Single-frequency thulium-doped distributed-feedback fiber laser

We have successfully demonstrated a single-frequency distributed-feedback (DFB) thulium-doped silica fiber laser emitting at a wavelength of 1735 nm. The laser cavity is less than 5 cm long and is formed by intracore UV-written Bragg gratings with a phase shift. The laser is pumped at 790 nm from a Ti:sapphire laser and has a threshold pump power of 59 mW. The laser has a maximum output power of 1 mW in a single-frequency, single-polarization radiation mode and is tunable over a few nanometers. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of a single-frequency DFB fiber laser that uses thulium as the amplifying medium. The lasing wavelength is the longest demonstrated with DFB fiber lasers and yet is among the shortest obtained for thulium-doped silica fiber lasers.     

InP-based optoelectronic devices for optical fiber communications

In this contribution we report the research and development of 1.55 μm InGaAsP/InP gain-coupled DFB laser with an improved injection-carrier induced grating and of high performance 1.3 μm and 1.55 μm InGaAsP/InP FP and DFB lasers for communications. Long wavelength strained MQW laser diodes with a very low threshold current (7–10 mA) have been fabricated. Low pressure MOVPE technology has been employed for the preparation of the layered structure. A novel gain-coupled DFB laser structure with an improved injection-carrier modulated grating has been proposed and fabricated. The laser structures have been prepared by hybrid growth of MOVPE and LPE techniques and reasonably good characteristics have been achieved for resultant lasers. High performance 1.3 μm and 1.55 μm InGaAsP/InP DFB lasers have successfully been developed for CATV and trunk line optical fiber communication. Presented at the 1st Czech-Chinese Workshop “Advanced Materials for Optoelectronics”, Prague, Czech Republic, June 13–17, 1998. Kunio Tada and Yoshiaki Nakano for their cooperation in the fabrication of the novel gain-coupled DFB lasers.     

Corrugated neat thin-film conjugated polymer distributed-feedback lasers

Wave-guided thin-film distributed-feedback (DFB) polymer lasers are fabricated by spin coating a PPV-derived semiconducting polymer, thianthrene-DOO-PPV, onto oxidised silicon wafers with corrugated second-order periodic gratings. The gratings are written by reactive ion beam etching. Laser action is achieved by transverse pumping with picosecond laser pulses (wavelength 347.15 nm, duration 35 ps). The DFB-laser surface emission and edge emission are analysed. Outside the grating region the polymer film is used for comparative wave-guided travelling wave laser (amplified spontaneous emission (ASE)) studies. The pump pulse threshold energy density for wave-guided DFB-laser action (4–9 μJ cm^-2) is found to be approximately a factor of two lower than the threshold for wave-guided travelling wave laser action. The spectral width of the DFB laser (down to Δλ_DFB≈0.07 nm) is considerably narrower than that of the travelling wave laser (Δλ_TWL≈14 nm). The DFB-laser emission is highly linearly polarised transverse to the grating axis (TE mode). Only at high pump pulse energy densities does an additional weak TM mode build up. The surface-emitted DFB-laser radiation has a low divergence along the grating direction. For both the DFB lasers and the travelling wave lasers, gain saturation occurs at high excitation energy densities. Received: 7 January 2002 / Revised version: 15 February 2002 / Published online: 14 March 2002     

中心波长1080 nm的高功率光纤光栅研制与测试

介绍了基于紫外光侧写和相位掩模法制作双包层光纤光栅的工艺,制作了一对中心波长1080 nm的光纤光栅,测试光谱得到其反射谱带宽分别为2 nm和1 nm。采用自制的光纤光栅搭建了一个高功率光纤振荡器,得到最高502 W的激光输出,并测试了输出激光的光谱和光束质量。     

Multiple fiber Bragg grating interrogation based on a spectrum-limited Fourier domain mode-locking fiber laser

A novel fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing system based on a spectrum-limited Fourier domain mode-locking (SL-FDML) fiber laser is proposed. Multiple FBGs cascaded in a long fiber are utilized as both the sensors in the system and the wavelength-selected components in the SL-FDML fiber laser. Both wavelength-division multiplexing and spatial-division multiplexing techniques are demonstrated for interrogation of multiple FBGs by mapping the wavelength measurement to the time measurement and by adjusting the driving frequency of the SL-FDML fiber laser. The proposed FBG sensing system, employing techniques of the wavelength- and spatial-domain interrogation of multiple FBGs, can be used in remote and quasi-distributed multipoint sensing.     

