半导体抽运Yb∶YAG 五镜腔KLM激光器理论分析计算

对半导体抽运的Yb∶YAG克尔透镜锁模激光器进行理论分析计算,分析五镜谐振腔和四镜谐振腔的稳区不同,利用稳区范围变化对五镜谐振腔稳定锁模机理做出合理解释.详细计算分析Yb∶YAG激光器内克尔调制效应对锁模的影响,获得最佳腔参量.在腔内没有插入硬光阑的情况下,利用五镜腔实现了Yb∶YAG晶体克尔透镜锁模运转.理论分析和实验结果相符.     

近对称谐振腔的变换圆图解分析

 利用传播圆-变换圆图解分析方法，通过对不同结构谐振腔的分析和对比，得出一种宜于推广的自锁模激光谐振腔——近对称谐振腔，其锁模运转易于启动且工作性能比较稳定；通过实验对近对称腔的工作性能进行了验证，并对一种五镜锁模腔进行了分析。五镜腔实质上等价于近对称四镜腔。     

Experimental Study of a Pulsed Ytterbium-Doped Fibre Laser with Fast and Slow Saturable Absorbers in a Linear Cavity

We present a linear-cavity stretched-pulse fibre laser and by semiconductor saturable-absorber mirrors. A with mode locking by a nonlinear polarization rotation Q-switched mode-locking cw train and a mode-locking pulse train are obtained in the experiment. We investigate the effects of the equivalent fast saturable absorber and the slow saturable absorbers in experiment. It is found that neither the nonlinear polarization evolution effect nor a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror is enough to produce the stable cw mode-locking pulses in this experiment. A nonlinear polarization evolution effect controls the cavity loss to literally carve the pulses; semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors provide the self-restarting and maintain the stability of the modelocking operation.     

含负克尔效应半导体可饱和吸收镜的五镜腔飞秒钛宝石激光器的理论分析

基于半导体可饱和吸收镜(SESAM)的负克尔效应，对含SESAM的五镜腔进行了理论计算和分析.结果表明，由于SESAM的负克尔效应，与没有SESAM的相比，锁模激光器的稳区在上稳区的内边缘有明显扩展，这使得激光器锁模启动的工作点更加靠近直流运转时的稳区边缘，从而获得更大的非线性因子.这说明SESAM的可饱和吸收机理具有锁模自启动效应外，其负克尔效应也有助于锁模的自启动. 关键词： 半导体可饱和吸收镜 负克尔效应 五镜腔     

Passive synchronization of all-fiber lasers through a common saturable absorber

We present the synchronization of two all-fiber mode-locked lasers, operating at 1.0?μm and 1.54?μm, coupled through the use of a shared single-wall carbon nanotube absorber. Both lasers operate in the soliton-regime, achieving a synchronized repetition rate of 13.08?MHz. The broadband absorption range of the single-wall carbon nanotubes allows the stable mode-locking behavior at 1?μm and 1.5?μm. The nonlinear coupling effects between two energy states of the carbon nanotube absorber result in stable synchronized pulses for hours of operation, with a large cavity mismatch of 1400?μm.     

Anticolliding design for monolithic passively mode-locked semiconductor lasers

The performance of two-section, passively mode-locked semiconductor lasers is theoretically analyzed for different cavity designs. Placing the saturable absorber section close to an antireflection-coated facet leads to a substantial increase in output power and a reduction in amplitude and timing jitter. Moreover, it broadens the bias current region of stable passive mode-locking operation.     

Switchable mode-locking states in an all-fiber all-normal-dispersion ytterbium-doped laser

Multi-operation state in an all-normal-dispersion ytterbium-doped fiber laser is obtained by introducing nonlinear polarization or hybrid mode-locking mechanism in the laser cavity. In addition to operating the laser at continuous-wave mode-locking, various operation states including continuous-wave, Q-switched mode-locking, pulse-splitting, and harmonic mode-locking can be achieved by tuning the laser pump power or an intracavity polarization controller. Insertion of a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror in the cavity helps to shorten the output pulsewidth of the hybrid mode-locked laser. When the pump power is rapidly adjusted, a strong asymmetric hysteresis behavior can be observed during the manipulation between different orders of harmonic mode-locking.     

