Generation of 207-femtosecond pulses from a ytterbium figure-of-eight fibre laser

We report the generation of 207-fs pulses with 1.2mW average power at 1036nm directly from a passively mode-locked Yb-doped fibre laser with a nonlinear optical loop mirror for mode-locking and pairs of diffraction gratings for intracavity dispersion compensation. These results imply a 4-fold reduction in pulse duration over previously reported figure-of-eight cavity passively mode-locked Yb-doped fibre lasers. Stable pulse trains are produced at the fundamental repetition rate of the resonator, 24.0MHz. On the other hand, this laser offers a cleaner spectrum and greater stability and is completely self-starting.     

Observation of dark pulse in a dispersion-managed fiber ring laser

The observation of dark pulse in a dispersion-managed fiber ring laser with net negative cavity group velocity dispersion (GVD) is reported. Both bright and dark pulses can be obtained in our fiber laser. When we appropriately adjust the cavity birefringence to achieve triple-wavelength mode-locked operation in the laser by rotating the polarization controller, the bright pulse could be switched to dark pulse. It is believed that the dark dispersion-managed (DM) pulse generation is caused by the linear and nonlinear intermodulation effects among the three wavelength pulses.     

NbSe2纳米颗粒锁模的2μm光纤激光器

高重频大脉冲能量激光在基础科学研究以及通信、探测、材料加工等应用领域具有重要价值。报道了溶液法制备的过渡金属二硫化物NbSe2纳米颗粒材料的线性和非线性光学特性,并利用其2μm波段可饱和吸收特性对掺铥光纤激光器进行被动调制实现了2μm锁模激光输出。线性测量发现NbSe2纳米材料的光学吸收覆盖近红外到近中红外波段且随波长增加而降低;非线性光学测量显示NbSe2纳米材料在2μm波段的调制深度为6.5%、饱和强度为19 MW·cm^−2。然后我们把NbSe2纳米材料转移到金镜上制作成可饱和吸收器件,并对掺铥光纤激光器进行调制得到2μm耗散孤子谐波锁模激光,单脉冲能量为3.36 nJ,脉冲宽度为1.48 ns,重复频率为50.66 MHz。激光光谱的中心波长为1910.8 nm,光谱宽度为5.8 nm。首次在2μm光纤激光器中采用NbSe2纳米颗粒实现耗散孤子锁模,证明了NbSe2纳米材料在2μm波段的非线性光学调制能力,结合纳米颗粒的可集成特性,溶液法制备的NbSe2纳米材料有望成为一种新型的宽谱非线性光电调制材料/器件。     

电光腔倒空激光二极管抽运Nd∶YAG锁模激光器

设计了一个简单的直腔,将电光腔倒空与激光二极管端面抽运Nd∶YAG半导体可饱和吸收镜锁模激光器结合,实现了锁模脉冲的产生、放大和输出。在连续抽运功率5 W的条件下,获得了脉冲宽度为11 ps的锁模单脉冲输出和脉冲宽度为200 ns的调Q脉冲输出,腔倒空单脉冲能量为30 nJ,重复频率为10 Hz。连续锁模运转时单个锁模脉冲的能量约为2 nJ,利用腔倒空将单脉冲的能量提高了15 倍左右。文章详细讨论了腔倒空脉冲及调Q脉冲的产生机理,并分析了加在电光晶体上的高压电脉冲以及偏振片的偏振度对腔倒空脉冲及调Q脉冲的影响。     

Self-compensation of third-order dispersion for ultrashort pulse generation demonstrated in an Yb fiber oscillator

Compensation of the intracavity dispersion in the mode-locked oscillator is known to be one of the most important factors for ultrashort pulse generation. However, recent investigations of a Yb-doped fiber mode-locked oscillator revealed that precise third-order dispersion (TOD) compensation is not always necessary for ultrashort pulse generation, owing to the strong nonlinearity that compensates residual TOD without reducing its spectral bandwidth. The origin of the nonlinear TOD compensation has remained unclear. To investigate the process in detail, we studied the pulse evolution inside a 30 fs Yb-doped fiber mode-locked oscillator both experimentally and numerically, and we found that the nonlinear phase shift with a temporally asymmetric pulse shape introduces an appropriate amount of TOD that exactly cancels the residual cavity dispersion.     