Spectrally scanned,repetitively pulsed erbium-doped fiber laser for spectral and temporal multiplexing of fiber Bragg grating sensors

An erbium-doped fiber laser that emits a series of spectrally scanned pulses is used to monitor an array of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. The cavity for this Fabry-Perot laser is formed by two spectrally selective reflectors: a rotating mirror-grating combination for scanning the reflectance peak wavelength and a fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FFPI) with a periodic reflectance spectrum. During a scan of the rotating mirror, the laser produces a set of Q-switched pulses over the 1522-1568-nm spectral range at each of the FFPI reflectance peak wavelengths. This laser is used to simultaneously demonstrate wavelength-division multiplexing of FBGs with reflectance peaks in different spectral regimes and time-division multiplexing of FBGs with overlapping spectra. The spectral location of the FBG peaks was determined to an accuracy of 1.4 pm.     

All-fiber actively Q-switched fiber laser tuned by a pair of temperature controlled fiber Bragg gratings

We report an all-fiber actively Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser, where the linear laser cavity mirrors are composed of two fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The laser oscillation wavelength could be tuned by this pair of temperature controlled FBGs. The Q-switching is achieved by an all-fiber phase modulation device. Using this system, we could obtain stable Q-switched laser pulses output, which could be optimized by tuning the reflection wavelengths of the two FBGs to be adjacent to each other. Instead of being modulated by the FBG filter in high-speed oscillation, this fiber laser system is operating in the Q-switched regime using an all-fiber phase modulator, producing a more stable laser output spectrum.     

High-temperature sustainability of strong fiber Bragg gratings written into Sb-Ge-codoped photosensitive fiber: decay mechanisms involved during annealing

An antimony--germanium- (Sb--Ge-) codoped fiber specially designed for the fabrication of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) with high temperature sustainability has been developed. The photosensitivity and the high-temperature sustainability of FBGs that have been written into this fiber were tested. The results obtained showed that the FBG written into this fiber has a very high temperature sustainability of 900 degrees C. A decay mechanism that involves cation hopping is presented to explain the observed high temperature sustainability of the grating written into this fiber.     

Customized MCVD fabrication of different application-type silica optical fibers and their FBG inscription characteristics

We report here the experimental realization of Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG) of desired specifications in different application-types of in-house fabricated silica optical fibers, namely, standard telecom fiber of type SM-28, Er³⁺-doped SiO₂–GeO₂ fiber and photosensitive high GeO₂ fiber. Fibers for this purpose were fabricated by customizing the process variables of the Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition (MCVD) technique used for our laboratory fabrication of optical fibers. To check the performance of the drawn fibers in terms of FBG characteristics, gratings were written by exposing a short length of fibers to interference fringes derived from a frequency-doubled Ar-ion laser using a modified two-beam interferometer system in single phase-mask configuration. Results of inscribing selected wavelength FBGs demonstrate the efficacy of our approach in achieving, reproducibly, high-quality FBGs in all application-fibers.     

Remote fiber sensor based on cascaded Fourier domain mode-locked laser

We propose a high-speed remote fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor interrogation system based on a 1.3-μm cascaded Fourier-domain mode-locked (FDML) laser. It consists of multiple FBGs connected to an optical circulator in the laser cavity. The cascaded FDML laser with these multiple FBGs is operational when the scanning frequency of the fiber Fabry-Perot tunable filter matches the fundamental frequency of the laser cavity. Each FBG provides a separate laser cavity for the FDML laser. The scanning frequencies of each laser cavity are 30.5314, 31.5393, 32.7108, and 33.8023 kHz. Using the cascaded FDML laser, we measure the performance of the long-distance static strain FBG sensor interrogation system in both the time and spectral domains. The slope coefficients of the measured relative wavelength difference and the relative time delay from the static strain are found to be 0.95 pm/μstrain and 0.15 ns/μstrain, respectively. We also demonstrate the dynamic response of the interrogation system with 80-Hz modulation strain using the cascaded FDML laser. Thus, an FBG sensor interrogation system for high-speed and high-sensitivity long-distance monitoring systems can be realized using a cascaded FDML laser.     

Differential reflectometry of FBG sensors in the wide spectral range

The paper presents a reflectometric technique for interrogation of multiple fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors based on conventional optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR). The method proposed rests on the differential measurement of FBGs’ response to a short probing laser pulse. Implementation of differential measurement principle using several reference FBGs allowed us to eliminate the susceptibility of the system to intensity fluctuations as well as to increase the measurement range as compared to the previous developments. The experimental threshold sensitivity amounted to ∼50 microstrain with the measurement range being defined by the number of reference FBGs and limited only by optical fiber tensile strength. Due to its simplicity, efficiency and usage of conventional OTDR equipment the proposed FBG interrogation technique can find a wide range of applications dealing with strain and temperature measurements.     

A fiber bragg grating acceleration sensor interrogated by a DFB laser diode

A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) acceleration sensor interrogated by a DFB laser diode is demonstrated; the sensor is fabricated by packaging a FBG on to a cantilever; the interrogation scheme takes advantage of the intensity modulation of the narrow spectral bandwidth light of a distributed feedback laser diode, when the reflection spectrum curve of a FBG moves due to the strain which is applied on the sensor. The sensor’s response to the frequency and acceleration is measured by the experiment, and the factors which have an impact on the sensor’s sensitivity are also discussed.     

