Femtosecond mode-locked Yb fiber laser for single-mode fiber chirped pulse amplification system

High-peak-power laser systems are based on the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) technique. CPA laser system needs a mode-locked laser oscillator for stable ultrashort pulse laser generation. We report a single-mode fiber CPA system which consists of stable mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser oscillator with a wide tuning range, chirped fiber Bragg grating stretcher, and two Yb-doped fiber amplifiers. The single-mode fibers can generate high-quality and single-mode beams which are stable for long time.     

Environmentally stable ytterbium figure-of-eight fiber laser producing 177-fs pulses

Pulses of 177 fs and 1035 nm, with average power of 1.2 mW, have been generated directly from a passively mode-locked Yb-doped figure-of-eight fiber laser, with a nonlinear optical loop mirror for mode-locking and pairs of diffraction gratings for intracavity dispersion compensation. To our knowledge, these are the shortest pulses ever to come from a passively mode-locked Yb-doped figure-of-eight fiber laser. This represents a 5-fold reduction in pulse duration compared with that of previously reported passively mode-locked Yb-doped figure-of-eight fiber lasers. Stable pulse trains are produced at the fundamental repetition rate of the resonator, 24.0 MHz.     

Broadband spectrum generation with compact Yb-doped fiber laser by intra-cavity cascaded Raman scattering

We experimentally demonstrate a cascaded Raman scattering continuum, utilizing a compact mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser based on a nonlinear polarization rotation technique in the all normal dispersion regime.There is no physical filter or polarization controller in the oscillator, and a different mode-locked operation is achieved, corresponding to the extra fiber location in the oscillator. The broadband spectrum generation owes to the enhanced stimulated Raman scattering progress. The maximum output average power and peak power are14.75 n J and 18.0 W, and the short coherence light is suited for optical coherence tomography.     

Generation of 207-femtosecond pulses from a ytterbium figure-of-eight fibre laser

We report the generation of 207-fs pulses with 1.2mW average power at 1036nm directly from a passively mode-locked Yb-doped fibre laser with a nonlinear optical loop mirror for mode-locking and pairs of diffraction gratings for intracavity dispersion compensation. These results imply a 4-fold reduction in pulse duration over previously reported figure-of-eight cavity passively mode-locked Yb-doped fibre lasers. Stable pulse trains are produced at the fundamental repetition rate of the resonator, 24.0MHz. On the other hand, this laser offers a cleaner spectrum and greater stability and is completely self-starting.     

Change of gain characters for short pulses with third order dispersion in a fiber amplifier

The effect of the third order dispersion (TOD) induced into pulses before entering an Yb-doped fiber amplifier on their power gain characters is investigated using a model of which the pulse amplification process is described by nonlinear time-dependent radiation transfer equations. Numerical results show that peak power gain for the pulse with positive TOD is larger than that with zero and without TOD while the improvement of the peak power gain varies as the obtained output pulse energy changes. The improvement also depends on the ratio of dispersion lengths for group velocity dispersion and TOD.     

高稳定性、高质量脉冲压缩飞秒光纤激光系统研究

报道了一款用于眼科手术的高稳定性、高质量脉冲压缩飞秒光纤主振荡功率放大系统. 振荡器采用混合腔方式增加了光纤双折射, 改善了非线性偏振旋转锁模在低重复频率下无法自启动的缺点, 提高了飞秒光纤激光器自启动锁模的稳定性. 研究了脉冲预啁啾与飞秒脉冲压缩质量的关系, 通过实验证明了光纤放大器的入射脉冲保持负的预啁啾状态可以得到最好的脉冲压缩结果. 实验最终实现了满足自启动锁模条件的重复频率19.4 MHz、平均功率1.2 W、脉冲宽度183 fs的激光脉冲, 目前这台激光器是国内首台具有自主知识产权并应用于动物角膜实验的飞秒光纤激光器.     

High-energy femtosecond Yb-doped fiber laser operating in the anomalous dispersion regime

We report on high-energy ultrashort pulse generation from a passively mode-locked ytterbium-doped large-mode-area photonic crystal fiber oscillator operating in the anomalous dispersion regime. In the single-pulse regime, the laser directly generates 880 mW of average power of sub-500 fs pulses at a repetition rate of 53.33 MHz, corresponding to a pulse energy of 16.5 nJ. Stable and self-starting operation is obtained by adapting the spot size at the saturable absorber mirror to the pulse evolution in the low-nonlinearity fiber. The approach presented demonstrates the scaling potential of fiber based short pulse oscillators towards the microJ-level.     

