Threshold reduction of stimulated Brillouin scattering in photonic crystal fiber

A simple configuration for the reduction of stimulated Brillouin scattering threshold in photonic crystal fiber is presented. The threshold reduction is contributed by the bidirectional pumping scheme through the reflection of transmitted Brillouin pump back to the gain medium. The pump recycling scheme has greatly reduced the Brillouin threshold of a 200-m long of photonic crystal fiber from 50 to 30 mW of Brillouin pump power.     

Broadband monolithic acousto-optic tunable filter

Broadband monolithic acousto-optic tunable filters that combine a piezoelectric transducer array and an acousto-optic interaction medium in a single crystal have been investigated. A linearly chirped acoustic superlattice with an optical tuning range of lambda = 1.3-1.6 mum was formed by domain inversion in LiNbO(3) . X-propagating longitudinal acoustic waves are excited in a crossed-field scheme by a rf E(y) field applied to the superlattice and couple collinearly propagating e- and o-polarized optical modes. At mu = 1.319 mum and mu = 1.55 mum the spectral bandwidths (FWHM) were 1.54 and 2.3 nm, respectively. A relative conversion efficiency of 43%/W and a maximum conversion efficiency of 51% were measured at 1.319 mum.     

Acousto-optic diffraction with allowance for the influence of the acousto-optic cell boundaries

The influence of the dimension of an acousto-optic cell in the plane orthogonal to the plane of acousto-optic diffraction on the acoustic field structure and, consequently, on acousto-optic diffraction is studied theoretically and experimentally. A method is suggested for approximate calculation of the acoustic field with regard to the acoustic column reflection from the crystal faces. Based on this method, the influence of the acousto-optic cell dimensions is analyzed in a wide range of ratios between the height of the piezoelectric transducer and the height of the crystal. A region of acoustic power concentration is predicted to arise both for parallel faces and for slight wedging. A number of statements are demonstrated with paratellurite used as an interaction medium. The results may be useful in designing acousto-optic devices.     

A new method for measuring the threshold of stimulated Brillouin scattering

A new method for measuring the threshold of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) based on the generation location of a Stokes beam is proposed for the first time to our knowledge. The length of the medium cell is selected to be longer than the free gain length of pump pulses in the Brillouin medium. The reflected light from a certain mirror in front of the medium cell is chosen as the reference beam, and the SBS threshold is measured by the "jump" of the delay between the Stokes beam and the reference beam. An 8-ns Q-switched single-longitudinal-mode pulse is used as the pump and the typical SBS medium FC-72 is selected as the nonlinear medium in our experiment. The SBS threshold intensity is measured to be 173-178 mW/cm 2 , which is consistent with existing results measured with the transmitted energy limiting method.     

变温条件下受激布里渊散射增益系数的实验测量

从理论及实验上分析了介质温度对受激布里渊散射(stimulated Brillouin scattering, SBS)阈值及增益系数的影响.在理论分析的基础上, 提出了一种通过测量SBS阈值来决定介质SBS增益系数的新方法. 实验及测量结果表明, SBS增益系数会随着介质温度的增加而呈现指数上升的趋势. 关键词： 受激布里渊散射 阈值 增益系数     

压电换能器等效模型分析与阻抗匹配设计

声光可调滤光器(Acousto-optic tunable filter,AOTF)的衍射效率不仅与功率信号源的质量、声光晶体氧化碲(TeO_2)的切型有关,而且压电超声换能器的结构以及其阻抗匹配网络也对AOTF的衍射效率有很大影响。本文对X切型铌酸锂(LiNbO_3,LN)四层镀膜压电超声换能器的等效模型进行了分析,确定了声光介质存在时换能器的阻抗特性,利用射频微波仿真软件,设计了电感-电容复合匹配网络。将换能器压合在TeO_2上,用复色光作为光源进行了声光衍射实验,经仿真与实验验证表明,该匹配电路可以有效的改善压电换能器的阻抗特性,提高换能器带宽,提高能量传输效率,AOTF衍射效率最高可达92.67%。     

Investigation of Brillouin effects in small-core holey optical fiber: lasing and scattering

We demonstrate for what is believed to be the first time a Brillouin laser based on a holey fiber (HF). Using a simple Fabry-Perot resonator scheme containing a 73.5-m-long highly nonlinear HF with an effective area of 2.85 microm(2) , we obtain a threshold of 125 mW and a slope efficiency of ~70% . Stimulated and spontaneous Brillouin scattering effects are investigated in the HF, and we show that the high lasing threshold is due mainly to reduction of the effective gain coefficient caused by structural nonuniformity along the fiber length.     