Different operation states of soliton pulses in an erbium-doped fibre ring laser

We report on the experimental observation of soliton pulses in an erbium doped fibre ring laser. The passive mode-locking is achieved using the nonlinear polarization rotation technique. By adjusting the pump power and the intracavity polarization controllers, a normal soliton, a stable 8th harmonic mode-locked pulse and a noise-like pulse have been observed in our laser. The experimental results revealed that the noise-like pulse is not suitable for the optical telecommunication, and in order to obtain the stable harmonic mode-locked soliton, a strong unstable CW laser field is necessary to mediate global soliton interaction. The formation mechanism of the harmonic mode-locked pulse has also been analysed.     

被动谐波锁模掺Yb3+光纤环形激光器

 利用光纤的非线性偏振旋转效应产生可饱和吸收体的锁模机制，从掺Yb³⁺光纤环形激光器中得到稳定高阶谐波锁模光脉冲。理论分析了工作于正色散区的掺Yb³⁺光纤环形激光器的特性。实验中观测到了掺Yb³⁺光纤环形激光器3种不同演化方式产生高阶锁模光脉冲。4阶谐波锁模脉冲（107.2 MHz重复频率）经过1 m长高掺杂Yb³⁺光纤放大器放大后产生了平均功率100 mW，脉宽22.8 ps的脉冲，最后经过光栅压缩得到了平均输出功率20 mW，脉宽307 fs，脉冲中心波长1 051.2 nm，带宽13.76 nm的激光。     

Shorter and bandwidth-limited Nd: YAG laser pulses

Stable generation of 12 ps pulses in a passively mode-locked YAG system is reported using an intracavity etalon. It is also shown that self-phase modulation via the nonlinear index of YAG increases the frequency width of the laser emission; at low intracavity pulse energy < 200 μJ, chirp free pulses are observed.     

Long-cavity passively mode-locked fiber ring laser with high-energy rectangular-shape pulses in anomalous dispersion regime

We report on a long-cavity passively mode-locked fiber laser in the anomalous dispersion regime. The nonlinear polarization rotation technique is employed to achieve mode locking. The output pulse from the fiber laser has a rectangular shape and a corresponding gaussian-shape spectral profile. Stable mode-locked pulses at a repetition rate of 278 kHz with single pulse energy as high as 715 nJ are obtained under equal bidirectional pumping power of 500 mW in cavity. The experimental results demonstrate that the passively mode-locked fiber laser operating in the anomalous regime can also realize a high-energy pulse, which is different from the conventional low-energy soliton pulse.     

基于色散不对称光纤环形镜的锁模光纤激光器

在理论上数值计算了各种常量对色散不对称非线性光纤环形镜透射特性的影响。并分析了它作为被动锁模器件用于光纤激光器压窄脉冲的物理机制。利用8字形主被动混合锁模的结构在调制频率为9．998748700 GHz，波长为1566．65nm处获得了11ps的稳定锁模脉冲输出．对应谱宽0．297nm．同时在重复频率为9．995792825 GHz和9．996778256 GHz时分别得到了振幅均匀的二阶和三阶谐波锁模输出。证明色散不对称非线性光纤环形镜可以有效消减脉冲的尾翼和噪声．得到脉幅稳定的脉冲序列。     

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 10-GHz duty-cycle tunable square optical pulse in an SOA-based mode-locked fiber laser

We demonstrate the generation of 10-GHz optical square pulses by injecting a picosecond pulse train into an SOA-based mode-locked fiber laser. The novel scheme exploits nonlinear effects and gain saturation phenomenon in the semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). This technique uses gain-compression dynamics between the input pulses and the generated ones in gain-saturated SOA to form square pulses. The center wavelength of the generated optical square pulse can be tuned from 1530 to 1570 nm by adjusting the center wavelength of the optical band pass filter (OBPF) in the SOA-based mode-locked fiber ring laser. The duty cycle of the output pulse can be tuned from 12.7 to 88.4%, which strongly depends on the input power and intra-cavity power.     

Gain-guided soliton in a positive group-dispersion fiber laser

We report on the operation of a passively mode-locked fiber ring laser made of purely normal dispersive fibers. Self-started mode locking can still be achieved in the laser by use of the nonlinear polarization rotation technique, and the mode-locked pulse has large pulse energy, strong frequency chirp, and a mode-locked spectral width limited by the effective laser gain bandwidth. Furthermore, we show that the operation of the laser can be well described by an extended Ginzburg-Landau equation model that governs the soliton dynamics of fiber lasers.     

