A microring multimode laser using hollow polymer optical fibre

We report the observation of multimode laser operation at wavelengths corresponding to whispering-gallery modes from a freestanding microring cavity based on rhodamine B dye-doped PMMA hollow optical fibre. Cylindrical microcavities with diameters 155, 340 and 615 μm were fabricated from a dye-doped hollow polymer optical fibre preform. An average mode spacing of 0.17 nm was observed for the 340 μm cavity. This shows that the laser mode intensity distribution is concentrated on the outer edge of the cavity.     

Organic dye-doped polymer films for optical phase-conjugate processing

Erythrosin B-doped polyvinyl alcohol (EB/PVA) film, a methyl-orange-doped polyvinyl alcohol (MO/PVA) film and a (EB+MO)/PVA film serve as not only phase conjugators but also hologram-recording media. A phase-conjugate (PC) wave is generated even when a probe wave is linear-polarized orthogonal to the pump polarization direction. Using these dye-doped films, we demonstrate optical PC processing for detecting the phase and amplitude difference between two objects and a moving or time-varying object in a backward degenerate four-wave mixing arrangement.     

Gain studies of Coumarin 503 dye-doped polymer laser

Solid-state dye doped polymer is an attractive alternative to the conventional liquid dye solution. In this paper, the laser characteristics of Coumarin 503 (C503) doped polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) rods modified with ethyl alcohol (EtOH) are studied under nitrogen laser excitation in a transverse pumping configuration and the variation of gain of the dye in solid medium for different pumping powers is studied. The gain of Coumarin 503 in solid medium is compared with the gain of Coumarin 503 in liquid medium and it is found that the gain of the dyes in the solid environment is less than that in the liquid environment. The photobleaching of dye in polymer medium under nitrogen laser excitation is also studied by keeping the rod in a fixed position and by rotating the rod about its cylindrical axis. It is found that the photobleaching rate is faster when the rod is in a fixed position.     

Amplified spontaneous emission and laser emission from a high optical-gain medium of dye-doped dendrimer

We measured the amplified spontaneous emission and laser emission from high-gain media of laser-dye encapsulated dendrimers. A highly branched poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM-OH) dendrimer formed a guest-host complex with a conventional laser-dye (DCM), resulting in a high optical-gain. Of particular note was the appearance of a laser threshold, above which a super-narrowed laser spectrum was observed, although laser feedback was caused without any mirror cavity devices. The optical feedback was attributed to spatial confinement of the light due to gain guiding under optical excitation. The laser spectrum clearly indicated a resonant laser-mode with a spectrum linewidth of less than 0.1 nm. This order of spectrum narrowing is comparable to that seen in the laser emission from ordinary laser devices.     

Change in optical path length of saturable absorbing dye-doped polymer films under laser irradiation

The cause of the change in the optical path lengthΔ(nd) of the saturable absorbing dye-doped polymer films under laser irradiation is investigated using polyvinyl alcohol and gelatin films doped with erythrosin B. The temperature rise of the dye-doped films, the changes in optical path length, film thickness, the refractive index and the optical density of the dye-doped films are measured under laser irradiation. The thermal expansion due to the temperature rise of the dye-doped films caused by the irradiation has greater effect on theΔ(nd) than the fading of dye molecules due to the irradiation of laser beams.     

Multimode semiconductor laser with selective optical feedback

We study a multimode semiconductor laser subject to moderate selective optical feedback. The steady state of the laser is destabilized by a Hopf bifurcation and exhibits a period-doubling route to chaos. We also show the existence of a heteroclinic connection between a saddle node and an unstable focus that can be associated with experimentally observed multimode low-frequency fluctuations. This heteroclinic connection coexists with a chaotic attractor resulting from the period-doubling process.     