Acousto-optic study of the unusual cases of reflection of bulk elastic waves in a paratellurite crystal

The propagation and reflection of bulk ultrasonic waves in a paratellurite crystal have been investigated by the acousto-optic method. Simultaneous excitation of two acoustic waves by one piezoelectric transducer has been observed in a cell of complex, specially chosen configuration. Maximally efficient conversion of the energy of a quasi-longitudinal wave into a single reflected quasi-shear wave with a walkoff angle 72° is implemented for the reflection from a free crystal boundary. The wave beam compression by a factor of 7 is observed for this reflection. A reflection (close to backward) of waves with an angle of spatial separation of the incident and reflected beams equal to 8° is also implemented. The acousto-optic figure of merit values of the medium are calculated for arbitrary propagation and polarization directions of the interacting light and ultrasonic waves. Possible applications of the effects studied in acousto-optics and acoustoelectronics are indicated.     

A mirror based on stimulated brillouin scattering with a double feedback loop in a laser cavity

The possibility of switching an external mirror based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) with a double feedback loop to a laser cavity is shown experimentally. A significant increase in the output laser power is obtained with conservation of the diffraction quality of the initial radiation. Experimental comparison with an ordinary SBS mirror, excited in a single pass through a nonlinear medium, is performed and the advantage in the energy parameters of the scheme with a double feedback loop is shown. The threshold characteristics of the SBS mirror under study are calculated and good agreement with the experimental data is obtained.     

Guided acoustic wave Brillouin scattering in photonic crystal fibers

We experimentally investigate guided acoustic wave Brillouin scattering in several photonic crystal fibers by use of the so-called fiber loop mirror technique and show a completely different dynamics with respect to standard all-silica fibers. In addition to the suppression of most acoustic phonons, we show that forward Brillouin scattering in photonic crystal fibers is substantially enhanced only for the fundamental acoustic phonon because of efficient transverse acousto-optic field overlap. The results of our numerical simulations reveal that this high-frequency phonon is indeed trapped within the fiber core by the air-hole microstructure, in good agreement with experimental measurements.     

Electrical Control of the Frequencies of a Fabry–Perot Acoustic Resonator

The effect electronic tuning has on the frequency of the acoustic resonance of an acousto-optic modulator intended for active laser mode locking is studied theoretically and experimentally. The problem of exciting a Fabri–Perot acoustic resonator with a plate-like piezoelectric transducer is solved in the approximation of plane acoustic waves, with allowance for the real parameters of the HF generator and the matching elements of the transducer and the generator. Expressions for the basic electrical and acoustic parameters are obtained. Theoretical analysis confirms the frequency shift effect of acoustic resonances, observed earlier experimentally upon varying the matching electrical elements. The experiment is performed using an acousto-optic quartz cell and a lithium niobate transducer.     

Photonic crystal fibre Brillouin laser based on Bragg grating Fabry-Perot cavity

A photonic crystal fibre Brillouin laser based on fibre Bragg grating Fabr-Perot cavity is presented. A highly nonlinear photonic crystal fibre 25 m in length is used as Brillouin gain medium and fibre Bragg grating Fabry-Perot cavity is chosen in order to enhance the laser conversion efficiency and suppress the higher-order Stokes waves. The laser reaches the threshold at input power of 35 mW, and the experimental laser conversion efficiency achieves 18% of the input power of 140 mW and does not show higher-order Stokes waves. A photonic crystal fibre Brillouin laser with shorter fibre length and lower threshold is experimentally realized.     

Stimulated brillouin scattering in SF6 with a free-running XeCl laser as pump

A XeCl laser system without dispersive elements is used to investigate near threshold reflectivity and phase-conjugation (PC) fidelity of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) mirrors with SF₆ as the active medium. Using different focal-length lenses to focus the broadband laser radiation into the Brillouin medium, it was found that at threshold the effective interaction length for SBS is equal to the confocal parameter and that the SBS gain is equal to its steady-state value for monochromatic pumping. High PC-fidelity values ranging from 0.8–1.0 were found under most of the experimental conditions investigated.     

