Properties of a vector soliton laser passively mode-locked by a fiber-based semiconductor saturable absorber operating in transmission

We experimentally demonstrate a passively mode-locked fiber laser employing a fiber-based semiconductor saturable absorber (SSA) operating in transmission. Polarization rotation locked vector solitons are observed in the laser. Due to the intrinsic dynamic feature of the laser, period-doubling of these vector solitons has also been observed. Furthermore, extra spectral sidebands are formed on the optical spectrum, caused by the energy exchange between the two orthogonal polarization components of the vector solitons. By careful reduction of the pump power together with fine adjustment to the cavity birefringence, period-one state can further be obtained. Additionally, the phase noise properties of the vector soliton fiber laser have also been characterized experimentally and analytically.     

Observation of soliton bound states in a graphene mode locked erbium-doped fiber laser

We report on the experimental observation of bound states of solitons in a graphene mode locked erbium-doped fiber laser. By using graphene as a saturable absorber, we have obtained stable, single and bound soliton pulses, the latter with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 1.49 ps and a fixed pulse separation of 2.46 ps. Our results once again show that bound soliton pulses is an intrinsic feature of fiber lasers independent of the exact mode locking mechanism.     

Polarization locked vector solitons and axis instability in optical fiber

We experimentally observe polarization-locked vector solitons in optical fiber. Polarization locked-vector solitons use nonlinearity to preserve their polarization state despite the presence of birefringence. To achieve conditions where the delicate balance between nonlinearity and birefringence can survive, we studied the polarization evolution of the pulses circulating in a laser constructed entirely of optical fiber. We observe two distinct states with fixed polarization. This first state occurs for very small values birefringence and is elliptically polarized. We measure the relative phase between orthogonal components along the two principal axes to be +/-pi/2. The relative amplitude varies linearly with the magnitude of the birefringence. This state is a polarization locked vector soliton. The second, linearly polarized, state occurs for larger values of birefringence. The second state is due to the fast axis instability. We provide complete characterization of these states, and present a physical explanation of both of these states and the stability of the polarization locked vector solitons. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics.     

Chaotic dynamics of a passively mode-locked soliton fiber ring laser

We report on the experimental and numerical studies of the chaotic dynamics of a soliton fiber ring laser passively mode-locked by using the nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) technique. Period-doubling route to chaos on the soliton repetition rate of either the single pulse soliton or the bound solitons of the laser was experimentally observed. Based on a coupled complex Ginzburg-Landau equation model and also taking into account the laser cavity effect, we further show numerically that the period-doubling bifurcations and route to chaos are intrinsic properties of the laser, whose appearance is independent of the details of the laser cavity design and the laser soliton operation. Property of the solitons under the dynamical bifurcations is also numerically investigated.     

大模场面积光子晶体光纤耗散孤子锁模激光器

研制了一种基于掺Yb3+的双包层大模场面积偏振光子晶体光纤的耗散孤子锁模激光器.利用数值模拟分析了光纤激光器中耗散孤子动力学过程,与全正色散锁模激光器相比,脉冲窄化机理更加丰富,半导体可饱和吸收镜(SESAM)的非线性吸收,啁啾脉冲的光谱滤波以及光纤的增益色散同时起作用,这些因素使耗散孤子锁模更加容易实现,并且稳定运行.其中,光谱滤波的耗散过程是稳定锁模机制的主导因素,滤波片能够在频域和时域同时窄化脉冲,并且去除脉冲啁啾,限制脉冲在腔内始终小于1ps.在实验上实现了无色散补偿腔中直接输出脉冲宽度777fs,最高平均功率达到1W,重复频率48·27MHz,对应单脉冲能量20nJ的飞秒激光.     

Regimes of operation states in passively mode-locked fiber soliton ring laser

The principal of passively mode-locked fiber soliton ring lasers is summarized, including its three output operation states: normal soliton, bound–solitons and noise-like pulse. The experimental results of the passively mode-locked fiber soliton ring lasers developed by us are given. Bound–solitons with different discrete separations and three-bound–solitons state have been observed in our fiber laser for the first time. The relationship among three operation states in fiber soliton laser is analyzed.     

