Three-level all-fiber laser at 915 nm based on polarization-maintaining Nd~(3+)-doped silica fiber

Nd3+-doped fiber lasers at around 900 nm based on the 4F3/2→4I9/2 transition have obtained much research attention since they can be used as the laser sources for generating pure blue fiber lasers through the frequency doubling.Here,an all-fiber laser at 915 nm was realized by polarization-maintaining Nd3+-doped silica fiber.A net gain per unit length of up to 1.0 dB/cm at 915 nm was obtained from a 4.5 cm fiber,which to our best knowledge is the highest gain coefficient reported in this kind of silica fiber.The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency varies with the active fiber length and the reflectivity of the output fiber Bragg grating(FBG),presenting an optimal value of 5.3%at 5.1 cm fiber length and 70%reflectivity of the low reflection FBG.Additionally,the linear distributed Bragg reflector short cavity was constructed to explore its potential in realizing single-frequency 915 nm fiber laser.The measurement result of longitudinal-mode properties shows it is still multi-longitudinal mode laser operation with 40 mm laser cavity.These results indicate that the Nd3+-doped silica fiber could be used to realize all-fiber laser at 915 nm,which presents potential to be the seed source of high-power fiber laser.     

Guiding properties of proton-implanted Nd~(3+)-doped phosphate glass waveguides

We report on the fabrication and properties of an optical waveguide in Nd~(3+)-doped phosphate glass. The planar waveguide was obtained by 550-ke V proton implantation with a dose of 8.0×10~(16) ions/cm~2. The proton–glass interaction was simulated by the stopping and range of ions in matter(SRIM software). The characteristics of the waveguide including the refractive index profile and the near-field intensity distribution were studied by the reflectivity calculation method and the end-face coupling technique. The optical waveguide demonstrated multi-mode behavior at the wavelength of 632.8 nm.The propagation features of the proton-implanted Nd~(3+)-doped phosphate glass waveguide shows its potential to operate as an integrated photonic device.     

1 kW peak power passively Q-switched Nd(3+)-doped glass integrated waveguide laser

Embedded optical sensors always require more compact, stable, and powerful laser sources. In this Letter, we present a fully integrated passively Q-switched laser, which has been realized by a Ag(+)/Na(+) ion exchange on a Nd(3+)-doped phosphate glass. A BDN-doped cellulose acetate thick film is deposited on the waveguide, acting as an upper cladding and providing a distributed saturable absorption. At λ=1054 nm, the device emits pulses of 1.3 ns FWHM with a repetition rate of 28 kHz. These performances, coupled with the 1 kW peak power, are promising for applications such as supercontinuum generation.     

1514 nm eye-safe passively Q-switched self-optical parametric oscillator based on Nd~(3+)-doped MgO:PPLN

We examined a 1514 nm eye-safe passively Q-switched self-optical parametric oscillator. The nonlinear crystal is an a-cut Nd:MgO:PPLN crystal, and the size of the crystal was 6 mm × 2 mm × 30 mm with 0.4 at.%Nd~(3+) doped and a grating period of 29.8 μm. When the crystal absorbed 12.8 W, the output maximum singlepulse energy reached 39 μJ, and a pulse width of 6.1 ns at a repetition rate of 5.4 kHz was obtained.The peak power was 6 kW, giving a slope efficiency of 42%.     

国产掺Nd3+透明薄片陶瓷的光学性能研究

研究了国产透明陶瓷Nd∶YAG和Nd∶YSAG的光学和激光性能.介绍了透明陶瓷Nd∶YAG和Nd∶YSAG的制作方法及其光谱性能,报道了相应的激光实验结果.对于Nd∶YAG薄片激光器,得到了中心波长1 064.2 nm,半高全宽为0.89 nm的激光输出,泵浦阈值功率0.267 W,最大激光输出功率0.319 W.对于Nd∶YSAG薄片激光器,由于荧光寿命比较长,可实现高掺杂,输出激光的中心波长为1 063.8 nm,半高全宽为1.6 nm,最大激光输出功率为0.356 W,斜率效率达23.2％,结果证明国产Nd∶YSAG陶瓷适用于短脉冲薄片激光器.     

