Characteristics of pulse fiber amplifier with China-made LMA fiber and (6+1)×1 multimode combiner

A pulse master-oscillator fiber power amplifier system with china-made large-mode-area fiber and a (6+1)×1 multimode combiner is demonstrated. The system generates up to 4.8 W of amplified radiation (100 kHz) at a wavelength of 1064 nm with a near-diffraction-limited beam quality (M²=1.2), and the overall slope efficiency with respect to the launched pump power is 50%. Some basic characteristics of this system, including the pulse-amplification characteristics, the gain characteristics, as well as the emission spectrum characteristics are investigated in detail.     

Comparative study of continuous wave Tm<Superscript>3+</Superscript>-doped silica and fluoride fiber lasers

We compare Tm³⁺-doped silica and fluoride fiber lasers in continuous wave operation using the same experimental setup. For incident pump powers of up to 50 W, the fluoride fiber is shown to have higher output power and efficiency compared to silica and reaches a maximum output power of 20 W at 1.94 μm. A slope efficiency of 49% (41%) and a maximum optical-to-optical efficiency of 45% (35%) at an incident pump power of 25 W (37 W) were determined for the fluoride (silica) fibers, respectively. These optical-to-optical efficiencies are the highest reported for directly diode-pumped Tm³⁺-based fiber lasers. We establish that in free-running mode, fiber lasers using fluoride glass are temporally more stable than fiber lasers using a silica host. PACS 42.55.Wd; 42.55.Xi; 42.60.Mi; 42.70.Hj     

CW single transverse mode all-fiber Tm3+-doped silica fiber laser

The CW 25.6 W output power with a slope efficiency of 30.6% respected to the pump power from a CW single transverse mode all-fiber Tm³⁺-doped Silica Fiber Laser is reported. The all-fiber laser is made up by progressively splicing the pigtail fiber, matched FBG fiber and Tm fiber. The reflective FBG and Tm³⁺-doped fiber end Fresnel reflection build up the laser resonance cavity. Due to the multi-mode FBG as the reflective mirror, the output laser spectrum is multi-peaks at high output power, but the spectrum width is less than 2 nm at 1.94 μm. We estimate the beam quality to be M ² = 2.39, clearly indicating nearly diffraction-limited beam propagation.     

Priority-based parameter optimization strategy for reducing the effects of four-wave mixing on WDM system

In order to meet the ultra high speed and ultra long-haul transmission distance in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems, the nonlinear impairment affecting the overall spectral efficiency and system performance should be minimized. This paper proposes a strategy to mitigate the four-wave mixing (FWM) effect in WDM system. The strategy determines the effect of both single and combined effects of second, third, and fourth optimization priority parameters such as fiber length, input power, dispersion, channel spacing, and effective area on FWM power. A comparison study was made under different types of optical fiber such as single-mode fiber (SMF), dispersion shifted fiber, non-zero dispersion fiber, and non-zero dispersion shifted fiber. In addition, the system performance in term of bit-error-rate was calculated in the case of single priority (impact of effective area) and combined priority (impact of effective area, input power, fiber length and channel spacing). The results show that the FWM effect was reduced based on the transmission parameters order of optimization, i.e., priority selection proposed. Moreover, the results indicated that increasing sequentially the effective area, fiber length; channel spacing and decreasing the input power provide the most significant sequence in suppressing the effects of FWM. This priority sequence brought the suppression ratio to approximately 26.3% in SMF, which suppressed the FWM effects up to −50 dBm. In term of BER; the combined priority introduces improvement in BER of 2.31 × 10⁻²⁵ in comparison with single priority that has value of BER 4 × 10⁻¹⁴. Finally, this work suggests that the proposed priority-based parameter optimization strategy is an ideal solution for optimum performance of WDM system.     

Linearly-polarized Tm-doped double-clad fiber laser

We report a linearly polarized Tm doped fiber laser. The fiber laser was set up by using a piece of polarization maintaining Tm doped double clad fiber of 5 m length as gain medium and a polarization beam splitter as a polarization selector. The fiber laser was pumped by a fiber pigtailed laser diode working at 790 nm with a maximum output power of 90 W. The linearly polarized Tm laser operated at wavelength around 2030 nm. A maximum output power up to 21.9 W was achieved when the pump power was 63.27 W with a threshold of 11.92 W, a slope efficiency of about 43.7%, and a polarization extinction ratio of 92.7% (11.37 dB). In addition to the blue fluorescence, we also observed the violet fluorescence under high pump power level. The up-conversion fluorescence was considered to be attributed to the ¹ G ₄ → ³ H ₆, and ¹ D ₂ → ³ F ₄ transitions of Tm ions, respectively.     