Coherent acousto-optic mode coupling in dispersion-compensating fiber by two acoustic gratings with orthogonal vibration directions

The acousto-optic mode coupling from core to LP11(cl) mode of a dispersion-compensating fiber excited by two acoustic waves with orthogonal perturbations is studied by use of a novel composite piezoelectric transducer. Highly polarization-dependent mode-selective spectra are observed that are due to coherent acousto-optic coupling between the core and various constituent cladding modes. Potential applications for implementing an all-fiber wavelength-tunable polarization analyzer are also discussed.     

Suppression of Sidelobe for Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter in Near-Infrared Spectral Monitoring

. In this paper we calculated the acoustic intensity distribution of different transducers, and designed acousto-optic tunable filter(AOTF) based on different transducers. Through the experiment, we find sidelobe can be reduced by changing the transducer geometry.     

基于光子晶体光纤中受激布里渊散射的光载波抑制

设计了一种基于光子晶体光纤中受激布里渊散射的载波滤波器.该滤波器利用两个环形器和一段光子晶体光纤构成了一个环形腔,这种腔结构有效地降低了光纤中受激布里渊散射的阈值.理论分析了光子晶体光纤载波滤波器对提高光调制深度和射频增益的影响.利用25 m的高非线性光子晶体光纤作为受激布里渊增益介质,当入射载波功率为70 mW时,微波光子信号的射频增益为5.38 dB,实验结果与理论计算相吻合.     

Acousto-optic interaction with leaky surface acoustic waves in Y-cut LiTaO3 crystals

The acousto-optic interaction with leaky surface acoustic wave radiation into the bulk of YX-cut LiTaO₃ crystals has been investigated. The light incidence and diffraction angles corresponding to the strongest acousto-optic interaction were calculated and measured as functions of the acoustic wave frequency. The dependencies of the diffracted light intensity on the amplitude of radio-frequency voltage applied to the interdigital transducer (IDT) were studied. Our acousto-optic measurements revealed generation, by the IDTs, of slow shear bulk acoustic waves propagating at different angles depending on their frequency. A secondary acousto-optic interaction from the bulk waves radiated by the receiving IDT has been studied.     

Threshold features of a Brillouin Stokes comb generated in a distributed fiber Raman amplifier

We study threshold features of a Brillouin-shifted Stokes comb generated in a distributed fiber Raman amplifier. When the input power of Brillouin pump is linearly increased in high Raman gain, the first Stokes wave grows exponentially at much lower threshold power and then experiences an appreciable power decrease in the vicinity of the Brillouin comb's threshold. This power reduction of the first Brillouin Stokes, which we did not see mentioned in previous reports, was caused by a power transfer to higher-order lines and initiated Brillouin comb generation. Moreover, the effects of Raman pump power and pumping direction on the threshold of a Brillouin comb are investigated.     

Acousto-Optic Deflector with Heat Removal from the Piezotransducer by Sound Insulation of a Heat Radiator

Acoustical Physics - A method is proposed for removing heat from the transducer of an acousto-optic deflector without substantial acoustic damping. The rear surface of the transducer and the...     

Compact and efficient Kerr-lens mode-locked diode-pumped actively Q-switched YVO4-Nd:YVO4 laser

By using a simple linear configuration, a stable and efficient YVO₄-Nd:YVO₄ laser, actively Q-switched by an acousto-optic modulator and passively mode-locked by KLM is realized, from which the great average output power, the high efficiency are obtained and the mode-locked pulse inside the Q-switched pulse has a repetition rate of 470 MHz. The nearly 100% modulation depth of the Q-switched mode-locked pulses can be obtained at any pump power over the threshold. Considering the Kerr-lens effect of laser medium and Q-switching by an acousto-optic modulator, we have analyzed the self-mode-locked YVO₄-Nd:YVO₄ laser by using the nonlinear ABCD propagation matrix and the hyperbolic fluctuation mechanism. The numerical solutions are in good agreement with the experimental results.