Off-axis pumping of a photonic crystal fiber laser

We present a new method for free space pumping of double-clad photonic crystal fiber lasers and amplifiers. The method is based on off-axis injection of the pump beam, exploiting the relatively high numerical aperture of the photonic crystal fiber cladding. It prevents feedback from the laser into the pump source, does not require any special treatment to the fiber, and could lead to a more compact resonator. Experimental results with the new pumping method show improved laser performance.     

Amplifiers and Lasers in PCF Configurations

In this paper we will present an overview of the use of photonic crystal fibers as fiber amplifiers. We will describe the basic concepts of optical amplification, and how to do numerical modelling of such components. We will then identify advantages and disadvantages of amplifiers based on PCF technology compared to conventional fibers, and then go into greater detail on some of these specific applications, such as low pump power amplifiers, and high-power double-clad amplifiers and lasers.     

Neodymium-doped phosphate fiber lasers with an all-solid microstructured inner cladding

We report on high-power fiber lasers based on index-guiding, all-solid neodymium-doped (Nd-doped) phosphate photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with a hexagonal-shaped inner cladding. The optimum fiber laser with a 36 cm length active fiber, generated up to 7.92 W output power at 1053 nm, which benefited from a high absorption coefficient for pump power due to its noncircular inner cladding. The guiding properties of the all-solid PCF were also investigated. A stable mode with a donut-shaped profile and a power-dependent laser beam quality have been observed experimentally and analyzed.     

Photonic crystal fiber for fundamental mode operation of multicore fiber lasers and amplifiers

A mode-selection method based on a single-mode photonic crystal fiber (PCF) in the multicore fiber (MCF) lasers is presented. The designed PCF has a central core region formed by a missing air-hole, and three air-hole rings. With an appropriate choice of the design parameters of the PCF, the power coupling between the fundamental mode (FM) of the PCF and the fundamental MCF mode can be much higher than those between the FM and the other supermodes. As a result, the fundamental MCF mode has the maximum power reflection coefficient on the right-hand side of the MCF laser cavity, and dominates the output laser power. Since the maximum power of the fundamental MCF mode will lead to the desired laser beam profile, higher the fraction of the fundamental MCF mode power contained in the total output power contributes to higher beam quality. The numerical simulations show that the effectiveness of the fundamental MCF mode-selection is higher in the MCF lasers with the PCF as a mode-selection component than in the MCF lasers based on the free-space Talbot cavity method. Additionally, for the MCF amplifiers, an approach is presented to decrease the sensitivity of the amplifier performance to the variation of Gaussian beam waist utilizing the coupling between the Gaussian beam and the FM of the PCF. The numerical results show that this method can effectively increase the design flexibility for a broad range of the Gaussian beam waist.     

两光子晶体光纤激光器相干锁定的实验研究

利用自成像腔技术进行光子晶体光纤(PCF)激光器光束相干合成的实验研究,实现了两光子晶体光纤激光器的相位锁定.在不使用滤波器的情况下,实验仍能观测到清晰的下涉图样,且在高功率输出状态以及环境噪声情况下干涉图样仍可保持稳定,表明具有单模大模场特性的光子晶体光纤在实现光束相干合成方面比传统的双包层光纤(DCF)有明显的优越性.实验还表明耦合输出镜的反射率对相干输出功率有一定影响,当反射镜的反射率分别为5%,10%和15%时,两台激光器相干输出斜率效率分别为63.8%,61.6%和60.2%.在抽运功率为150 W和耦合输出镜的反射率为5%时,获得95.8 W的最大相干功率输出,相干功率合成效率为90.2%.实验中无任何热光效应产生,有望利用该方法获得更高的相干输出功率.     

高功率光子晶体光纤激光器实验研究

 利用F-P谐振腔实验研究了高功率掺Yb³⁺光子晶体光纤激光器。使用915 nm和976 nm两种波长的泵浦源进行双端泵浦,在23 m长的双包层光子晶体光纤中获得了552 W的连续单模激光输出。该激光器的斜率效率约为76%,光-光转换效率为56%,光谱中心波长为1 078 nm,光束质量平方因子为1.2。     

Experimental study of phase-locking of two photonic crystal fiber lasers

Two photonic crystal fiber (PCF) lasers are phase-locked by using self-imaging resonator techniques. Obvious and steady interference strips are observed even without using spatial filter in high power operation, which demonstrates the advantages of pure single-mode PCF lasers in coherent beam combining. The maximum coherent output power of 95.8 W is obtained with coupling efficiency of 90.2%.     

