagation effects enable pulse compression to below 100 fs. Multi-mode fiber oscillators can be combined with single-mode Raman-shifting fibers to produce widely wavelength-tunable sources of femtosecond pulses. Further amplification in Yb fibers allows for the generation of sub-100-fs pulses with W-level average powers.     

Visible continuum generation in air-silica microstructure optical fibers with anomalous dispersion at 800 nm

We demonstrate experimentally for what is to our knowledge the first time that air-silica microstructure optical fibers can exhibit anomalous dispersion at visible wavelengths. We exploit this feature to generate an optical continuum 550 THz in width, extending from the violet to the infrared, by propagating pulses of 100-fs duration and kilowatt peak powers through a microstructure fiber near the zero-dispersion wavelength.     

Optimum peak pulse investigation for OTDR instrumentation

This work presents an experimental study of the optimal peak-power pulse for testing telecommunications fibers. Using a Q-switched fiber laser at 1060 nm, we obtained 100-ns pulses at a 10-kHz repetition rate with an average power of 60 mW corresponding to a 60-W peak power. With these pulses, we generated up to fifth-order Stokes within the fiber, with wavelengths on the third window of telecommunications. We demonstrate that the power exceeding the optimum peak power does not increase the penetration length of OTDR systems because of the pump depletion. The shape of the Stokes-shifted pulses attained at the end of the test fiber is similar to the pulse shape from a Q-switched fiber laser, also showing the possibility to produce suitable peak powers and pulse shapes for OTDR applications at different wavelengths.     

Laser-induced generation of surface periodic structures in media with nonlinear diffusion

A model of fast formation of high-contrast periodic structure appearing on a semiconductor surface under action of laser radiation is proposed. The process of growing a surface structure due to the interaction surface plasmon- polaritons excited on nonequilibrium electrons with incident laser radiation are considered in the framework of a medium with nonlinear diffusion of nonequilibrium carriers (defects). A resonance effect of superfast pico- and subpicosecond amplification of the plasmon-polariton structure generated on the surface, the realization of which can result in a high-contrast defect lattice.     

Vector solitary waves in strongly birefringent fibers with Raman scattering

Two coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations describing the transmission of subpicosecond pulses in strongly birefringent fibers with Raman scattering are studied by a symmetry reduction method and a perturbative technique. Two families of approximate vector solitary waves are obtained. Reduction of the Raman frequency shift in birefringent fibers is established.     

Nickel-doped nanocrystalline glass-ceramic fiber

The spectroscopic properties of Ni(2+)- doped nanocrystalline glass-ceramic fibers are reported. The cerammed fibers show strong fluorescence with peak wavelength at 1250 nm, 3-dB bandwidth at ~250nm, measured lifetimes at >1ms, and low-fluorescence saturation powers (~35mW) for 980-nm diode pumping. Current diode-pumped output powers are ~100microW .     

Cascaded Raman shifting of high-peak-power nanosecond pulses in As₂S₃ and As₂Se₃ optical fibers

We report efficient cascaded Raman scattering of near-IR nanosecond pulses in large-core (65 μm diameter) As?S? and As?Se? optical fibers. Raman scattering dominates other spectral broadening mechanisms, such as four-wave mixing, modulation instability, and soliton dynamics, because the fibers have large normal group-velocity dispersion in the spectral range of interest. With ~2 ns pump pulses at a wavelength of 1.9 μm, four Stokes peaks, all with peak powers greater than 1 kW, have been measured.