Asymmetric Colliding-Pulse Mode-Locking in InGaAsP Semiconductor Lasers

Asymmetric colliding-pulse mode-locking was successfully demonstrated in an InGaAsP laser. This laser had a single saturable absorber section located partway along the cavity length, and showed mode-locking operation at harmonics of the cavity roundtrip frequency. The method verified that optical pulse repetition up to subterahertz rates can be generated with nearly 1-mm-long mode-locked InGaAsP lasers.     

Generation of cavity-birefringence-dependent multi-wavelength bright–dark pulse pair in a figure-eight thulium-doped fiber laser

We experimentally demonstrated a stable multi-wavelength bright–dark pulse pair in a mode-locked thulium-doped fiber laser(TDFL). The nonlinear polarization rotation(NPR) and nonlinear optical loop mirror(NOLM) were employed in a figure-eight cavity to allow for multi-wavelength mode-locking operation. By incorporating different lengths of high birefringence polarization-maintaining fiber(PMF), the fiber laser could operate stably in a multi-wavelength emission state. Compared with the absence of the PMF, the birefringence effect caused by PMF resulted in rich multi-wavelength optical spectra and better intensity symmetry and stability of the bright–dark pulse pair.     

Stability regime study of a nonlinear mirror mode-locked laser

A diode array pumped nonlinear mirror mode-locked (ML) laser is developed and the regime of the stable operation for such a system is found to occur for a little detuning of intra-cavity second harmonic phase-matching. The existing theory of mode-locking using a fast saturable absorber (FSA) is used to derive corresponding equivalent parameters for a fast nonlinear mirror saturable absorber. The condition for stable single pulse ML operation is evaluated in terms of small signal gain of the laser medium and small signal nonlinear loss. The analysis explains the experimental observations and differentiates the regime of operation in ML, Q-switching and cw mode-locking.     

Intrinsic dual-wavelength operation of a passively mode-locked fiber ring laser

We report on the dual-wavelength operation in an erbium-doped fiber ring laser mode-locked through nonlinear polarization rotation technique. In addition to dual-wavelength continuous wave operation, alternative mode-locking at the dual wavelengths was realized experimentally. By analyzing the transmissivity of the laser cavity, we find the dual-wavelength operation is an intrinsic feature of the laser associating with the dispersive cavity loss. Numerical simulations confirm the experimental and theoretical results and further demonstrate that the location of the dual wavelengths and the separation between them closely depend on the cavity birefringence and the profile of the gain medium.     

Mode-locking dynamics of a laser coupled to an empty external cavity

The effect of incorporating an empty external cavity into the feedback loop of a mode-locked laser is investigated. Particular attention is paid to the response of the mode-locking as the external cavity is detuned by a fraction of a wavelength from the round trip transit time associated with the laser. The results for two regimes of operation are presented. In the first case a series of short lived transients develop whereas the other case leads to a persistent intermittent Q-switching scenario, where mode-locking fails. The role of coupling between the cavities and the laser's memory time in relation to the results is discussed. A mechanism for the improved mode-locking observed with non-linear external cavities is suggested.     

非腔长匹配相干叠加脉冲锁模激光器的实验研究

实现了一种新型的非腔长匹配相干叠加脉冲锁模Ｎｄ：ＹＡＧ激光器的锁模运转。锁模脉冲宽度为６０ｐｓ．给出该种新型锁模激光器的运转特性以及锁模状态与各种实验参数之间的关系。对于该种激光器的各种实验现象给出了简明清晰的物理解释。     

Cascaded mode-locking of a spectrally controlled Yb:KYW laser

Self-starting and stable mode-locking of an Yb:KYW laser in the picoseconds pulse regime has been achieved by exploiting a positive cascaded Kerr lens in periodically poled KTP. The use of a volume Bragg grating (VBG), for locking the output spectrum of the laser, was essential to achieve a stable mode-locked operation in this wide gain bandwidth laser material. The laser emitted stable, nearly transform-limited pulses with a duration of 16 ps, at a repetition rate of 210 MHz, and with an energy of 3.2 nJ. The mode-locked spectrum was centred at 1,029.1 nm and featured a FWHM bandwidth of 85 pm, which was effectively determined by the VBG. Combination of a large cascaded Kerr nonlinearity with spectral limiting by a VBG represents so far the best opportunity for stable mode-locking of a broadband laser to produce near-transform-limited picosecond pulses.     

