Single-longitudinal-mode fiber ring laser using fiber grating-based Fabry-Perot filters and variable saturable absorbers

A single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) fiber ring laser is demonstrated by incorporating a fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based Fabry-Perot (F-P) filter and a variable saturable absorber in a fiber ring cavity. An ultra-narrow bandpass filter is established by the combined mode filtering of the FBG-based F-P filter and the variable saturable absorber. No accurate control for cavity length is required, and stable single longitudinal-mode operation without mode hopping is conveniently achieved.     

Dynamic strain monitoring by wavelength locking between two fiber Bragg gratings fiber sensing system

We demonstrated a fiber sensing system using the method of wavelength locking of two identical fibers Bragg gratings (FBG) to interrogate the wavelength shift by directly measuring the intensity of the reflection from the sensing Bragg grating. The light source of the fiber sensing system is an EDFA fiber ring laser pumped by a 980 nm laser diode and a narrow bandwidth fiber Bragg grating for the filter of the ring laser resonator. The wavelength shift is converted to the intensity deviation of the reflection from the sensing FBG under strain variation, and is able to achieve real-time sensing of the dynamic strain sensing in civil engineering. The characteristics and key factors to maintain stability of the dynamic strain sensing system are discussed.     

A unidirectional room temperature multi-wavelength fiber ring laser without isolator

A simplified ring cavity for achieving a unidirectional room temperature multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser without optical isolator is demonstrated. The fiber ring cavity is built in such a way that the optical fields propagating in two directions suffer different losses caused by one sampled fiber Bragg grating. Furthermore, simultaneous multi-wavelength lasing with 0.8-nm intervals is demonstrated with sinusoidal phase modulation just before the sampled fiber Bragg grating to prevent single-wavelength lasing and unstable wavelength oscillation.     

Effective generation of optical quadruple frequency millimeter-wave based on fiber laser using injection rational harmonic mode-locked technique

A method to generate the optical quadruple frequency millimeter-wave with high power efficiency is pro- posed and demonstrated based on the combination of the injection 2nd-order rational harmonic mode- locked fiber ring laser technique and the fiber grating notch filter. In this approach, the fiber Bragg grating notch filter is inserted into the laser cavity to prevent the undesired optical carrier, so that the pump power can be converted to 2nd-order harmonic wave more efficiently. In our experiment, the power efficiency of optical quadruple frequency millimeter-wave （40 GHz） generation is ten folds of that of our previous method based only on the rational harmonic mode-locked technique.     

Photonic generation of microwave signals using dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode fiber lasers

Photonic generation of microwave signals is demonstrated with a dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode erbium-doped fiber ring laser. Microwave signal with a frequency of 21.07 GHz is obtained by aligning the reflection band of a uniform fiber Bragg grating to the two transmission peaks within a fiber Bragg grating-based Fabry-Perot filter. Stable dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode operation is guaranteed by means of the combined filtering effect of a saturable absorber and the Fabry-Perot filter. This approach provides an effective solution to the photonic generation of high-frequency microwave signals.     

Externally-modulated high-power fiber grating ring laser for digital transmission

We have constructed a low-cost, double-cavity erbium-doped fiber ring laser with a fiber Bragg grating and a 2×2 coupler. A high output power of 8.7 dBm and a signal-to-noise-floor ratio of 43 dB were demonstrated. This fiber grating ring laser is used as the light source for the 2.488 Gb/s transmission experiment through a 100 km single mode fiber. To our knowledge, this is the first time a fiber grating ring laser is being used as an externally modulated source for digital transmission.     

Wavelength spacing tunable dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode fiber ring laser based on fiber Bragg gratings

A wavelength spacing tunable dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode fiber ring laser is presented by employing separated fiber Bragg gratings. By using a saturable-absorption-induced grating filter and a hybrid gain medium formed by a semiconductor optical amplifier and an erbium-doped fiber amplifier, stable single-longitudinal-mode lasing is achieved at room temperature. Wavelength spacing of the proposed fiber laser can be tuned in a range from 0.1 to 1.3 nm.     

