20 W all fiber supercontinuum generation from picosecond MOPA pumped photonic crystal fiber

An all fiber high power supercontinuum (SC) source is demonstrated by pumping a section of photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with a picosecond MOPA laser. The core of the PCF is enlarged at the input end through a serious of PCF post processing method to match the output fiber of the picosecond laser, to ensure low loss splicing, hence high power operation of the whole system. The supercontinuum output spectrum covers the wavelength range from 650 nm to beyond 1700 nm. Limited by available pump power, 20 W super-continuum output power is obtained under 29.5 W picosecond pump power, giving a high optical to optical conversion efficiency of 67.8%.     

七芯光子晶体光纤中百瓦量级超连续谱的产生

采用平均功率为141.6 W的皮秒光纤激光泵浦一段国产七芯光子晶体光纤,获得了平均功率为104.2 W、连续光谱覆盖范围从750至1700 nm以上的超连续谱输出.详细研究了超连续光谱随泵浦功率增加的演变过程,并对基于该七芯光子晶体光纤的超连续谱光源的光谱拓展和功率提升潜力进行相关的分析和讨论.该研究结果对高功率超连续谱光源的发展具有一定的参考价值.     

Different supercontinuum generation processes in photonic crystal fibers pumped with a 1064-nm picosecond pulse

Picosecond pulse pumped supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fiber is investigated by performing a series of comparative experiments. The main purpose is to investigate the supercontinuum generation processes excited by a given pump source through the experimental study of some specific fibers. A 20-W all-fiber picosecond master oscillator-power amplifier （MOPA） laser is used to pump three different kinds of photonic crystal fibers for supercontinuum generation. Three diverse supercontinuum formation processes are observed to correspond to photonie crystal fibers with distinct dis- persion properties. The experimental results are consistent with the relevant theoretical results. Based on the above analyses, a watt-level broadband white light supercontinuum source spanning from 500 nm to beyond 1700 nm is demonstrated by using a picosecond fiber laser in combination with the matched photonic crystal fiber. The limitation of the group velocity matching curve of the photonic crystal fiber is also discussed in the paper.     

Narrow linewidth CW amplification of a Tm-doped double-clad fiber MOPA system

A Tm-doped double-clad fiber MOPA system is built. Amplification characteristics of a Tm-doped double-clad narrow linewidth fiber master oscillator (MO) are investigated both experimentally and numerically. Linewidth of the fiber MO is only 112 pm at 3 W output. The output and efficiency of the MOPA system increase with the injected seed power. When the seed power is increased to 2 W, a maximum output of 10.5 W is obtained with a slope efficiency of 41.5%. Spectral center of the output lies at 1996.7 nm with the linewidth no bigger than 120 pm throughout the experiment.     

多芯光子晶体光纤高功率超连续谱光源

分析基于单芯光子晶体光纤的超连续谱光源在提升平均输出功率时所面临的问题,指出采用多芯光子晶体光纤作为超连续谱产生介质是一种实现高功率超连续谱产生的潜在方案。使用自制皮秒光纤激光器泵浦一段国产多芯光子晶体光纤,实现了光谱范围750~1700 nm,平均功率42.3 W的全光纤化高功率超连续谱输出。     

Optimization of erbium-doped fiber MOPA laser

An erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) constructed in a master oscillator and power amplifier (MOPA) configuration is analyzed. The pump powers for the fiber cavity laser and the booster amplifier stages are managed properly to achieve maximal pump conversion efficiency. Our design achieves a pump conversion efficiency of 91.4%, corresponding to a quantum efficiency of 96.6%, for a 1565.8 nm MOPA laser pumped by a total power of 300 mW at 1480 nm. The optimized MOPA laser shows a 25% enhancement in the pump conversion efficiency, compared to a non-MOPA fiber laser. A side lobe suppression ratio of 48 dB for the optimized MOPA laser is observed.     

2 W/nm peak-power all-fiber supercontinuum source and its application to the characterization of periodically poled non-linear crystals

We demonstrate a uniform high spectral brightness and peak power density all-fiber supercontinuum source. The source consists of a nanosecond Ytterbium fiber laser and an optimal length PCF producing a continuum with a peak power density of 2 W/nm and less than 5 dB of spectral variation between 590 and 1500 nm. The Watt level per nm peak power density enables the use of such sources for the characterization of non-linear materials. Application of the source is demonstrated with the characterization of several periodically poled crystals.     