Nanosecond Pulse Generation with Silver Nanoparticle Saturable Absorber

Nanosecond pulse generation in an erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) passively mode-locked by a silver nanoparticle(SNP)-based saturable absorber(SA) is experimentally demonstrated. The SA is fabricated by depositing a nanosized SNP layer onto the surface of polyvinyl alcohol film through the thermal evaporation process. By inserting the SA into an EDFL cavity, stable mode-locked operation is achieved at 1561.5 nm with the maximum pulse energy up to 52.3 nJ. The laser operates at a pulse repetition frequency of 1.0 MHz with a pulse width of 202 ns. These results suggest that SNPs could be developed as an effective SA for mode-locking pulse generation.     

Mode-locked all-fiber laser with high stability based on cobalt oxyfluoride

Recent years have witnessed the exploration of fiber laser technology focused on numerous pivotal optoelectronic applications from laser processing and remote sensing to optical communication. Here, using cobalt oxyfluoride(Co OF) as the nonlinear material, a 156 fs mode-locked fiber laser with strong stability is obtained. The rapid thermal annealing technique is used to fabricate the Co OF, which is subsequently transferred to the tapered region of the microfiber to form the effective pulse modulation device. Co OF interacts with the pulsed laser through the evanescent field to realize the intracavity pulse shaping, and then the stable mode-locked pulse is obtained. The mode-locked operation is maintained with the pulse duration of 156 fs and repetition rate of 49 MHz. In addition, the signal-to-noise ratio is about 90 d B. Those experimental results confirm the attractive nonlinear optical properties of Co OF and lay a foundation for the ultrafast application of lowdimensional transition metal oxides.     

High-energy dissipative soliton with MHz repetition rate from an all-fiber passively mode-locked laser

We experimentally demonstrate pulse energy enhancement in an all-fiber passively mode-locked laser operating in the large normal dispersion regime. By increasing the laser cavity length as well as its net cavity dispersion, the proposed laser, which is mode-locked by nonlinear polarization rotation, generates highly chirped dissipative solitons with pulse energies up to 9.4 nJ. The fundamental repetition rate is 2.3 MHz, and the pulse duration is 35 ps. Such low repetition rate as well as wide pulse width makes this mode-locked all-fiber laser a suitable oscillator to directly seed a fiber amplifier, which can be used as compact sources for high-power applications.     

Tunable UV and IR picosecond pulse generation by nonlinear mixing using a synchronous mode-locked dye laser

The short-pulse output from a synchronous mode-locked tunable dye laser was sum and difference mixed in nonlinear crystals of KDP, ADP and LiIO₃ with the 1.064-μm and 532-nm pulse trains from its mode-locked Nd: YAG pump. This method allowed efficient generation of narrow-bandwidth tunable short pulses in the uv from 270 to 432 nm and in the IR from 1.13 to 5.6 μm.     

基于预啁啾管理放大的掺镱锁模光纤激光器

报导了一种采用预啁啾管理放大技术实现的百飞秒级掺镱光纤激光器系统。该系统首先利用非线性偏振旋转技术搭建锁模种子激光,实现重复频率为82.3 MHz、压缩后脉宽接近180 fs的近线性啁啾稳定脉冲序列。种子脉冲通过预放大级和预啁啾管理放大级后获得了平均功率为12 W、压缩后脉宽低于100 fs的脉冲。经过预啁啾管理放大级的压缩后脉冲宽度明显优于种子激光的压缩后脉冲宽度。     

Generation of 50-fs, 5-nJ pulses at 1.03 micrometre from a wave-breaking-free fiber laser

We report the generation of 6-nJ chirped pulses from a mode-locked Yb fiber laser at 1.03 micrometre. A linear anomalous-dispersion segment suppresses wave-breaking effects of solitonlike pulse shaping at high energies. The dechirped pulse duration is 50 fs, and the energy is 5 nJ. This laser produces twice the pulse energy and average power, and approximately five times the peak power, of the previous best mode-locked fiber laser. It is to our knowledge the first fiber laser that directly offers performance similar to that of solid-state lasers such as Ti:sapphire.     

Direct generation of 128-fs Gaussian pulses from a compensation-free fiber laser using dual mode-locking mechanisms

We have experimentally demonstrated the direct generation of 128-fs pulses in an all-anomalous-dispersion all-fiber mode-locked laser. The laser is free of dispersion compensation in the cavity based on standard single mode fiber (SMF). The time-bandwidth product is 0.536. The laser is achieved by using two mode-lockers, one is nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR), and the other is nonlinear amplifying loop mirror. The coexistence of dual mode-locking mechanisms can decrease the cavity length to 12-m, and also results in producing high-quality pulses with a Gaussian shape both on the pulse profile and spectrum, but without Kelly sidebands.