Kerr Lens Mode-locked Operation of Yb:KYW Laser

Using a modified ABCD-matrix approach accounting for nonlinear refraction in active medium,the ranges of cavity parameters that provide a mode-locking of Yb∶KYW-laser in usual z-fold cavity configuration are determined.Taking the cavity parameters that provide a most efficient mode locking and based on fluctuation model,a numerical simulation of laser operation is performed.In the calculations the side-band pump power of 6W at 982 nm is used in 1 cm length KYW crystal with 1 cm×0.005 cm beam cross section.Calculations show that self-starting operation is possible with these parameters and dispersion compensation allows for bandwidth-limited ultrashort pulse generation.The shortest pulse duration was determined to be about 200 fs with self-starting buid-up time of 130 μs.Such a built-up time is comparable and even shorter than that one for the lasers with semiconductor saturable absorbers.The region of negative dispersion provided by prism pair for a stable ultrashort pulse generation was determined to be (-17000～-42000)fs2.     

Thermal effects investigation and cavity design in passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser with a SESAM

A diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO₄ laser with a five-mirror folded cavity is presented by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The temperature distribution and thermal lensing in laser medium are numerically analyzed to design a special cavity which can keep the power density on SESAM under its damage threshold. Both the Q-switched and continuous-wave mode-locked operation are experimentally realized. The maximum average output power of 8.94 W with a 9.3 ps pulse width at a repetition rate of 111 MHz is obtained under a pump power of 24 W, correspondingly the optical slope efficiency is 39.2%.     

Experimental investigation of a passively mode-locked fiber laser based on a symmetrical NOLM with a highly twisted low-birefringence fiber

We experimentally investigate the passive mode-locking operation of a figure eight-fiber laser based on a symmetrical nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) with a highly twisted low-birefringence fiber in the loop. NOLM switching is achieved by the polarization asymmetry between the counterpropagating beams in the loop. The most efficient switching is obtained when we have linear polarization for one of the beams and the circular polarization for the other. We used a quarter-wave retarder (QWR) in the NOLM loop to break the polarization symmetry. Through the QWR position, it is possible to adjust the transmission behavior from a maximum to a minimum at a low input power. With our configuration, it is possible to get self-starting mode-locking operation at a specific position of the QWR. This QWR position corresponds to a value close to the minimal transmission. The pulse repetition frequency was 0.8 MHz. The mode-locked laser ran in a stable operation for hours. We achieved a stable generation of picosecond pulses with milliwatts of an average output power.     

Experimental observation and analysis of novel pulse properties in erbium-doped fiber ring laser with normal cavity dispersion

We demonstrate the experimental observation of different operation states in erbium-doped fiber ring laser with normal cavity dispersion. The Q-switching, Q-switching mode-locking (QML), continuous wave mode-locking (CML), harmonic mode-locking (HML), double-pulse and multiple-pulse operation states can be manipulated by only adjusting the polarization controller with the same pump power. The output spectral bandwidth and pulse width of operation states are measured. The central wavelength dynamics of different operation states achieved by adjusting the polarization controller are also observed and analyzed. It is shown that pulse width, polarization, chirp and stability of different operation states are diverse by using nonlinear polarization rotation technique.     

输出近百纳焦耳脉冲能量的光子晶体光纤锁模激光器

设计并搭建了一种支持百纳焦耳量级的单脉冲能量输出的锁模光纤激光器.激光器基于σ型腔结构,采用掺Yb偏振型大模场面积光子晶体光纤作为增益介质,利用半导体可饱和吸收镜实现自启动锁模.激光器内没有色散补偿机理,使其工作在全正色散锁模状态.通过在谐振腔内引入多通长腔使激光器的重复频率降低至11.1 MHz,直接获得了平均功率为1.08 W,单脉冲能量为 97 nJ,脉冲宽度为4.17 ps的稳定锁模脉冲输出,经腔外色散补偿,脉冲宽度压缩至740 fs.     

Numerical analysis of pulse formation in solid-state lasers mode-locked with a linear external cavity

We analyse pulse formation in solid-state lasers mode-locked with a linear external cavity with translating mirror. Based on a numerical simulation the mode-locking mechanism is found to be that of an active mode-locking due to the explicitly time-dependent phase shift by the external cavity involving a slowly moving mirror and a non-zero temporal mismatch to the master cavity. Additional pulse shortening and stabilization is performed by the additive pulse mode-locking mechanism arising from self-phase modulation due to a Kerr-type non-resonant nonlinearity in the host crystal of the laser amplifier.