Design of LD in-band direct-pumping side surface polished micro-rod Nd:YVO_4 laser

To diminish the thermal load, two ways, that is, in-band direct pumping and micro-rod crystal, could be adopted at the same time. The efficiency of LD in-band direct-pumping side surface polished micro-rod Nd:YVO_4 laser is numerically analyzed. By optimizing parameters such as crystal length, laser mode radius, pump beam radius, doping concentration and crystal cross-section size, the overall efficiency can reach over 50%. It is found that with micro-rod crystal implemented in the laser oscillator, high overall efficiency LD in-band direct-pumping Nd:YVO_4 laser could be realized. High efficiency combined with low thermal load makes this laser an outstanding scheme for building high-power Nd:YVO_4 lasers.     

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%.     

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.     

Compact corner-pumped Nd:YAG/YAG composite slab laser

Corner-pumping is a new pumping scheme in diode-pumped all-solid-state lasers, having such advantages as high pump efficiency, favorable pump uniformity and low cost. Compact corner-pumped Nd:YAG/YAG composite slab lasers at 1064 nm with low or medium output powers and high efficiency are demonstrated in this paper. Combined with intracavity frequency doubling by a LBO crystal, a corner-pumped Nd:YAG/YAG composite slab 532 nm green laser with a stable output is realized successfully. The experimental results show that corner-pumping can reduce laser costs greatly, release the thermal effects of slab crystals and improve the output beam quality, and that the new pumping scheme is feasible in the design of diode-pumped all-solid-state lasers with low or medium output powers.     

光子晶体光纤模式特征的研究

从基空间填充模出发，将光子晶体光纤的包层等效成均匀介质，从而将光子晶体光纤等效为阶跃折射率光纤。利用等效折射率模型，对光子晶体光纤的模式特征进行了详尽的研究，主要包括模式特性、传输常量、模场分布、功率限制特性、瑞利散射损牦特性、色散特性，等等。并通过功率限制因子这一参量将它与单模光纤进行比较。结果表明，光子晶体光纤单模工作波长范围比较宽，功率限制因子比较高，可用于制作更高抽运效率的光纤放大器。     

Efficient and wavelength-tunable anti-Stokes frequency conversion with good beam quality in the fundamental mode of photonic crystal fiber

Using the photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with the zero dispersion wavelength of 848 nm for the fundamental mode, the efficient anti-Stokes signal generations from 645 to 543 nm are realized by pumping in the normal dispersion region. When the pump average power increases from 200 to 500 mW, the output power of the anti-Stokes signal increases 8.46 times, the power ratio of the anti-Stokes signal at 543 nm to the residual pump is calculated as 22.6:1, and the conversion efficiency η in the experiment can be up to 46%. Moreover, good optical beam quality of the anti-Stokes signal can be achieved.     

利用Kagome光纤实现多芯光子晶体光纤的输出合束

多芯光纤的输出光束只能在远场和焦点附近实现良好的同相位超模合束,这种超模传输特性大大影响了多芯光纤的应用范围.一种新型中空Kagome光纤为解决这一难题提供了可行的方案,利用中空Kagome光纤可以实现七芯光纤输出模式的整形合束.本文利用中心波长800 nm的钛宝石飞秒激光作为激光源,耦合入七芯非线性光子晶体光纤,得到700 nm至1050 nm的展宽光谱,并实现同相位超模输出.随后,将非线性展宽之后的宽谱七芯光束耦合至Kagome光子晶体光纤中,从Kagome光纤输出光斑呈高斯分布的模式传输,不再演变回七芯模式,耦合效率71%.实验还进一步验证此方法适用于不同结构的多芯光纤,为多芯光纤在高功率激光等领域的应用提供了参考.     

