Tunable light source for coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microspectroscopy based on the soliton self-frequency shift

We present a photonic crystal fiber (PCF)-based light source for generating tunable excitation pulses (pump and Stokes) that are applicable to coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microspectroscopy. The laser employed is an unamplified Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser oscillator. The CARS pump pulse is generated by spectral compression of a laser pulse in a PCF. The Stokes pulse is generated by redshifting a laser pulse in a PCF through the soliton self-frequency shift. This setup allows for probing up to 4000 cm(-1) with a spectral resolution of approximately 25 cm(-1). We characterize the stability and robustness of CARS microspectroscopy employing this light source.     

基于光纤中超短脉冲非线性传输机理与特定光谱选择技术的多波长飞秒激光的产生

高集成、高可靠性宽调谐飞秒激光源在超快光谱学、量子光学及生物成像等研究与应用领域具有重要价值.如在生物多光子显微成像中,具有适中能量的宽调谐飞秒激光源不仅可满足多种生物组织荧光激发所需的峰值功率与激发波长,而且也可以显著提升非线性荧光产生效率、成像分辨率以及增大成像穿透深度.采用自主研发的高可靠性全保偏光纤飞秒激光器作为抽运源,基于低色散光纤中高峰值功率飞秒激光脉冲非线性传输引起的光谱加宽机制,本文开展了多波长全光纤飞秒激光产生技术研究.通过采用中心波长在980, 1000,1050, 1070与1100 nm的带通滤波片选择性地对单模光纤输出光谱中最左边与最右边光谱旁瓣进行滤波,在上述中心波长处分别可获得203, 195, 196, 187与194 fs的激光输出.本文提出的基于全光纤飞秒激光脉冲在单模光纤中非线性传输引起的光谱加宽机制与特定光谱选择技术的实验方案为高集成、高可靠性宽调谐飞秒激光源的实现提供了新的研究途径.     

Generation of a high-temporal contrast ultrafast laser pulse near 1,053 nm through stimulated Raman frequency shift

A high-temporal contrast femtosecond Stokes pulse near 1,053 nm is obtained simply without polarizer extinction ratio limitation based on the stimulated Raman frequency shift process in ethanol with an 800-nm femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser as a pump source. By optimizing the incident pump pulse chirp and the ethanol Raman cell length, a clean Stokes pulse near 1,053 nm with a maximum energy of 0.24 mJ is obtained with ~7.5 % conversion efficiency and 0.8 % (rms) energy fluctuation. Compared with the incident pump pulse, the temporal contrast of the Stokes pulse is improved by at least approximately three orders of magnitude.     

All fiber supercontinuum light source using photonic crystal fibers pumped by nanosecond fiber laser pulses

A novel compact supercontinuum (SC) source using the single mode photonic crystal fibers (PCF) pumped with an all fiber MOPA fiber laser is demonstrated experimentally. A bandwidth of 700 nm is achieved by operating the pumping fiber laser at a wavelength of 1064 nm, pulse duration of 10 ns, repetition rate of 50 kHz and peak power of 1 kW. The SC generation is initiated through modulation instability (MI) which breakups the nanosecond pump pulses into picosecond or femtosecond pulses, and further broadened through nonlinear effects of PCF.     

飞秒与皮秒激光脉冲的主动同步及和频产生宽带超短激光的研究

利用主动同步方式实现了飞秒钛宝石激光器与皮秒Nd:YVO₄激光器的同步，得到了时间抖动低于1ps的同步精度.在此基础上进行了两束激光的和频实验研究，产生了波长为460nm的宽带蓝光飞秒脉冲激光.这一技术不仅代表了实现不同波长、不同脉冲宽度激光同步的一般方法，而且也证明了通过和频、差频两束不同激光产生新波长超短脉冲激光的一种全新技术方案. 关键词： 主动同步 超短脉冲 和频 差频     

高激光损伤阈值Ge-As-S硫系玻璃光纤及中红外超连续谱产生

测量了Ge-As-S系列硫系玻璃在中红外波段的飞秒激光损伤阈值,研究了它与玻璃化学组成的关系.基于优化的玻璃组成,采用棒管法制备了芯径为15μm的阶跃折射率非线性光纤.采用飞秒脉冲抽运光纤,研究了光纤中超连续谱(supercontinuum,SC)的产生特性.在研究的Ge-As-S硫系玻璃中,具有化学计量配比的Ge0.25As0.1S0.65玻璃显示出最高的激光损伤阈值.以该玻璃作为纤芯材料、以与其相匹配的Ge0.26As0.08S0.66玻璃作为包层材料制备的光纤的数值孔径约为0.24,背景损耗<2 dB/m.采用4.8μm的飞秒激光抽运长度为10 cm的光纤,获得了覆盖2.5-7.5μm的SC.这些结果表明,Ge-As-S硫系玻璃光纤是一种有潜力的中红外高亮度宽带SC产生的非线性介质.     