Soliton mode-locked fiber laser with high-quality MBE-grown Bi_2Se_3 film

In this work, a soliton mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser(EDFL) with a high-quality molecular beam epitaxy(MBE)-grown topological insulator(TI) Bi_2Se_3 saturable absorber(SA) is reported. To fabricate the SA device, a 16-layer Bi_2Se_3 film was grown successfully on a 100 μm thick SiO_2 substrate and sandwiched directly between two fiber ferrules. The TI-SA had a saturable absorption of 1.12% and a saturable influence of 160 MW/cm~2.After inserting the TI-SA into the unidirectional ring-cavity EDFL, self-starting mode-locked soliton pulse trains were obtained at a fundamental repetition rate of 19.352 MHz. The output central wavelength, pulse energy,pulse duration, and signal to noise ratio of the radio frequency spectrum were 1530 nm,18.5 p J, 1.08 ps, and 60d Bm, respectively. These results demonstrate that the MBE technique could provide a controllable and repeatable method for the fabrication of identical high-quality TI-SAs, which is critically important for ultra-fast pulse generation.     

Yb-doped passively mode-locked fiber laser with Bi_2Te_3-deposited

In this study we present an all-normal-dispersion Yb-doped fiber laser passively mode-locked with topological insulator(Bi2Te3) saturable absorber. The saturable absorber device is fabricated by depositing Bi2Te3 on a tapered fiber through using pulsed laser deposition(PLD) technology, which can give rise to less non-saturable losses than most of the solution processing methods. Owing to the long interaction length, Bi2Te3 is not exposed to high optical power, which allows the saturable absorber device to work in a high power regime. The modulation depth of this kind of saturable absorber is measured to be 10%. By combining the saturable absorber device with Yb-doped fiber laser, a mode-locked pulse operating at a repetition rate of 19.8 MHz is achieved. The 3-d B spectral width and pulse duration are measured to be 1.245 nm and317 ps, respectively.     

Stable and widely tunable all-fiber Pr(3+)-doped cw laser system using fiber Bragg gratings

A simple and strictly all-fiber 1300-nm cw laser is presented. It is tunable over 16 nm with 0.5-nm linewidth and several milliwatts of output power in the whole tuning range from 1292 to 1308 nm. The setup uses a fiber Bragg grating as a combined tuning element and narrow-band output mirror. The simplicity and stability of this system are due to the following two characteristics: First, polarization control is not necessary anywhere in the system, and second, a wavelength-selective system and a narrow-band mirror are combined into one novel fiber-optic element.     

Efficient 521 nm all-fiber laser: splicing Pr(3+)-doped ZBLAN fiber to end-coated silica fiber

We demonstrated a green all-fiber laser by splicing both ends of a Pr(3+)-doped ZBLAN fiber to silica fibers, whose ends were coated with a dielectric thin film. The output power and the slope efficiency were 322 mW and 53%, respectively, and the coupled pump power of the two blue GaN pump lasers in the silica fiber core was 652 mW. We estimated that the damage threshold of the spliced structure was at least 21 MW/cm2. This splicing technique should be applicable for other wavelengths and glass fibers having low melting temperatures.     

Femtosecond Tm-Ho co-doped fiber laser using a bulk-structured Bi_2Se_3 topological insulator

We experimentally demonstrate a femtosecond mode-locked thulium-holmium(Tm-Ho) co-doped fiber laser incorporating a saturable absorber(SA) based on a bulk-structured bismuth selenide(Bi_2Se_3) topological insulator(TI). The SA was prepared by depositing a mechanically exfoliated Bi_2Se_3 TI layer onto a side-polished optical fiber platform. Unlike high-quality nano-structured Bi_2Se_3 TI-based SA, bulk-structured Bi_2Se_3 with non-negligible oxidation was used as a saturable absorption material for this experimental demonstration due to its easy fabrication process. The saturation power and modulation depth of the prepared SA were measured to be ~ 28.6 W and ~13.4%, respectively. By incorporating the prepared SA into a Tm-Ho co-doped fiber ring cavity, stable soliton pulses with a temporal width of ~ 853 fs could be generated at 1912.12 nm. The 3-dB bandwidth of the mode-locked pulse was measured to be ~4.87 nm. This experimental demonstration reaffirms that Bi_2Se_3 is a superb base material for mid-infrared passive mode-locking even under oxidation.     

