Wideband tunable laser phase noise reduction using single sideband modulation in an electro-optical feed-forward scheme

A wideband laser phase noise reduction scheme is introduced where the optical field of a laser is single sideband modulated with an electrical signal containing the discriminated phase noise of the laser. The proof-of-concept experiments on a commercially available 1549 nm distributed feedback laser show linewidth reduction from 7.5 MHz to 1.8 kHz without using large optical cavity resonators. This feed-forward scheme performs wideband phase noise cancellation independent of the light source and, as such, it is compatible with the original laser source tunability without requiring tunable optical components. By placing the proposed phase noise reduction system after a commercial tunable laser, a tunable coherent light source with kilohertz linewidth over a tuning range of 1530-1570 nm is demonstrated.     

High-power, continuous-wave, mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator based on MgO:sPPLT

We report a stable, high-power, cw, mid-IR optical parametric oscillator using MgO-doped stoichiometric periodically poled LiTaO? (MgO:sPPLT) pumped by a Yb fiber laser at 1064 nm. The singly resonant oscillator (SRO), based on a 30 mm long crystal, is tunable over 430 nm from 3032 to 3462 nm and can generate as much as 5.5 W of mid-IR output power, with >4 W of over 60% of the tuning range and under reduced thermal effects, enabling room temperature operation. Idler power scaling measurements at ~3.3 μm are compared with an MgO-doped periodically poled LiNbO? cw SRO, confirming that MgO:sPPLT is an attractive material for multiwatt mid-IR generation. The idler output at 3299 nm exhibits a peak-to-peak power stability better than 12.8% over 5 h and frequency stability of ~1 GHz, while operating close to room temperature, and has a linewidth of ~0.2 nm, limited by the resolution of the wavemeter. The corresponding signal linewidth at 1570 nm is ~21 MHz.     

不同谐振腔分步合成法制备的固态染料P567可调谐激光器

利用新型分步合成法制备的激光染料P567掺杂有机改性凝胶玻璃,建立了基于全息光栅的两种不同腔型可调谐激光器.采用光栅零级作为输出的激光器,调谐范围近70nm (543～610nm), 获得的最高斜效率为17%;采用腔镜耦合输出方式,调谐范围超过30 nm (553～585 nm),获得的最高斜效率为9.7%.并对激光器的可调谐范围、阈值、斜效率及线宽等参数进行了深入的分析比较.     

可调谐掺铥光纤激光器线宽压缩及其超光谱吸收应用

可调谐二极管激光吸收光谱技术是一种应用非常广泛的吸收光谱测量技术.利用宽带可调谐窄线宽光源进行吸收光谱测量的超光谱吸收技术可以在单次扫描中获取一段连续光谱的所有吸收数据,可大大提高可调谐二极管激光吸收光谱技术的数据信息容量和光谱诊断能力.分析了在2μm波段对水进行超光谱吸收测量时对激光器输出线宽的具体要求.利用掺铥光纤在2μm波段较宽的发射谱,采用可调谐法布里-珀罗滤波器和光纤可饱和吸收体相结合的技术方案搭建了一台宽带调谐窄线宽的2μm光纤激光器.获得了1840—1900 nm约60 nm范围的调谐光谱输出,激光器静态线宽仅为0.05 nm.利用该光源对空气中水在2μm波段的吸收光谱数据进行了超光谱吸收测量,在1856—1886 nm约30 nm的光谱范围内分辨了35条水的吸收谱线.通过对不同线宽条件下1870—1880 nm范围内的理论吸收光谱数据进行对比发现,测量数据无法有效分辨分别位于1873 nm和1877 nm处与强吸收线相邻的两条吸收谱线,且测量结果与激光线宽在0.08 nm条件下的HITRAN2012光谱数据库最为接近.这表明,在动态扫描过程中激光器的线宽得到了展宽.     

基于F-P标准具的固体激光可调线宽控制技术

钠导星激光研制需激光线宽在一定范围内可调节。开展了F-P标准具压窄线宽数值模拟,设计一台高光束质量基横模线偏振激光输出全固态1064 nm激光器作为实验装置,结合激光器输出光谱特性进行计算。根据计算结果采用不同规格的单标准具、组合双标准具实现了激光线宽在0.75 ~2.83 GHz范围内的离散调节控制。在标准具未控温情况下,不同线宽时激光中心波长保持1064.58 nm,30 min内波长漂移量小于3 pm。     

Tunable, μs-pulsed ytterbium fiber laser system with a linewidth below 2.7 GHz

We report on a widely tunable, pulsed laser system with narrow spectral linewidth based on a continuous wave ytterbium fiber oscillator, a pulse shaper and a power amplifier stage. The system is tunable from 1055 nm to 1085 nm and provides a maximum pulse energy of 155 μJ with a pulse duration of 1-5 μs. The linewidth is less than 2.7 GHz over the whole tuning range.     