Hybrid near-field optical memory and photofabrication in dye-doped polymer film

A hybrid near-field fluorescence microscopy, which combines near-field scanning optical microscopy and photon scanning tunneling microscopy, is demonstrated for nanoscale optical memory and photofabrication on spin-coated dye-doped polymer films. Storage capacity and readout signal-to-noise ratio with near-field one-photon and two-photon excitations are studied.     

Analysis and design of a dye-doped polymer optical fiber amplifier

A rhodamine-B-doped polymer optical fiber amplifier (RBDPOFA) has been successfully fabricated and tested. In this paper, all parameters affecting the gain of the RBDPOFA are recognized. The time-dependent and time-independent rate equations are solved. By using Runge–Kutta and finite-element methods, different conditions are described and fluctuations of the fiber laser are analyzed. From the time-dependent rate equations, the gain and level-density variations with time can be predicted. These fiber amplifiers have unstable conditions. In experiments, the decay of dye dopants in the high pump power regime has been observed. For example, in a high pump power rhodamine-B is converted from the zwitterion isomer to the colorless lactone isomer [1]. Therefore, for complete coincidence of theoretical and experimental results, this effect must be included in the analysis, which is however beyond the scope of this paper and will be discussed in the near future. PACS 42.60.Da; 42.81.Wg; 31.15.Fx; 33.80.-b; 42.55.WdAn erratum to this article can be found at     

Extruded high-NA microstructured polymer optical fibre

We report on use of billet ram extrusion for the first time to fabricate microstructured polymer optical fiber preforms. The shape and relative size of the air holes in the preform are well preserved during fiber drawing. Extrusion conditions have been optimized to prevent issues such as die swell and thermal degradation of the polymer material.     

Polymer optical fibre Bragg gratings based fibre laser

For the first time the fibre laser constructed from a polymer optical fibre Bragg grating is reported. The single frequency laser with the peak power of −5 dBm and signal to noise ratio greater than 45 dB has been achieved. Further examination demonstrates the excellent characteristics of the fibre laser. First, the fibre laser can be easily tuned over 35 nm by the simple axial tension method. Second, the fibre laser has the high strain sensitivity of 1.48 pm/με with the dynamic measurement range as large as 2.37%.     

Stable frequency doubling by all-optical poling in dye-doped polymer optical fibers

We present experimental studies of all-optical poling (AOP) in large-core dye-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) plastic optical fibers. We show that the confinement of light within the fiber core permits us to reach the upper limit of second harmonic generation achievable by AOP using repeated trans-cis isomerization. Quantification of the output power indicates self-seeding that can counteract relaxation of the orientation during readout of the induced nonlinearity.     

Characteristics of color optical shutter with dye-doped polymer network liquid crystal

The optical properties and the theoretical prediction of color optical shutter with dye-doped polymer network liquid crystal (PNLC) were investigated. The view-angle dependence of reflectance according to the bias conditions showed distinctive characteristics, which could be explained from the effects of dye absorption and path length. It was also shown that the thickness dependence of reflectance was strongly influenced by the light-scattering coefficient. Our experimental results matched up well with the theoretical prediction based on the light scattering of liquid crystals in polymer network and the absorption of dichroic dye. This work indicates potential to improve the optical device using dye-doped liquid crystal-polymer composite.     

Coherent control of optical emission from a conjugated polymer

We have observed that resonant Rayleigh scattering dominates the emission from poly(p-phenylene vinylene) excited with photons at energies below the threshold at which excitonic migration is reduced. The intensity of the resonant emission decays exponentially with a lifetime of up to 450 fs after pulsed excitation. The coherent nature of the emission was confirmed by angular variations in the far-field emission intensity-bright and dark speckles. Persistence of a coherent polarization was demonstrated by coherent control using phase-locked pulses.     