全固态八边形大模场光子晶体光纤的设计

提出一种新型的全固态八边形大模场低损耗的掺镱石英光子晶体光纤,利用多极法对光纤的结构和特性进行了模拟.这种结构的光子晶体光纤空气孔由掺有少量氧化硼的石英棒代替,简化了制备过程,提高了光纤的热损伤阈值.在波长为1064 μm处,光纤的模场面积可达2000 μm²,还可实现单模传输,而且其弯曲损耗很小,当弯曲半径为5 cm时弯曲损耗小于05 dB/m.这种光纤对光纤激光器和光纤放大器的发展有重要意义. 关键词： 光子晶体光纤 模场面积 弯曲损耗 限制损耗     

High beam quality by SBS phase conjugation of a single rod Nd-amplifier up to 140 W average output power

For pumping XUV plasma light sources with solid-state lasers and also for micromaterial processing, high beam quality and output power as well as simplicity of the pump lasers are crucial. The beam quality of high-power solid-state lasers can be significantly improved using phase-conjugating mirrors based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). Hence, SBS phase conjugation may prove one of the key technologies in this field. We describe a single-rod neodymium amplifier with 140 W average output power and nearly diffraction-limited beam. Because of automatic compensation of the thermal lensing by SBS phase conjugation, the output power can be tuned without changing the beam profile.     

固体激光器与光纤激光器对光子晶体光纤棒耦合的分析与对比

耦合效率的高低与耦合后光斑的好坏直接影响着光子晶体光纤棒的放大效果,因此需要对种子光的耦合效果进行研究,选择合适的激光器作为种子源。本文对光子晶体光纤棒在固体激光器与光纤激光器两种情况下的耦合效率进行了理论分析;模拟计算了两种激光器情况下耦合效率的变化规律以及对准误差对耦合效率的影响;选择合适的透镜或透镜组,使用两种激光器对光子晶体光纤棒进行了耦合实验;对比两种激光器的耦合效果可知:固体激光器的耦合效率最高只能达到62.4%,而光纤激光器的耦合效率可以达到80%以上;在光纤激光器耦合情况下,对不同功率注入时耦合效率,以及耦合后光斑进行了实验分析。得到的实验结果对后续光纤棒的放大实验具有指导作用。     

Core temperature in super-Gaussian pumped air-clad photonic crystal fiber lasers compared with double-clad fiber lasers

In this paper we investigate the core temperature of air-clad photonic crystal fiber (PCF) lasers pumped by a super-Gaussian (SG) source of order four. The results are compared with conventional double-clad fiber (DCF) lasers pumped by the same super-Gaussian and by top-hat pump profiles.      

Build-up of supercontinuum in heated and unheated photonic crystal fibers using a chirped femtosecond laser

The build-up of supercontinuum in a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) has been investigated experimentally as a function of pump power using chirped 100-fs pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser. As compared with the PCF at room temperature, a new blue-shifted spectral component is observed in the initial steps of supercontinuum (SC) generation when the central part of PCF is heated to 120 °C by a hot plate. In addition, the slope efficiency of SG is slightly improved with the slightly extension of supercontinuum spectrum in blue edge at high pump powers. The change in dispersion property as well as the effective cascading of nonlinear photonic crystal fibers for heated PCF would be the main attributions.     

亚纳秒光脉冲抽运光子晶体光纤产生的瓦级超连续谱

研究了亚纳秒脉冲抽运光子晶体光纤产生高功率超连续谱的机理.采用掺镱锁模光纤激光器产生的脉宽570ps光脉冲,抽运1.8m光子晶体光纤,得到了平均功率为1.15W、光谱覆盖范围为750nm的超连续谱.通过实验和模拟结果的对比和分析,证实了亚纳秒脉冲抽运1.8m PCF产生超连续谱时,调制不稳定性效应起了重要作用.在研究了不同抽运功率下输出的超连续谱变化后,发现随着抽运功率的提高,输出功率也更高且超连续谱覆盖波段也更宽,在瓦级输出功率下依然未达到饱和展宽状态,还有进一步提高功率和展宽光谱的空间.