Widely tunable,narrow linewidth Tm: YAG ceramic laser with a volume Bragg grating

We report on a widely tunable, narrow linewidth operation of a Tm:YAG ceramic laser. A volume Bragg grating is used in the cavity as a folding mirror for wavelength selection. The wavelength is tuned from 1956.2 to1995 nm, leading to a total tuning range of 38.7 nm. The linewidth is around 0.1 nm over the whole tuning range. A maximum output power of 1.51 W at 1990.5 nm is achieved at 37.8 W absorbed pump power.Different saturation behaviors are observed in the laser performances at different wavelengths.     

All-fiber wavelength-swept laser near 2 μm

We report, for the first time to our knowledge, an all-fiber wavelength-swept Tm-doped laser based on a fiber Fabry-Perot tunable filter in the 2 μm spectral region. The laser wavelength can be continuously tuned over 200 nm from 1840 to 2040 nm in a short period of time. The demonstrated tuning speed was 12.5 μm/s with a tuning efficiency of 17.5 nm/V. The spectral linewidth of the laser was measured to be approximately 300 MHz or 0.01 cm(-1). This kind of laser can find potential applications in both high-resolution laser spectroscopy and tunable mid-IR generation via nonlinear frequency conversion.     

Development of a tunable IR lidar system

A differential absorption lidar system (DIAL) based on a continuously tunable optical parametric amplifier (OPA) pumped by a Nd : YAG laser (200 mJ at λ=355 nm) operating at a maximum pulse repetition rate of 100 Hz has been developed. The system provides continuously tunable coherent radiation in the Visible–near IR range (0.4–2.5 μm), allowing to perform DIAL measurements in a spectral region where most of atmospheric constituents and pollutants display absorption lines. The spectral width of the OPA system is line-narrowed by using a master oscillator dye laser as seeder, achieving a linewidth of 0.04 cm⁻¹ (FWHM), a spectral purity larger than 99% and a frequency stability better than 1 pm h⁻¹, with an output energy in the IR of 1–10 mJ. The OPA system was used to perform DIAL measurements in the lower troposphere. Preliminary results in terms of water vapor content and aerosol backscattering profiles are presented and discussed.     

Widely tunable Yb-doped laser with all fiber structure

In this paper, an all fiber Yb³⁺-doped fiber ring laser with large tuning range has been reported. A 976 nm laser diode (LD) pumped laser is used as the pump source and high concentration Yb³⁺-doped fiber is adopted as gain medium. Adjusting the polarization controller (PC), a widely tunable range of 20 nm from 1030 to 1050 nm is obtained. The spectral linewidth of the pulse is less than 0.2 nm. Comparing with other fiber laser structures, the fiber laser with an all-fiber structure has higher efficiency and better stability. The laser also has very stable and flat output within the whole tuning range.     

Waveband-switchable multiwavelength mixed-cascaded phosphosilicate raman fiber lasers

In this paper, the mixed-cascaded Raman scattering has been developed to investigate multiwavelength phosphosilicate Raman fiber lasers (MRFLs). With a tunable Yb³⁺-doped double-clad fiber laser (YDCFL) as the Raman pump source, we propose a compact and waveband-switchable (from the O- to U-band) MRFL using two- or three-mixed-cascaded Raman scattering of both SiO₂/GeO₂ and P₂O₅ in a P-doped fiber. We also confirm experimentally the feasibility of the proposed mixed-cascaded MRFL. When a 1064 nm YDCFL was used to pump a spool of 1-km P-doped fiber, the compact linear-cavity MRFLs in the O- and L-band operation were obtained, respectively, based on the two- and three-mixed cascaded Raman scattering. Up to 16-wavelength stable oscillation around 1320 nm has been observed with a spacing of 0.40 nm and an extinction ratio >30 dB. 12 lasing lines around 1601 nm have also been achieved with a spacing of 0.58 nm. The multiwavelength output powers as high as 108 and 138 mW were obtained in the O- and L-band operations, respectively. The wavelength spacing of the MRFLs is flexibly adjustable, and the peak wavelength of each lasing line is continuously tunable over the wavelength spacing. In addition, the important characteristics of the mixed-cascaded MRFLs, including the linewidth broadening, the signal-to-noise ratio and the conversion efficiency, are discussed.     

Broadly tunable,narrow linewidth dye laser emission in the near infrared

An efficient organic dye laser with a linewidth of less than 2 Å has been developed as a source of tunable high power radiation in the wavelength range 7500–9200 Å. Utilizing a 2 MW ruby laser pump, infrared output powers in excess of 200 kW have been attained for the range 7650–8900 Å with peak power levels above 400 kW. The tunning range for a single dye varies from 550 to 1030 Å.     