7 W all-fiber supercontinuum source

Combine a section of photonic crystal fiber and a picosecond fiber laser to realize an all-fiber supercontinuum source. The picosecond laser exhibits 20 W average output power, 14 ps pulse duration at 480MHz repetition rate. Approximately 7 W supercontinuum with over 1100 nm spectral range is obtained with an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 34%. Further improvements for higher average power are discussed in this paper.     

石英光子晶体光纤中高功率中红外超连续谱的产生

非石英光纤在产生大功率超连续谱方面存在难以克服的局限性.本文首次报道了采用石英光纤产生大功率中红外超连续谱.精心设计光纤结构使色散有利于超连续谱向中红外波段展宽,同时保证相对较大的芯径以承受较高的泵浦功率.合理选择光纤长度,在保证光谱展宽到3.4 μm的情况下使光纤损耗的影响降低到最小限度.研究表明,在1.95 μm皮秒脉冲泵浦下,采用色散适宜的石英光子晶体光纤可以产生20 dB带宽覆盖1 550~3 420 nm的超连续谱.超连续谱的平均功率可达56.6 W.     

Supercontinuum generation in seven-core photonic crystal fiber pumped by a broadband picosecond pulsed fiber amplifier

We report a supercontinuum source generated in seven-core photonic crystal fibers(PCFs) pumped by a self-made all-fiber picosecond pulsed broadband fiber amplifier. The amplifier's output average power is 60 W at 1150 nm with spectral width of 260 nm, and its repetition rate is 8.47 MHz with pulse width of 221 ps. With two different lengths of seven-core PCF, different output powers and spectra are obtained. When a 10 m long seven-core PCF is chosen, the output supercontinuum covers the wavelength range from 620 nm to 1700 nm, with the output power of 11.7 W. With only 2 m long seven-core PCF used in the same experiment, the wavelength of the supercontinuum spans from 680 nm to 1700 nm,with the output power of 20.4 W. The results show that the pulse width is 385 ps in the 10 m long seven-core PCF and 255 ps in the 2 m long one, respectively, due to the normal dispersion of the PCF.     

All fiber supercontinuum light source using photonic crystal fibers pumped by nanosecond fiber laser pulses

A novel compact supercontinuum (SC) source using the single mode photonic crystal fibers (PCF) pumped with an all fiber MOPA fiber laser is demonstrated experimentally. A bandwidth of 700 nm is achieved by operating the pumping fiber laser at a wavelength of 1064 nm, pulse duration of 10 ns, repetition rate of 50 kHz and peak power of 1 kW. The SC generation is initiated through modulation instability (MI) which breakups the nanosecond pump pulses into picosecond or femtosecond pulses, and further broadened through nonlinear effects of PCF.     

67.9W高功率全光纤白光超连续谱激光器

利用自主研发的全光纤被动锁模激光器以及高功率光纤模场匹配器,将145 W的皮秒脉冲耦合进国产光子晶体光纤,实现了67.9 W的高功率全光纤结构白光超连续谱输出,光谱范围为500~1700nm,10dB光谱宽度大于1000nm(泵浦波长除外)。整个激光器系统的光-光(半导体泵浦源输出激光-超连续谱输出激光)转化效率达到33.8%。     

Dual-wavelength high-power Yb-doped double-clad fiber laser based on a few-mode fiber Bragg grating

We report a high-power dual-wavelength Yb-doped double-clad fiber laser based on a few-mode fiber Bragg grating (FMFBG). The FMFBG was fabricated by using a piece of fiber in a length of fiber with a cutoff wavelength of 1225 nm, which supported two modes at 1060 nm. The laser was pumped by a fiber pigtailed laser diode working at 915 nm. Single-wavelength, dual-wavelength and triple-wavelength laser oscillations were observed when the fiber laser operated under different low pump powers. However, stable dual-wavelength operation was achieved at higher pump power of 3.9 W and remained unchanged until the output power reached 5.67 W under the maximum available pump power of 10.7 W. The laser wavelengths were centered at 1059.12 and 1060.80 nm with a full-width at half-maximum of 37 and 43 pm, respectively. The signal-to-noise-ratio was greater than 50 dB and the beam quality factor (M²) was about 1.9.     