Dissipative soliton operation of an ytterbium-doped fiber laser mode locked with atomic multilayer graphene

Mode locking of an ytterbium-doped fiber laser with atomic multilayer graphene is, to the best of our knowledge, experimentally demonstrated for the first time. Dissipative solitons with duration of 580 ps at 1069.8 nm were generated. Since graphene can also be used to mode lock erbium-doped fiber lasers, our result shows that graphene indeed has wavelength-independent saturable absorption, which could be exploited to mode lock fiber lasers with various operating wavelengths.     

氧化石墨烯被动锁模掺镱光纤激光器多脉冲现象的实验研究

利用氧化石墨烯作为可饱和吸收体,在被动锁模全正常色散掺镱光纤激光器中研究了多脉冲的现象,在同一抽运功率不同偏振态下,实验获得了矩形脉冲谐波锁模、耗散孤子谐波锁模、准谐波锁模,脉冲峰值周期性调制,脉冲簇、脉冲束、混沌多重脉冲的多脉冲现象,插入激光腔内的2nm窄带滤波器具有限制增益带宽、对脉冲塑形、诱导多脉冲产生的作用,调节偏振控制器相当于改变腔内增益,是实现不同类型多脉冲现象的主要原因,本实验研究有利于加深对多脉冲动力学行为在正常色散区域氧化石墨烯锁模掺镱光纤激光器中的理解。     

Induced solitons formed by cross-polarization coupling in a birefringent cavity fiber laser

We report on the experimental observation of induced solitons in a passively mode-locked fiber ring laser with a birefringence cavity. Owing to the cross coupling between the two orthogonal polarization components of the laser, it was found that if a soliton was formed along one cavity polarization axis, a weak soliton was also induced along the orthogonal polarization axis, and depending on the net cavity birefringence, the induced soliton could have either the same or different center wavelengths to that of the inducing soliton. Moreover, the induced soliton always had the same group velocity as that of the inducing soliton. They formed a vector soliton in the cavity. Numerical simulations confirmed the experimental observations.     

正色散激光器中的增益导引孤子

采用非线性薛定谔方程模拟了全正色散介质激光器中实现脉冲锁模输出的动态过程,理论表明,不同于工作于净色散为负的孤子锁模激光器以及腔内具有色散延迟线净色散为正的色散管理孤子和自相似脉冲锁模激光器,在纯正色散介质构成的锁模激光器中,增益饱和和增益窄化对形成稳定的锁模脉冲起重要的作用,在两者的作用下脉冲形成增益导引孤子.采用不同的锁模方式在纯正色散光纤锁模激光器中得到了稳定的增益导引孤子锁模,实验结果与理论模拟一致. 关键词： 锁模 正色散 增益导引孤子     

Observations of three types of sidebands in a passively mode-locked soliton fiber laser

We have experimentally observed three types of sidebands in a passively mode-locked soliton fiber laser with large anomalous dispersion for the first time to our best knowledge. By appropriately adjusting the polarization state of laser cavity, the conventional peak sidebands, peak-dip sidebands, and dip sidebands appear in the soliton spectra, respectively. The peak-dip and dip sidebands exhibit distinct characteristics from the conventional peak sidebands. The formation mechanism of the new type sidebands can be attributed to the periodic power variation. This work could help to a deeper insight of the spectrum shaping mechanism of conventional solitons.     

Period-doubling of gain-guided solitons in fiber lasers of large net normal dispersion

We report on the experimental observation and numerical simulations of period-doubling of gain-guided solitons in an erbium-doped fiber laser operating in the large net normal cavity dispersion regime. Features of the solitons before and after the period-doubling bifurcation are studied. Our results suggest again that period-doubling is an intrinsic feature of the mode-locked soliton lasers, which is independent of the mode-locked pulse property.     