High-power, continuous-wave, singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on MgO:sPPLT

We report a high-power, widely tunable, cw singly resonant optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on MgO:sPPLT. The OPO is pumped in the green by a cw diode-pumped Nd:YVO(4) laser at 532 nm and can provide continuously tunable output across 848-1430 nm. Using a 30 mm crystal and double-pass pumping, an oscillation threshold of 2.88 W has been obtained, and single-pass idler powers in excess of 1.51 W have been generated over 1104-1430 nm for 6W of pump power at an extraction efficiency of 25.2% and photon conversion efficiency of 56.7%.     

Frequency-modulated, tunable, semiconductor-optical-amplifier-based fiber ring laser for linewidth and line shape control

We report how the linewidth and line shape of a tunable semiconductor-optical-amplifier-based fiber ring laser can be actively adjusted by applying an intracavity frequency modulation to the laser. Frequency-modulated laser operation is achieved by driving the phase modulator frequency close to the cavity axial-mode spacing, leading to a constant-amplitude laser output having a periodically varying instantaneous frequency. The resulting linewidth varies proportionally with the inverse of the frequency detuning, and it is adjustable from submegahertz to over more than 5 GHz. By appropriate selection of the modulating waveform we have synthesized a near-Gaussian output line shape; other line shapes can be produced by modifying the modulating waveform. Experimental observations are in good agreement with a simple model.     

157-nm coherent light source as an inspection tool for F(2) laser lithography

We have developed a 157-nm coherent light source by two-photon resonant four-wave mixing in Xe, with two tunable single-mode 1-kHz Ti:sapphire laser systems at 768 and 681 nm. This light source has been developed to determine the instrumental function of a vacuum ultraviolet spectrometer and to evaluate optical designs for ultra-line-narrowed F(2) laser lithography. The spectral linewidth of the source was less than 0.008 pm (FWHM), with an average power of 0.6 mW.     

Compact gas sensor using a pulsed difference-frequency laser spectrometer

We present a novel compact pulsed laser spectrometer based on difference-frequency mixing of a cw tunable external-cavity diode laser (795-825 nm) and a pulsed Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm) in bulk LiNbO(3) . The pulsed mid-IR source is continuously tunable from 3.16 to 3.67microm and exhibits a linewidth of only 154 MHz, a peak power of approximately 50microW , and a pulse duration of 6 ns at a 6.5-kHz repetition rate. Spectra of methane in room air and formaldehyde have been recorded at room-temperature operation in a multipass cell with deduced detection limits of 10 and 40 parts in 10(9) , respectively.     

C- and L-band tunable fiber ring laser using a two-taper Mach-Zehnder interferometer filter

A stable C- and L-band tunable fiber ring laser, using a two-taper Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) as a filter, is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. One of the two taper waists is mechanically bent to tune the laser wavelength. Being amplified by an L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier and an erbium-doped fiber, respectively, the fiber ring laser has a full L-band (1564-1605nm) and C-band (1550-1565nm) tuning range with a side-mode suppression ratio as high as 50dB. The laser linewidth and the minimum tuning step are related to the MZI's cavity length. It was also found that thermal annealing relieved the internal stresses of the tapers and greatly improved the laser performance.     

可调谐环形腔光纤光栅激光器

采用新颖的调谐方式,实现了可调谐光纤光栅环形腔激光器的运转,得到了稳定的可调谐,窄线宽激光输出,调谐范围为５．７ｎｍ,线宽小于０．１ｎｍ。     

Simultaneous two-wavelegth tunable dye laser with no mode competition and with a wavelength separation of more than 200 nm

A versatile simultaneous two-wavelength tunable dye laser is described. The two wavelengths are generated by means of a novel pumping arrangement which is suitable for operating with a linewidth between 0.001 nm and the broadband regime. There is no mode competition between the two wavelengths and the power ratio is continuously variable. If required, separate dyes can be used to generate the two wavelengths so facilitating a broad range of wavelength separations. Each wavelength is independently tunable but only one dispersive element is required in the cavity.     

向列相液晶染料可调谐激光器的研究

对向列相液晶染料的可调谐激光器进行了光学特性研究. 以650 nm为中 心波长设计了SiO₂和TiO₂多层膜的一维光子晶体, 以激光染料与向列相液晶的混合物作为增益介质层, 制备了波长可调谐激光器.用Nd: YAG倍频脉冲激光器输出的532 nm激光抽运所制备的激光器样品得出如下光学特性: 激光发射波长随温度调谐范围为605.5---639.8 nm, 达到34.3 nm, 随电压调谐范围为634.5---619.5 nm, 达到15 nm. 发射激光每脉冲的阈值能量为12.3 μJ, 激光线宽小于1 nm.