All-fiber clad-pumped Tm3+-doped fiber amplifier using high power fiber combiner

The diode laser (LD) clad-pumped 1947.6 nm continuous wave (CW) Tm³⁺-doped fiber amplifier is reported using the master oscillation power amplifier (MOPA) method. The injected seed laser is provided by an all-fiber LD-clad-pumped Tm³⁺-doped single-mode fiber laser, which has a nearly 2.4 W maximal output power and 0.1 nm ultra-narrow linewidth based on the intracore reflection FBG. Using the 25/400 μm double-clad LMA Tm³⁺-doped fiber as the gain fiber, the output maximal output power is 30.6 W from the fiber amplifier, with a slope efficiency of 39.1% respected to the LD total output power. A high power multi-mode fiber combiner is used to couple high power LD light into the gain fiber. The output wavelength is also located at 1947.6 nm, with the slightly expanded laser linewidth of 0.2 nm.     

Impact of extinction ratio of single arm sin LiNbO3 Mach-Zehnder modulator on the performance of 10 and 20 Gb/s NRZ optical communication system

We investigate the impact of extinction ratio of single arm sin² LiNbO₃ Mach-Zehnder (MZ) amplitude modulator on the performance of 10 and 20 Gb/s single-channel optical communication system. For different fiber lengths, the system performance has been analyzed with the increase in the extinction ratio. The effect of variation in dispersion parameter has also been illustrated. The impact of extinction ratio (ζ), dispersion parameter and length of the fiber has been further optimized with minimum bit error rate (BER) at optimal decision threshold (10⁻⁹) for 10 and 20 Gb/s bit rate. It is found that the system gives optimum performance at extinction ratio (ζ) value 20 dB. The increase in the transmission distance from 468 km for 10 Gb/s to 532 km for 20 Gb/s has been reported, and 8 dB improvement in the Q value has been observed as the value of ζ is increased from 10 to 20 dB. At 20 Gb/s, the system gives optimum performance for dispersion parameter value only up to 4 ps/nm km; however, at 10 Gb/s the system can operate for dispersion values up to 14.3 ps/nm km. Further we investigate the self-phase modulation (SPM) effect for the increase in the input power. It is observed that the SPM effect is negligible below 3 dB m input power and it increases at higher power levels.     

LD-clad-pumped nanosecond Tm<Superscript>3+</Superscript> doped silica fiber amplifier at 1.99 μm

ALD-clad-pumped nanosecond Tm³⁺ doped silica fiber amplifier was reported that provided up to a 2-W average power output with a slope efficiency of 48.6% with respect to the absorbed pumped power. The input signal central wavelength was at 1.99 μm, with a 119.5-ns pulse duration and 5-kHz repeat rates. The pump sources were a 793-nm LD output with a 400-μm pigtail fiber. The gain fiber was D-shaped Tm³⁺ doped silica double-clad fiber with a diameter of 27.5/400 μm. The output amplified pulse and spectrum were in accordance with the input signal. This is the first report to the authors’ knowledge on the general experimental investigation of a LD-clad-pumped Tm³⁺ doped silica nanosecond-fiber amplifier at 1.99 μm.     

Holmium-doped fluoride fiber laser at 2950 nm pumped at 1175 nm

We report a single-mode, highly stable, continuous-wave Ho³⁺: ZBLAN fiber laser. The system was pumped by a 1175-nm fiber Raman laser and emitted at ～2950 nm. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency was 43% that is the highest reported in the literature. Characterizations revealed a quasigaussian intensity profile with a power stability of less than 1%. This high stability relies on the single-wavelength emission of the system because the system does not require simultaneous oscillation at 2100 nm. Coincidence between the emission wavelength and the absorption peak of water makes the system suitable to replace a high-power (～9.34-W) Er³⁺: ZBLAN fiber laser for cutting materials with high moisture content.     