基于光子晶体光纤的百瓦量级超连续谱光源研究

采用脉冲重复频率可调的高功率皮秒脉冲光纤激 光抽运光子晶体光纤产生了平均输出功率为101 W的全 光纤化超连续谱. 通过一系列的对比实验, 详细研究了抽运激光的脉冲重复频率以及光子晶体光纤的长度对超连续谱产生的影响. 最后, 对如何实现更高平均功率的超连续谱输出进行相关的分析和讨论. 相关研究结果可以为进一步发展基于光子晶体光纤的高功率超连续谱光源提供一定的参考. 关键词： 光子晶体光纤 非线性光纤光学 超连续谱产生     

All-fiber high-energy supercontinuum pulse generator

An all-fiber supercontinuum generator with a record-high pulse energy of 40 μJ is presented. The generator is based on a nanosecond ultralong high-energy mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser with an additional amplification stage. The supercontinuum spectrum belongs to the wavelength range 500–1750 nm, and a relatively uniform spectral distribution of the intensity is observed in the interval 1125–1550 nm. The mean power of the supercontinuum is greater than 1.5 W. The simulation of such a generator yields the integrity of the supercontinuum pulse on the nanosecond time scale and shows that the pulse can be characterized by a certain energy in contrast to the multipulse complicated trains of supercontinuum corresponding to the femtosecond and picosecond pumping.     

中红外超连续谱在氟化物光纤中的产生

为获得高功率全光纤中红外超连续谱,采用自制的掺Er锁模光纤激光器作为种子源,激光经过两级放大至1.67W,泵浦氟化物光纤,获得光谱覆盖1000~2400nm的超连续光谱;光谱宽度随着泵浦功率的增加而展宽,当输出功率达到1.21W时,转换效率为72%,并且产生的超连续谱被强烈的调制,在多个波长点处谱功率密度调制到0mW/nm,但调制波长与泵浦功率无关。     

Passively mode-locked ytterbium fiber laser utilizing chirped-fiber-Bragg-gratings for dispersion control

A robust, self-starting picosecond pulse source based on ytterbium (Yb³⁺) doped fiber laser is described. Utilizing a chirped-fiber-Bragg-grating (C-FBG) for dispersion control, solitary mode-locking is obtained without bulk dispersion compensation elements. A semiconductor saturable absorber (SESAM) is used for stable self-starting. 3.6 ps pulses are produced, with 45 MHz basic repetition-rate and mW scale average output power at 1060 nm. Detailed numerical simulations based on the modified nonlinear Schrödinger equation agree well with the experimental results and are used as a design tool for the solitary mode-locked picosecond laser. The presented design can be simply employed in an all-fiber environmentally-stable system.     

Random distributed feedback fiber laser pumped by an ytterbium doped fiber laser

A random distributed feedback fiber laser operating at 1115 nm has been demonstrated experimentally in standard communication optical fibers by using a LD-pumped Yb-doped fiber laser as the pump source. We have studied the effect of different fiber spans on this new type of random fiber laser output power. It is shown that the generation power is the highest up to 198 mW in a 50 km fiber span. The slope efficiency is more than 28.7%. Stable, high-power continuous-wave (CW) lasing can be generated when the pump power is 3.6 W. The threshold power has also been calculated which well proves a random fiber laser operating via Rayleigh scattering, amplified through the Raman scattering.     

Generation of a compact high-power high-efficiency normal-dispersion pumping supercontinuum in silica photonic crystal fiber pumped with a 1064-nm picosecond pulse

Broadband normal dispersion pumping supercontinuum （SC） generation in silica photonic crystal fiber （PCF） is investigated in this paper. A 1064-nm picosecond fiber laser is used to pump silica PCF for the SC generation. The length of PCF is optimized for the most efficient stimulated Raman scattering process in the picosecond pump pulse region. The first stimulated Raman Stokes peak is located in the anomalous dispersion regime of the PCF and near the zero dispersion wavelength; thus the SC generation process can benefit from both a normal dispersion pumping scheme and an anomalous dispersion pumping scheme. The 51.7-W SC spanning from about 700 nm to beyond 1700 nm is generated with an all-fiber configuration, and the pump-to-SC conversion efficiency is up to 90%. In order to avoid the output fiber end face damage and increase the stability of the system, an improved output solution for the high power SC is proposed in our experiment. This high-efficiency near-infrared SC source is very suitable for applications in which average output power and spectral power density are firstly desirable.     

A novel double-Brillouin-frequency spaced multi-wavelength Brillouin erbium-doped fiber laser based on non-linear amplified fiber loop mirror

In the paper, a ring double-Brillouin-frequency spaced multi-wavelength Brillouin erbium-doped fiber laser based on non-linear amplified fiber loop mirror filter is demonstrated, in which the non-linear amplified fiber loop mirror (AFLMF) is used as a filter. At the 980 nm pump power of 10.29 dBm, the tunable laser source center wavelength of 1563 nm and power of −3 dBm, up to 12 even output channels with 0.16 nm spacing are achieved. At the same time, we study the influence of 980 nm pump power, the polarization controller and the tunable laser source center wavelength on the number of Stokes light wave.