Blue amplified spontaneous emission from a stilbenoid-compound-doped polymer optical fiber

We report on the fabrication and characteristics of a step-index glass-clad polymer optical fiber that uses a novel fluorescent stilbenoid compound for lasing and amplification applications. The compound, 1, 4-bis(4-diphenyl-amino-styryl)-benzene, is specifically designed for the blue region of the spectrum and has a very high quantum yield of 0.85 in a solid-state polymer host and a large Stokes shift. Significant spectral narrowing and superlinear increase of output intensity are observed under photoexcitation at 355 nm, which are indicative of the occurrence of amplified spontaneous emission. By means of gain spectroscopy, a large optical gain of up to 36 cm(-1) at 494 nm has been obtained for the fiber when it is transversely photoexcited at 12 mJ/cm(2) . The waveguide loss has been measured to be 0.7 cm(-1) at 494 nm. The demonstration of high gain and low waveguide loss has favorable implications for the construction of a very compact, tunable coherent light source.     

Lasing emission of dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal microdroplet wrapped by polyglycerol in hollow glass microsphere

In this Letter,a dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal(DDCLC)-filled hollow glass microsphere is demonstrated to be a resonator with good temperature response.A diglycerol layer is used to wrap the DDCLCs microdroplet to keep it steady and control its orientation.The whispering gallery mode(WGM)lasing and photonic band gap(PBG)lasing caused by two different mechanisms were obtained under the pump of a pulsed laser,and the temperature response of these two kinds of lasing was studied.For the liquid crystal and chiral material used in this Letter,both the WGM lasing and the PBG lasing have a blue shift in wavelength with increasing temperature.     

Femtosecond photon echo in a dye-doped polymer film and the possibility of coherent optical cooling

The signals of primary and stimulated femtosecond photon echoes are investigated in a dye-doped polymer film at room temperature. The homogeneous S ₀ → S ₁ spectral line width, which is due to the interaction between the impurity molecules and the quasi-local low-frequency modes, is estimated (≈5 × 10¹² Hz). Special attention is paid to the study of spectra of femtosecond echo signals. The short-wave shifts of these spectra, with respect to the spectrum of femtosecond exciting pulses, are observed. These shifts indicate that the anti-Stokes regime of femtosecond pulse emission is realized. Therefore, the coherent regime of laser cooling of solids appears to be possible. The prospects of using of this new cooling regime in the function of a solid-state optical refrigerator are discussed.     

X-ray spectra of multiply-charged hollow ions in the emission from a femtosecond laser plasma

A new type of quasicontinuous emission spectrum from a femtosecond laser plasma near the Ly_α line of H-like ions is obtained and interpreted. It is shown that these spectra are emitted by multiply charged hollow ions, which are present in the plasma on account of its ultrahigh density, which, in turn, is due to the use of high-contrast laser pulses for producing the plasma. A new spectroscopic approach based on analysis of the composition of spectral complexes of hollow ions is discussed. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 67, No. 7, 467–472 (10 April 1998)     

基于透射式液晶/聚合物光栅的分布反馈式激光器的研究

本文研究了染料掺杂透射式液晶/聚合物光栅的制备以及基于透射式液晶/聚合物光栅的分布反馈式激光器的激光特性.实验选取DCM作为激光染料,制备了周期为586 nm的掺杂DCM的透射式液晶/聚合物光栅;使用532 nm输出的Nd ∶YAG倍频脉冲激光器作为抽运光源对染料掺杂液晶/聚合物光栅进行侧面抽运,得到了中心波长为603 nm的窄线宽、低阈值激光输出.激光线宽为1.4 nm、阈值能量约为17.3 μJ,与之前国外的报道相比,阈值能量有了很大幅度的降低. 关键词： 液晶/聚合物光栅 分布反馈式激光器 阈值 线宽     

Anti-Stokes femtosecond photon echo in dye-doped polymer films and the possibility of coherent optical cooling

An anti-Stokes model is proposed to explain the known experimental data on the femtosecond photon echo in dye-doped polymer films at room temperature. The possibility of implementing the anti-Stokes mode of coherent laser cooling of such films is analyzed.