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.     

Femtosecond supercontinuum characteristics control

Supercontinuum generation in the spectral range 530–1100 nm in series of photonic-crystal fibers pumped by femtosecond Ti:S laser Mira Oprima 900-F is achieved. The evolution of spectral characteristics of femtosecond supercontinuum is proofed to be dependent on pump pulse wavelength and power radiation. Polarization characteristics of supercontinuum spectral components are analyzed. We demonstrated experimentally the possibility of control of femtosecond supercontinuum generation.     

Generation of dual-wavelength pulses by frequency doubling with quasi-phase-matching gratings

We demonstrate generation of two synchronized picosecond pulses at different wavelengths near 778 nm by frequency doubling of a femtosecond pulse. We use nonlinear frequency filtering with quasi-phase-matching gratings, which allow us to obtain second-harmonic spectral intensities that are higher than the spectral intensities of the pump.     

Widely tunable narrowband soliton source generation in tellurite microstructured fibers

We demonstrate widely tunable soliton and dispersive wave source generation in a highly nonlinear tellurite microstructured fiber pumped by a 1550 nm femtosecond fiber laser. The spectral range covered by the soliton and dispersive wave source is as wide as 1100 nm from 1150 to 2250 nm. It is shown that the spectral linewidth of the soliton and dispersive wave can be controlled by changing the length of the tellurite microstructured fiber easily owing to the dispersion-induced pulse broadening effects. This light source using tellurite microstructured fiber could open wide applications.     

光脉冲在不同色散光纤环形镜中传输特性

研究了三种不同色散递减类型光纤构成的环形腔对光脉冲传输特性的影响（指数递减、线性递减与抛物线递减）,发现其色散曲线为指数递减的环形腔最有利于皮秒光脉冲的传输与压缩;而对于飞秒脉冲,在高阶效应的影响下,情况恰恰相反,色散曲线为抛物线递减的光纤构成的光纤环最有利于脉冲传输与压缩.并且对于飞秒脉冲,环形腔的光开关特性只是在一定条件下存在.     

具有几个光振荡周期的飞秒激光脉冲

从麦克斯韦方程组出发 ,推导出了具有几个光振荡周期的飞秒激光脉冲在非线性光纤中传输的方程和非线性光纤的折射率。给出了描述具有几个光振荡周期的飞秒激光脉冲在非线性光纤中传输方程的解。研究了在非线性光纤中自相位调制导致具有几个光振荡周期的飞秒激光脉冲频谱展宽 (脉宽压缩 )的详细物理过程。研究了非线性光纤中飞秒光孤子产生的条件     

Frequency conversion of subnanojoule femtosecond pulses in microstructure fibers

We experimentally demonstrate highly efficient multiplex frequency conversion of unamplified subnanojoule femtosecond pulses of Ti:sapphire laser radiation in fused silica microstructure fibers. Nonlinear optical spectral transformation of femtosecond pulses in an array of fused silica threadlike channels in these microstructure fibers results in the generation of isolated anti-Stokes spectral components within the wavelength range of 400–500 nm. An efficiency of frequency conversion of about 20% is achieved for 800-nm pump pulses with an energy of 0.7 nJ and a pulse duration of 70 fs.     

All-passive phase locking of a compact Er:fiber laser system

A passively phase-locked laser source based on compact femtosecond Er:fiber technology is introduced. The carrier-envelope offset frequency is set to zero via difference frequency generation between a soliton at a wavelength of 2?μm and a dispersive wave at 860?nm generated in the same highly nonlinear fiber. This process results in a broadband output centered at 1.55?μm. Subsequently, the 40?MHz pulse train seeds a second Er:fiber amplifier, which boosts the pulse energy up to 8?nJ at a duration of 125?fs. Excellent phase stability is demonstrated via f-to-2f spectral interferometry.     

Compact and cost-effective scheme for THz generation via optical rectification in GaP and GaAs using novel fs laser oscillators

We demonstrate a compact and cost-effective setup to generate broadband THz radiation. As pump source we use a diode-pumped solid-state femtosecond oscillator or a femtosecond fiber laser system, partially in combination with an optical parametric oscillator. For the THz generation we utilize optical rectification in gallium phosphide (GaP) and gallium arsenide (GaAs). The THz power is on the order of 1 μW and we demonstrate imaging and spectral measurements with this setup.     