Er~(3+)-doped fluorogallate glass for mid-infrared applications

We report an Er3t-doped fluorogallate glass with good thermal and chemical stability. The low maximum phonon energy and high mid-infrared(IR) transmittance of the glass are confirmed by Raman and IR spectra,respectively. Based on Judd–Ofelt theory, intensity parameters and radiative properties are determined from the absorption and emission spectra. The proposed glass possesses a large fluorescence branching ratio β(21.71%) and a maximum stimulated emission cross-section σemof Er3t:4I11∕2→4I13∕2transition at 2.71 μm(1.04 × 10-20cm2). The results indicate that it can be potentially applied in high-power 2.7 μm fiber lasers.     

Er^3＋／Yb^3＋掺杂全光纤环形激光器

本文报道利用Er~(3+)/Yb~(3+)掺杂单模光纤首次研制成功的环形谐振腔结构的可调谐(调谐范围宽于70nm)全光纤激光器的设计原理及其实验结果.     

Transport properties of doped Bi_2Se_3 and Bi_2Te_3 topological insulators and heterostructures

In this review article, the recent experimental and theoretical research progress in Bi_2Se_3-and Bi_2Te_3-based topological insulators is presented, with a focus on the transport properties and modulation of the transport properties by doping with nonmagnetic and magnetic elements. The electrical transport properties are discussed for a few different types of topological insulator heterostructures, such as heterostructures formed by Bi_2Se_3-and Bi_2Te_3-based binary/ternary/quaternary compounds and superconductors, nonmagnetic and magnetic metals, or semiconductors.     

Synthesis and magnetotransport properties of Bi_2Se_3 nanowires

Bi_2Se_3, as a three-dimensional topological insulator, has attracted worldwide attention for its unique surface states which are protected by time-reversal symmetry. Here we report the synthesis and characterization of high-quality singlecrystalline Bi_2Se_3 nanowires. Bi_2Se_3 nanowires were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition(CVD) method via goldcatalyzed vapor-liquid-solid(VLS) mechanism. The structure and morphology were characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), and Raman spectroscopy. In magnetotransport measurements, the Aharonov–Bohm(AB) effect was observed in a nanowire-based nanodevice, suggesting the existence of surface states in Bi_2Se_3 nanowires.     

Up-conversion luminescence tuning in Er~(3+) -doped ceramic glass by femtosecond laser pulse at different laser powers

The up-conversion luminescence tuning of rare-earth ions is an important research topic for understanding luminescence mechanisms and promoting related applications. In this paper, we experimentally study the up-conversion luminescence tuning of Er~(3+)-doped ceramic glass excited by the unshaped, V-shaped and cosine-shaped femtosecond laser field with different laser powers. The results show that green and red up-conversion luminescence can be effectively tuned by varying the power or spectral phase of the femtosecond laser field. We further analyze the up-conversion luminescence tuning mechanism by considering different excitation processes, including single-photon absorption(SPA), two-photon absorption(TPA), excited state absorption(ESA), and energy transfer up-conversion(ETU). The relative weight of TPA in the whole excitation process can increase with the increase of the laser power, thereby enhancing the intensity ratio between green and red luminescence(I_(547)/I_(656)). However, the second ETU(ETU2) process can generate red luminescence and reduce the green and red luminescence intensity ratio I_(547)/I_(656), while the third ESA(ESA3) process can produce green luminescence and enhance its control efficiency. Moreover, the up-conversion luminescence tuning mechanism is further validated by observing the up-conversion luminescence intensity, depending on the laser power and the down-conversion luminescence spectrum under the excitation of 400-nm femtosecond laser pulse. These studies can present a clear physical picture that enables us to understand the up-conversion luminescence tuning mechanism in rare-earth ions, and can also provide an opportunity to tune up-conversion luminescence to promote its related applications.     