基于侧边抛磨光纤的表面布拉格光栅温度传感器

为了实现在侧边抛磨光纤（SPF）上制作布拉格光栅结构并提高器件设计灵活性,利用重铬酸盐明胶（DCG）作为光刻材料,提出一种新型的光纤表面布拉格光栅制作方法并对该器件温度传感特性进行研究。使用轮式抛磨系统制作SPF,并在SPF侧抛面上旋涂DCG,通过干涉光束曝光显影制作表面布拉格光栅。光谱测量表明:带有布拉格光栅的侧边抛磨光纤在1 480.2 nm处有透射谷,在相应位置反射谱有明显反射峰,其调制幅度达到15.9 dB,这是由于表面光栅的布拉格反射所致。温度传感实验表明,该布拉格反射峰的温度灵敏度为17.84 pm/℃。这种器件已在光纤传感和光纤滤波器等方面获得应用。     

Stable single frequency Er-doped all-fiber ring laser with fiber Bragg grating Fabry-Perot filter

Using a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and a Fabry-Perot cavity composed of two fiber Bragg gratings (FBGFP) as its frequency-selective components, a type of single frequency all-fiber ring laser permits oscillation only on one longitudinal mode of the main cavity without modehopping while the cavity length can be up to tens of meters. The salient feature is due to the single narrowband resonance of the FBGFP filter. Such a fiber ring laser is achieved experimentally, and the laser mode is limited inside the single resonance of the FBGFP.     

光纤光栅传感信号解调技术研究进展

光纤光栅传感器是一种新型传感器,有着非常广泛的应用前景。限制光纤光栅传感器大量实际应用的主要障碍是传感信号解调,因而,光纤光栅传感信号解调是光纤光栅传感器应用的关键技术之一。本文对现有已报道的光纤光栅传感信号的解调方法进行综述,并归类为:边缘滤波法、匹配滤波法、可调谐滤波法、光源波长可调谐扫描法、射频探测法、光栅啁啾法、CCD分光仪法、干涉法。对各种方法的原理及相关改进方法进行了阐述,并对其优缺点做了比较分析,最后,对光纤光栅传感信号的解调技术发展进行了展望。     

Single-longitudinal-mode dual-wavelength fiber ring laser by incorporating variable saturable absorbers and feedback fiber loops

A single-longitudinal-mode dual-wavelength fiber ring laser is proposed and demonstrated experimentally by introducing feedback fiber loops and a variable saturable absorber in a fiber ring cavity. A dynamic ultra-narrow bandpass filter is formed by the combined interactions of cascaded fiber Bragg gratings, feedback fiber loops and low-pumped erbium-doped fiber. Both ultra-narrow bandpass filter and accurate control for the cavity length are not required for the single-longitudinal-mode performance. The proposed scheme offers a possibility of generating terahertz waves by photomixing the lasing wavelengths in a high-speed photodetector.     

Sensing system with Michelson-type fiber optical interferometer based on single FBG reflector

A sensing system,with Michelson-type fiber optical interferometer based on single fiber Bragg grating (FBG) as the reflector,is demonstrated.The system used a frequency-matched ring fiber optical laser as the source.The closed Michelson-type fiber optical interferometer system will be helpful in simplifying the developed interferometric sensor by replacing the double reflectors with only one FBG reflecting the doubleside light.The basic sensing properties of the system are demonstrated,with a fiber optic piezoelectric ceramic transducer embedded in the arm of the interferometer simulating the sensing signal.     

埋入式光纤光栅应变测量系统的设计

埋入式光纤光栅应变传感器作为大型土木结构健康监测的智能元件具有很好的发展前景。讨论了埋入式光纤光栅应变传感器的传感机理，设计了埋入式光纤光栅应变测量系统。从力学角度阐述了光栅传感探头的结构和制作工艺。采用可调谐F-P滤波器对光栅信号进行解调，解决了应变与温度交叉敏感问题。系统对应变的测量范围为0～1500με。通过理论分析证实了系统方案的可行性。     

A novel dual-wavelength fiber Bragg grating and its application in fiber ring laser

A novel method for fabricating dual-wavelength fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) by using one phase mask is developed. The method is based on a double-exposure technique. Our technique lends itself to writing gratings with controllable reflectivity and separation of two Bragg wavelengths. A grating with two equal transmission peaks of 20.25 dB is obtained by this method and the separation of the two Bragg wavelengths is about 0.8 nm. With the grating, we demonstrate a dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser whose interval of the two peaks is 0.8 nm. The laser's peak powers can get 3.1 mW above and have a good stability.     