All-fiber femtosecond Cherenkov radiation source

An all-fiber femtosecond source of spectrally isolated Cherenkov radiation is reported, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time. Using a monolithic, self-starting femtosecond Yb-doped fiber laser as the pump source and the combination of photonic crystal fibers as the wave-conversion medium, we demonstrate milliwatt-level, stable, and tunable Cherenkov radiation at visible wavelengths 580-630 nm, with pulse duration of sub-160-fs, and the 3 dB spectral bandwidth not exceeding 36 nm. Such an all-fiber Cherenkov radiation source is promising for practical applications in biophotonics such as bioimaging and microscopy.     

The mode structure and spectral properties of supercontinuum emission from microstructure fibers

The mode structure and spectral properties of supercontinuum emission generated by femtosecond pulses of Ti: sapphire laser radiation in microstructure fibers are studied. The long-wavelength (720–900 nm) and visible (400–600 nm) parts of supercontinuum emission are shown to be spatially separated in microstructure-fiber modes, which can be isolated with an appropriate spectral filtering. The spatial modes thus isolated in spectrally sliced supercontinuum emission possess a spatial quality sufficient for further efficient frequency conversion. The possibility of achieving a high spectral quality of supercontinuum emission is also demonstrated. We explore the ways to control the spectrum of supercontinuum emission by matching parameters of the pump pulse with the parameters of a microstructure fiber and by tuning the initial chirp of the pump pulse. The results of our studies show that supercontinua produced in microstructure fibers offer new approaches to designing a new generation of optical parametric amplifiers and broadband radiation sources for spectroscopic, metrological, and biomedical applications.     

与794nm飞秒激光精确同步的无直流背底的1064nm脉冲光的产生

基于非共线光参量放大(NOPA)，以宽带794nm飞秒激光的倍频光为抽运光，以连续的He-Ne激光为信号光，产生了与宽带794nm飞秒激光精确同步的无直流背底的1064nm的脉冲光.实验结果显示该1064nm的光脉冲可作为光参量啁啾脉冲放大系统的抽运激光链的种子光，从而实现用全光学方法实现OPCPA系统抽运光和信号光的精确同步.还将非共线光参量放大器置于经特殊设计的He-Ne激光腔内，也同样成功得到了无直流背底的1064nm的光脉冲.经一次光参量放大后所得到的1064nm光的光谱和空间啁啾特性与非共线光参量放大器置于He-Ne激光腔外时得到的1064nm的光脉冲相同，而其单脉冲能量约为腔外NOPA的10倍. 关键词： 非线性光参量放大 光参量啁啾脉冲放大 时间同步     

10-mJ optically synchronized CEP-stable chirped parametric amplifier at 1.5 μm

We demonstrate the generation of 10-mJ 1.5-μm few-cycle pulses from a 4-stage OPCPA system. The system is based on a fusion of femtosecond DPSS Yb technology and a picosecond Nd:YAG pump laser. In a first preliminary filamentation experiment in argon at 5 atm, we observe significant spectral broadening of the recompressed multi-mJ 1.5-μm pulses. The filamentation output spectrum supports the generation of 8 fs pulses equivalent to sub-to-cycle pulses at 1.5 μm. We foresee that our terawatt-peak-power sub-to-cycle pulse source will open the door to exciting new experiments in attosecond high-field science in the near future.

     

Cross-validation of theoretically quantified fiber continuum generation and absolute pulse measurement by MIIPS for a broadband coherently controlled optical source

The predicted spectral phase of a fiber continuum pulsed source rigorously quantified by the scalar generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation is found to be in excellent agreement with that measured by multiphoton intrapulse interference phase scan (MIIPS) with background subtraction. This cross-validation confirms the absolute pulse measurement by MIIPS and the transform-limited compression of the fiber continuum pulses by the pulse shaper performing the MIIPS measurement, and permits the subsequent coherent control on the fiber continuum pulses by this pulse shaper. The combination of the fiber continuum source with the MIIPS-integrated pulse shaper produces compressed transform-limited 9.6 fs (FWHM) pulses or arbitrarily shaped pulses at a central wavelength of 1020 nm, an average power over 100 mW, and a repetition rate of 76 MHz. In comparison to the 229-fs pump laser pulses that generate the fiber continuum, the compressed pulses reflect a compression ratio of 24.