Transmission performance of 20 × 10 Gb/s WDM signals using cascaded optimized SOAs with OOK and DPSK modulation formats

We investigated 20 channels at 10 Gb/s wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmission over 1190 km single mode fiber and dispersion compensating fiber using cascaded inline semiconductor optical amplifier at a span of 70 km for RZ-DPSK (return zero differential phase-shift keying) modulation format by using same channel spacing, i.e. 100 GHz. We show for RZ-OOK (return zero on-off keying) format a transmission distance of up to 1050 km with Q factor more than 15 dB, without any power drops. We developed the SOA model for inline amplifier having minimum cross-talks and ASE (amplified spontaneous emission) noise power with sufficient gain. At optimal bias current of 400 mA, a high constant gain of 36.5 dB is obtained up to a saturation power of 21.36 mW. So reduction of cross-talk and distortion is possible by decreasing the bias current at appropriate amplification factor.The DPSK modulation format has less cross-talk as compared to OOK format for nonlinearities and saturation case. The impact of optical power received and Q factor at different distance for both RZ-OOK and RZ-DPSK modulation format has been illustrated. We have shown the optical spectrum and clear Eye diagram at the transmission distance of 1190 km in RZ-DPSK system and 1050 km in RZ-OOK systems.The bit error rate (BER) for all channels observed is less than 10⁻¹⁰ up to gain saturation for both DPSK and OOK systems. Finally, we investigated that the transmission distance decreases with a decrease in channel spacing of up to 20 GHz.     

A 750-mW,continuous-wave,solid-state laser source at 313 nm for cooling and manipulating trapped <Superscript>9</Superscript>Be<Superscript>+</Superscript> ions

We present a solid-state laser system that generates 750 mW of continuous-wave, single-frequency output at 313 nm. Sum-frequency generation with fiber lasers at 1550 and 1051 nm produces up to 2 W at 626 nm. This visible light is then converted to ultraviolet by cavity-enhanced second-harmonic generation. The laser output can be tuned over a 495-GHz range, which includes the ⁹Be⁺ laser cooling and repumping transitions. This is the first report of a narrow-linewidth laser system with sufficient power to perform fault-tolerant quantum-gate operations with trapped ⁹Be⁺ ions by use of stimulated Raman transitions.     

Theoretical calculation of beam quality factor of large-mode-area fiber amplifiers

In order to evaluate a fiber amplifier’s output beam quality, we have explored the beam quality factor calculation. A theoretical beam quality factor calculation method is presented in this paper. The method bases on modal power decomposition, laser rate equations and Fourier diffraction theory. Through the rate equations, each modal power weight factor at the fiber output facet is obtained. By the modal power decomposition, the optical field at the fiber output facet is established. Finally, running Fourier transformation, the beam diverging state in free space and corresponding M ² parameter are obtained. The calculation process is verified with applying it to working out the beam M ² parameters of large-mode-area (LMA) fiber amplifier system under different conditions. The numerical results help us well know and predict the out beam property. Some obtained results are also accord with other reporting outcomes.     

High power, high energy nanosecond pulsed fiber amplifier with a 20-μm-core fiber

We report on a master-oscillator fiber power amplifier (MOPA) system with a core diameter of only 20 μm and 6-m-long Yb³⁺-doped large mode area (LMA) double-clad fiber. Actively Q-switched Nd:YVO₄ laser is used as a seed source of light pluses. The system works at the repetition rate from 40 to 100 kHz. Up to 77 W of amplified radiation with the pulse duration of 17.8 ns at the wavelength of 1064 nm and repetition rate of 40 kHz are generated, corresponding to pulse energy of 1.9 mJ and the slope efficiency of 73.5%. In reported literatures, the 77 W is the highest average power with a 20-μm-core LMA fiber to our knowledge. The stimulate Brillouin scattering (SBS) is observed and investigated.     

Numerical analysis of stimulated Brillouin scattering in high-power double-clad fiber lasers

A theoretical analysis of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in linear cavity Yb³⁺-doped double-clad fiber lasers is presented by solving the steady-state rate equations with the SBS. The effects of cavity length, fiber core diameter, input mirror reflectivity at Stokes wavelength, Yb³⁺ concentration and laser linewidth on the SBS are discussed. Numerical results show that the SBS threshold power can be improved by shortening the cavity length, using large mode area fiber, reducing the input mirror reflectivity at Stokes wavelength, lowering the Yb³⁺ concentration and broadening the laser linewidth, and the influence of the laser linewidth on the SBS threshold power is more noticeable than other system parameters.     