Raman-Assisted Passively Mode-Locked Fiber Laser

We propose and demonstrate a Raman-assisted passively mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser in a normal dispersion regime. A section of highly nonlinear fiber is adopted to enhance the nonlinearity to extend the bandwidth of the gain spectrum by the stimulated Raman effect. The mode-locked fiber laser emits a broad spectral bandwidth of 64 nm at the-20 dB level and a highly stable pulse operation with a signal-to-noise ratio of 77 dB.     

Chirped pulse amplification in single mode Tm:fiber using a chirped Bragg grating

We report femtosecond pulse generation and chirped pulse amplification in Tm:fiber. A mode-locked oscillator operating in the soliton regime produced 800 fs pulses with 5 nm spectral bandwidth, at 40 pJ pulse energy. This oscillator seeded a pre-amplifier that utilizes a Raman soliton self-frequency shift to produce wavelength tunable pulses with 3 nJ energy, reduced pulse duration of 150 fs, and increased bandwidth of 30 nm. For further amplification, the pulses were stretched up to 160 ps using a chirped Bragg grating (CBG). Stretched pulses were amplified to 85 nJ after compression in single-mode Tm:fiber and recompressed with the CBG as short as 400 fs. Compressed pulses were coupled into a highly nonlinear tellurite fiber to investigate the potential of this ultrashort pulse 2-μm fiber source as a pump for mid-IR supercontinuum generation.     

Microjoule-level all-polarization-maintaining femtosecond fiber source

We report on a high-power, high-energy femtosecond fiber source based on direct amplification of parabolic pulses from an environmentally stable passively mode-locked fiber oscillator in an Yb-doped single-polarization photonic crystal fiber. The special pulse shape allows for the generation of high-quality femtosecond pulses beyond nonlinearity limits. The system delivers a pulse energy of 1.2 microJ (21 W average power) at a repetition rate of 17 MHz and a pulse duration of 240 fs in a linearly polarized beam with diffraction-limited quality.     

掺Er3+氟化物光纤振荡器中红外超短脉冲的产生

基于非线性薛定谔方程建立了氟化物(ZrF₄-BaF₂-LaF₃-AlF₃-NaF, ZBLAN)光纤振荡器中产生中红外超短脉冲的理论模型, 在此基础上研究了中红外超短脉冲在氟化物光纤振荡器中形成的物理机理, 数值模拟了氟化物光纤振荡器中中红外超短脉冲的演化过程. 分析了腔内净色散和小信号增益系数对振荡器中锁模脉冲产生的影响, 并给出了参数设置范围. 研究发现: 当掺Er³⁺氟化物光纤长度, 小信号增益系数, 不饱和损耗为一定值时, 腔内净色散在一定范围内才会出现稳定的锁模脉冲, 且随着腔内净色散增加脉冲宽度变宽, 光谱变窄, 峰值功率降低; 当掺Er³⁺氟化物光纤长度及不饱和损耗一定, 腔内净色散量为合理值, 小信号增益系数在合理的范围时可以得到稳定的锁模脉冲, 且随着小信号增益系数的增加脉冲宽度变宽, 光谱变宽, 峰值功率增加.     

Design and fabrication of Gires�CTournois interferometers for?Yb-doped photonic crystal fiber laser system

A Gires?CTournois interferometer (GTI) with large dispersion compensation was designed and fabricated according to the requirement of the Yb-doped photonic crystal fiber laser system. The designed GTI can provide an average group delay dispersion (GDD) of ?1500 fs² and a high reflectance (>99.7%) from 1030 to 1050 nm. The Ion-assisted Deposition (IAD) technique was utilized to manufacture the mirror. Good agreement between the measured and designed results both for reflectance and GDD was achieved. The reflectance during 1030?C1050 nm was above 99.5% and the GDD ripple was less than ±300 fs². The GTI was used both in the intracavity dispersion compensation and extracavity pulse compression for the Yb-doped photonic crystal fiber laser system. A mode-locked soliton pulse with a 506-fs duration was recorded. An extracavity pulse compression test showed that the GTI had identical pulse compression capability as the conventional grating pairs while the energy loss was obviously reduced. Our results demonstrated that the HDM, which was able to provide quite a large amount of negative dispersion (???8×10⁴ fs²), could be an ideal alternative to replace the dispersive compensating grating pairs for the dispersion compensation of the Yb-doped photonic crystal fiber laser system.     