Compact fiber laser at L-band region using Erbium-doped Zirconia fiber

A compact Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) operating in L-band region is demonstrated using a fabricated Erbium-doped Zirconia fiber (EDZF) for the first time. The fiber is fabricated by combining Zr and Al to achieve the maximum Erbium ion concentration of 4320 wt ppm. By using a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in a ring configuration, the laser operates at 1579.6 nm with a slope efficiency of 13.6% and the threshold pump power of 25.1 mW. The lasing wavelength is obtained at Bragg wavelength with an output power of 13 dBm and a 3 dB spectral width of 0.02 nm using a piece of 2 m long EDZF in conjunction with 120 mW of 1480 nm pump power.     

Highly reliable strain-tuning of an Erbium-doped fiber laser for the interrogation of multiplexed Bragg grating sensors

The authors implemented a tunable linear cavity Erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser for the interrogation of multiplexed fiber Bragg grating sensors (BGS). A high-strength single-pulse draw-tower fiber Bragg grating (FBG) was used as the mechanically tunable element enabling the rapid wavelength sweeping of the laser center wavelength. A simple algorithm to process the noisy acquired data and identify the peak of the BGS spectra was employed. For the first time, this type of configuration was used to reliably interrogate at least three fiber Bragg grating sensors with a standard wavelength spacing between the Bragg wavelengths of 3 nm, without risk of breaking the stretched fiber, using an FBG with a simple PZT driven mount as the tuning elements.     

Single-mode fiber laser based on core-cladding mode conversion

A single-mode fiber laser based on an intracavity core-cladding mode conversion is demonstrated. The fiber laser consists of an Er-doped active fiber and two fiber Bragg gratings. One Bragg grating is a core-cladding mode converter, and the other Bragg grating is a narrowband high reflector that selects the lasing wavelength. Coupling a single core mode and a single cladding mode by the grating mode converter, the laser operates as a hybrid single-mode laser. This approach for designing a laser cavity provides a much larger mode area than conventional large-mode-area step-index fibers.     

Multiple dual-wavelengths fiber ring laser utilizing a phase-only sampled fiber Bragg grating with multiple phase-shifts inserted

A simple technique to multiply the lasing wavelength in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)-based fiber ring laser is proposed and demonstrated, which is based on the utilization of a multiple phase-shifts sampled fiber Bragg grating (FBG). Tunability for the wavelength spacing within all dual-wavelengths has also been demonstrated by changing the positions of phase-shifts. Moreover, more than 20 dual-wavelengths fiber lasers with a 3-dB linewidth of 0.017 nm and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of about 45 dB have been obtained.     

Experimental study of an actively mode-locked fiber ring laser based on in-fiber amplitude modulation

We report an experimental study of an actively mode-locked fiber ring laser based on the development of an efficient in-fiber amplitude modulator. Intermodal coupling induced by standing flexural acoustic waves permits the implementation of broad bandwidth (1.5 nm), high modulation depth (72%), low-insertion-loss (0.75 dB), in-fiber amplitude modulators, operating in the MHz frequency range. The experimental characterization of the laser as a function of the radio frequency voltage that controls the modulator, the length of the active fiber, and the optical bandwidth of an intracavity filter implemented with a fiber Bragg grating has led to an improved performance of the Erbium-doped fiber laser: optical pulses of 34-ps temporal width, 1.4-W peak power, and 4.75-MHz repetition rate.     

Tunable chirped fiber Bragg grating based on the D-shaped fiber

A novel tunable chirped fiber Bragg grating is realized by bending a piece of D-shaped fiber Bragg grating into a specific shape like the character ‘Ω’. The principle of tuning is demonstrated by numerical simulation. The dispersion of the grating can be tuned while the center wavelength is kept nearly no shift. The experimental results match well with the numerical analysis. The influence from D-shaped fiber’s birefringence and polarization dependent loss is discussed theoretically and experimentally as well. This proposed tuning technique has potential applications in the optical communications and other fiber optics systems.