Tapered fiber amplifier with high gain and output power

We present a high-power ytterbium fiber amplifier based on active tapered double-clad fiber (T-DCF) and capable of high single-pass gain. The T-DCF power amplifier seeded with a 320 mW narrow-band signal generates up to 110 W of average output power corresponding to more than 25 dB gain. The amplifier exhibits near-diffraction-limited beam quality (M ² = 1.06) at the highest output power, which was limited by the available pump power. With a broadband seed source, the amplifier produced a gain of nearly 40 dB obtained for low-signal limit of the seed. The high output power combined with high gain is achieved owing to amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) filtering and increased stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) threshold inherent to the axially non-uniform geometry. The amplifier operates efficiently with a wide range of input seed powers thus providing the basis for one-stage tapered amplifier which combines the functions of preamplifier and power amplifier and can be a competitive alternative to multi-stage design.     

Nonlinear Refractive Index of Er3+-Doped Fiber and Its Application to Nonlinear Fiber Coupler

A large change in the refractive index originating in the transition absorption of erbium ions is induced in an Er³⁺-doped fiber. It is shown that the Er³⁺-doped fiber exhibits the nonlinear refractive index of n₂=7.4 × 10⁻¹⁵ m²/W, which is 10⁵−10⁶ times larger than that caused by the optical Kerr effect in a usual silica fiber at the pumping, wavelength of 514.5 nm. The large nonlinear refractive index occurred in a fiber directional coupler fabricated with the Er³⁺-doped fiber optically changes the coupling condition. The coupling ratio changes up to 0.16 by increasing the pumping power up to 0.7 mW.     

>100-kW linearly polarized pulse fiber amplifier seeded by a compact efficient passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 Laser

We thoroughly develop compact high-peak-power Nd:YVO₄/Cr⁴⁺:YAG passively Q-switched lasers (PQS) as the seed source of the fiber amplifier. We exploit a nearly hemispherical cavity to reach the second threshold criterion and systematically consider the thermal lensing effect and the mode-size matching in the overall optimization. Employing a Cr⁴⁺:YAG absorber with 70% initial transmission, we obtain a 50-kHz seed pulse train with the pulse duration of 4.8 ns and the pulse energy of 22 ??J at a pump power of 5.4 W. Injecting this seed laser into a polarization maintained Yb-doped fiber, the pulse energy and peak power at a pump power of 16 W are enhanced up to 178 ??J and 37 kW, respectively. We also use an absorber with 40% initial transmission to generate a 25 kHz pulse train with the pulse duration of 1.6 ns and the pulse energy of 36 ??J at a pump power of 5.4 W. With this seed laser, we find that the surface damage of the fiber limits the maximum pulse energy and peak power to be 192 ??J and 120 kW, respectively.     

Stable SOA-based multi-wavelength fiber ring laser using Sagnac loop mirror incorporating a high-birefringence photonic crystal fiber

Multi-wavelength fiber laser using semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and Sagnac loop mirror (SLM) incorporating a newly designed high-birefringence photonic crystal fiber (HB-PCF) is experimentally demonstrated. The modal birefringence of the fabricated HB-PCF is estimated to be 1.1 × 10⁻³. Mainly, by adjusting a polarization controller in the fiber ring laser, the proposed fiber laser can operate at six lasing wavelengths with 2.7 nm intervals, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of around 30 dB. The output power stability is 0.8 dB. In addition, we obtained near-perfect temperature independence in our multi-wavelength fiber laser system. The temperature dependence of the SLM is around 3 pm/°C.     

Theory of Pr:ZBLAN ultraviolet upconversion fiber master oscillator power amplifier

A theoretical study for ultraviolet upconversion fiber master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) based on the transition from the 4f5d state to the ³H₄ ground state in Pr³⁺:ZBLAN fiber is performed by using steady population rate equations and propagation equations. The variation of the output power with the fiber length of master oscillator and MOPA and the launched pump powers, the dependence of the slope efficiency on the fiber length of master oscillator and MOPA, and the optimum fiber length of MOPA as a function of the launched pump powers, are calculated. Both the output power and the slope efficiency of MOPA are 2-3 times those of the simplex oscillator. It is found that the UV upconversion fiber MOPA system can effectively improve the output power and the slope efficiency of laser.