Practical low-noise stretched-pulse Yb(3+)-doped fiber laser

We report on the development of what we consider to be a practical and highly stable stretched-pulse laser based on Yb(3+) -doped silica fiber. The Fabry-Perot cavity uses nonlinear polarization rotation as the mode-locking mechanism, and a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror to ensure robust self-starting and incorporates a diffraction grating pair to compensate for the normal dispersion of the fiber. Use of a single-mode grating-stabilized telecommunications-qualified pump laser diode ensures reliable, low-noise operation (~0.05% amplitude fluctuations at 10-Hz measurement bandwidth). The laser generates high-quality, 60-pJ pulses of <110-fs duration at a repetition rate of ~54 MHz (3-mW average power).     

Er~(3+),Yb~(3+):glass-Co~(2+):MgAl_2O_4 diffusion bonded passively Q-switched laser

A Co~(2+):spinel passively Q-switched erbium-ytterbium-phosphate glass bonded laser pumped at 940 nm is reported.A pulse energy of 210 μJ, a peak power over 70 kW, and beam quality M~2 parameter of 1.2 are obtained under a pump power of 235 mW. An unbonded laser output experiment with the same dimension of the active material and the saturable absorber as the bonded laser output experiment is carried out. The reason why the output in the bonded laser is improved is determined.     

飞秒被动锁模环形腔掺Er3＋光纤激光器

在考虑增益、损耗、群速度色散、自相位调制、快速可饱和吸收体等各种参数同时作用情况下，分析了非线性偏振旋转效应自启动锁模机理，研究了腔体参数与锁模脉冲之间的关系，并给出飞秒被动锁模环形腔掺Er3＋光纤激光器实验原理。实验采用性能稳定的980nm半导体激光器作为抽运源，高掺杂短长度掺Er3＋光纤作为增益介质，利用非线性偏振旋转锁模技术，得到了稳定的飞秒自起振锁模光脉冲。抽运功率为23mW时，激光器输出锁模脉冲中心波长1552nm，3dB带宽为7.6nm，重复频率14.0MHz，平均输出功率0.43mW，自起振锁模泵浦阈值功率11.5mW,并观测到了稳定的高阶锁模脉冲输出。该激光器与报道过的相同结构光纤激光器相比,自起振泵浦阈值低、脉冲能量高、稳定性好，且频谱边带幅度小。     

High-power MoTe_2-based passively Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser

Materials in the transition metal dichalcogenide family, including WS_2, MoS_2, WSe_2, and MoSe_2, etc., have captured a substantial amount of attention due to their remarkable nonlinearities and optoelectronic properties.Compared with WS_2 and MoS_2, the monolayered MoTe_2 owns a smaller direct bandgap of 1.1 eV. It is beneficial for the applications in broadband absorption. In this letter, using the magnetron sputtering technique, MoTe_2 is deposited on the surface of the tapered fiber to be assembled into the saturable absorber. We first implement the MoTe_2-based Q-switched fiber laser operating at the wavelength of 1559 nm. The minimum pulse duration and signal-to-noise ratio are 677 ns and 63 dB, respectively. Moreover, the output power of 25 mW is impressive compared with previous work. We believe that MoTe_2 is a promising 2D material for ultrafast photonic devices in the high-power Q-switched fiber lasers.     

Thermal characteristics of Nd~(3 )-doped fiber ring laser pumped by Ti:sapphire tunable laser

A Nd(3 )-doped fiber ring laser pumped by a CW Ti:sapphire tunable laser is reported. The characteristics of the system are studied for the first time at 77K and 300K. The results show a lower threshold and a higher slope efficiency at 77K than that at 300K. Applications of the Nd~(3 )-doped fiber ring laser in a multiplexing fiber sensor system and a fiber-ring-laser type temperature sensor are discussed.