Characterization of semiconductor laser frequency chirp based on signal distortion in dispersive optical fiber

In the paper, the simple method of laser chirp parameters estimation is presented. It is based on measuring time-domain distortions of chirped signal transmitted through dispersive fiber and finding laser chirp parameters by matching measured distortions to calculated ones. Experiments undertaken with 1.55 μm telecommunication grade distributed feedback (DFB) lasers and standard single-mode fiber are described, together with some practical remarks on measurement setup and main conclusions.     

长周期光纤光栅傅里叶模式耦合理论

建立了长周期光纤光栅傅里叶模式耦合理论.在分析同向模式耦合时,发现了同向耦合模式的振幅系数间存在傅里叶变换关系.推导了长周期光纤光栅的同向耦合谱和透射谱的通用表达式.该理论是用傅里叶变换分析得出长周期光纤光栅折射率微扰的空域谱,再对该空域谱进行模式同向耦合分析,从而得到长周期光纤光栅光谱特性的通用表达式.根据该理论模拟分析了长周期光纤光栅在不同长度和微扰幅值时的光谱特性,与传统耦合模理论进行了对比分析.结果表明,该长周期光纤光栅傅里叶模式耦合理论具有简单、精确和高效的特点,与实际长周期光纤光栅的透射谱特性一致.应用该理论可分析无过耦合的任意轴向折射率微扰分布的长周期光纤光栅光谱特性.     

Bragg光纤光栅傅里叶模式耦合理论

建立了Bragg光纤光栅傅里叶模式耦合理论.在分析光纤光栅的耦合模时,发现了耦合模式的振幅系数间存在傅里叶变换关系.推导了将傅里叶变换和模式耦合融合在一起的Bragg光纤光栅反射谱和透射谱的通用表达式.该理论是用傅里叶变换得到Bragg光纤光栅折射率微扰的空域谱,再对该空域谱进行模式耦合分析计算,从而得到Bragg光纤光栅的光谱特性.根据该理论,仿真分析了Bragg光纤光栅的谱特性,与耦合模理论、直接傅里叶变换法进行了对比分析.结果表明,傅里叶模式耦合理论与传统的耦合模理论及实际Bragg光纤光栅的光谱特性一致,具有简单、清晰、直接、精确和分析效率高的特点,可分析任意轴向折射率微扰分布的Bragg光纤光栅结构.     

Stable single frequency and single polarization DFB fiber lasers operated at 1053 nm

Stable single-frequency and single-polarization distributed-feedback (DFB) fiber laser was realized by giving a pressure on the phase shift region of the fiber grating. The output wavelength of the DFB fiber laser is 1053 nm. When the pump power of 980 nm laser diode is 100 and 254 mW, the output power can reach 8.3 and 37.1 mW and the polarization extinction ratio was 26 and 20 dB, respectively. After chopped by Acousto-optic modulator (0.3 Hz), the pulse peak value variance is 4.65%(peak to peak) and 1.098% (RMS) for 31 min.     

Sampled phase-shift fiber Bragg gratings

A phase-shift fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with sampling is proposed to generate a multi-channel bandpass filter in the background of multi-channel stopbands. The sampled noire fiber gratings are analyzed by Fourier transform theory first, and then simulation and experiment are performed, the results show that transmission peaks are opened in every reflective channel, the spectrum shape of every channel is identical.It can be used to fabricate multi-wavelength distributed feedback (DFB) fiber laser.     

用紫外光直接在光纤内写入布拉格反射光栅的实验研究

用紫外光直接在光纤内写入布拉格反射光栅的实验研究杜卫冲谭华耀＊刘颂豪华南师范大学，激光生命科学研究所，广州５１０６３１＊香港理工大学，电机系自１９８９年Ｍｅｌｔａｚ［１］首次提出采用两束波长位于掺Ｇｅ－石英光纤吸收带内的相干紫外激光相干涉，从侧面照射...     

Switchable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber lasers by using cascaded fiber Bragg gratings written in high birefringence fiber

A novel and simple Erbium-doped fiber laser by using cascaded fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) written in high-birefringence fibers for switchable multi-wavelength operation is proposed. Due to two-peak reflection with orthogonal polarizations of the FBG, the polarization hole-burning effect in the cavity is greatly enhanced. Experimental results show that the stable dual- and three-wavelength lasing operation with very narrow wavelength separation (0.39 nm) can be generated at room temperature. The configuration is simple and flexible. Only by adjusting polarization controllers (PCs), the laser can be switched among the stable single-, dual- and three-wavelength lasing operations.