Comparison of pulse evolutions in low and ultra-large anomalous dispersion mode-locked fiber lasers

We have investigated and compared the pulse evolutions in low and ultra-large anomalous dispersion erbium-doped fiber lasers mode-locked by the nonlinear polarization rotation technique. Two lasers deliver the pulses that exhibit quite distinct characteristics such as pulse duration, spectral width, and spectral sidebands. Experimental observations show that the spectral width decreases from several nanometers to less than one nanometer whereas pulse duration extends about three times by changing the cavity dispersion from −0.03 to −15.50 ps². The solitons in ultra-large anomalous fiber laser show dips in the optical spectrum, which is quite distinct from that of conventional solitons observed in low anomalous regime.     

All-fiber polarization locked vector soliton laser using carbon nanotubes

We report an all-fiber mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) employing carbon nanotube (CNT) polymer composite film. By using only standard telecom grade components, without any complex polarization control elements in the laser cavity, we have demonstrated polarization locked vector solitons generation with duration of ~583 fs, average power of ~3 mW (pulse energy of 118 pJ) at the repetition rate of ~25.7 MHz.     

Period-doubling of dispersion-managed solitons in an Erbium-doped fiber laser at around zero dispersion

Period-doubling of dispersion-managed solitons in an Erbium-doped fiber ring laser operating at the near zero net cavity group velocity dispersion region was experimentally observed. The generated dispersion-managed solitons of the laser are characterized by their near Gaussian spectral profiles and no sidebands. Numerical simulations verified our experimental observations and showed that the period-doubling could occur both in the positive and negative near zero net cavity group velocity dispersion regions, which suggests that the occurrence of the period-doubling is an intrinsic feature of the mode-locking fiber lasers and independent of the concrete mode-locked pulse profile.     

L-band polarization-controlled multiple dissipative solitons generation in a normal dispersion fiber ring laser

A polarization-controlled multiple dissipative solitons generation in a normal dispersion fiber ring laser operating in L-band is demonstrated. The fiber laser is passively mode-locked with nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) technique. Depending on the rotations of the PCs, the number of the pulses circulating in the laser cavity can be tuned from 1 to 4. The experimental results suggest that the generation of multiple pulses is caused by the soliton shaping of dispersive waves induced by the variations of spectral filtering effect.     

Observation of antisymmetric dispersion-managed solitons in a mode-locked laser

We report experimental evidence of antisymmetric solitons in a mode-locked fiber laser with a strong dispersion map. A dispersion-managed soliton breathes as it traverses the dispersion map, and the antisymmetric dispersion-managed soliton can be considered a tightly bound soliton pair with pi phase difference between the component solitons. The antisymmetric soliton is observed only at particular values of the net cavity dispersion.     

Gain-guided solitons in dispersion-managed fiber lasers with large net cavity dispersion

Gain-guided solitons are experimentally observed in dispersion-managed fiber lasers with large net positive group-velocity dispersion. It is shown that formation of the soliton is a robust feature of the lasers. Numerical simulations also confirmed the experimental results.     

高阶孤子在光纤中传输的数值研究

通过数值求解非线性薛定谔方程,得到了二阶和三阶孤子的传输特性,并和一阶孤子做了比较.对于二阶孤子和三阶孤子间的相互作用做了分析,讨论了三阶色散对高阶孤子相互作用的影响,得出随着三阶色散的增大,会使孤子的衰变具有新的特性,将会导致光孤子通信的误码率加大.     

Spectral sideband distribution asymmetry in fiber laser

A ring fiber laser with SESAM mode-locking mechanism is constructed. The spectral sideband distribution asymmetry of solitons is observed in the fiber laser. There are different order sidebands distributed in two edges of the soliton spectrum. Through experimentally studying the effect of the different gain media lengths on the mode-locked solitons, it is found that the spectral sideband asymmetry occurs at the long wavelength band of erbium-doped fiber (EDF) gain profile. The origin of sideband asymmetry is owing to the secondary amplification gain profile of EDF, which is pumped by the first gain peak at 1530 nm. Furthermore, an extra in-line polarizer is imported in the cavity for studying the effect of the polarization bias on sidebands. It is found that the polarization bias in the cavity is an important control method to adjust the power and generate the spectral sidebands. However, the polarization bias does not decide the generation of spectral sideband distribution asymmetry.