Pulse shortening and quality improvement based on spectral filtering in a stretched-pulse mode-locked fiber laser with large third-order dispersion

We demonstrate a passively mode-locked ring fiber laser operating in the stretched-pulse regime. The ring cavity model is constructed with standard single-mode fiber and dispersion delay line for dispersion management. Here, all-solid Yb-doped photonic bandgap fiber is used as the dispersion delay line and provides laser gain simultaneously. As the all-solid Yb-doped photonic bandgap fiber has large third-order dispersion, it is necessary to study its impact on the stretched-pulse operation. The presence of the third-order dispersion reduces pulse quality because of the relatively small group velocity dispersion. To improve the pulse quality, a spectral filter is employed in the model. The simulation results show that spectral filtering could improve the pulse quality and shorten the pulse duration. Meanwhile, the optimum filter bandwidth is studied.     

基于光纤中超短脉冲非线性传输机理与特定光谱选择技术的多波长飞秒激光的产生

高集成、高可靠性宽调谐飞秒激光源在超快光谱学、量子光学及生物成像等研究与应用领域具有重要价值.如在生物多光子显微成像中,具有适中能量的宽调谐飞秒激光源不仅可满足多种生物组织荧光激发所需的峰值功率与激发波长,而且也可以显著提升非线性荧光产生效率、成像分辨率以及增大成像穿透深度.采用自主研发的高可靠性全保偏光纤飞秒激光器作为抽运源,基于低色散光纤中高峰值功率飞秒激光脉冲非线性传输引起的光谱加宽机制,本文开展了多波长全光纤飞秒激光产生技术研究.通过采用中心波长在980, 1000,1050, 1070与1100 nm的带通滤波片选择性地对单模光纤输出光谱中最左边与最右边光谱旁瓣进行滤波,在上述中心波长处分别可获得203, 195, 196, 187与194 fs的激光输出.本文提出的基于全光纤飞秒激光脉冲在单模光纤中非线性传输引起的光谱加宽机制与特定光谱选择技术的实验方案为高集成、高可靠性宽调谐飞秒激光源的实现提供了新的研究途径.     

3 GHz, fundamentally mode-locked, femtosecond Yb-fiber laser

We demonstrate a fundamentally mode-locked Yb-fiber laser with 3?GHz repetition rate and ～206 fs pulse duration. The laser incorporates two enabling technologies: a 1?cm heavily Yb-doped phosphate glass fiber as the gain medium and a high-dispersion (-1300 fs²) output coupler to manage cavity dispersion. The oscillator self-starts and generates up to 53?mW average power.     

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.     

石墨烯被动锁模全正色散掺镱光纤激光器中的暗脉冲及其谐波

报道了一种基于石墨烯被动锁模的全正色散掺镱环形光纤激光器. 在激光器腔中应用激光诱导沉积法制备的石墨烯可饱和吸收体, 通过调节抽运光功率和偏振控制器的角度分别得到了明脉冲及其二阶谐波, 暗明脉冲对和暗脉冲及其二、三阶谐波这三类不同的脉冲. 其中, 暗明脉冲对和暗脉冲在基于石墨烯被动锁模的掺镱光纤激光器实验中都是第一次被观察到. 本文根据实验结果结合模拟分析了暗脉冲的产生机理, 并研究对比了明脉冲谐波和暗脉冲谐波产生的原因.     

All-fiber design of hybrid Er-doped laser/Yb-doped amplifier system for high-power ultrashort pulse generation

We propose a design of an all-fiber laser system that combines the most advanced Er:fiber laser in the telecommunication range and an efficient Yb-doped amplifier for generation of high-power ultrashort pulses. The system is based on nonlinear wavelength conversion of 1.56 μm ultrashort Er:fiber laser pulses to the 1 μm range in a short pigtail of dispersion-shifted silica fiber with subsequent amplification in the Yb-doped fiber amplifier. Pulses with a duration as short as 85 fs and averaged power of 200 mW are demonstrated.     

Mode-locking of quasi-continuous lasers

A simple rate-equation theory is developed which indicates that the combination of nonlinear amplification and nonlinear absorption may be responsible for ultrashort pulse generation in a mode-locked quasi-continuous laser system in the absence of commensurately short relaxation times. It is tentatively proposed that this mechanism is responsible for picosecond pulse generation in the mode-locked dye laser.     

Broadly tunable femtosecond parametric oscillator using a photonic crystal fiber

Pulses as short as 460 fs and a tuning range as wide as 200 nm around 1 microm have been achieved from a photonic-crystal-fiber-based parametric oscillator. The ring cavity with only 65 cm of photonic crystal fiber is synchronously pumped with a tunable passively mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser. Widely extended tunability is achieved by using the modulation instability gain in normal dispersion as the result of high-order dispersion in the photonic crystal fiber.