Visible supercontinuum generation in tapered photonic crystal fiber pumped by picosecond pulse at 1064 nm

Short photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) with different tapered waist diameter are made to extend the continuum spectrum in the visible range. The diversification of output continuum spectrum with the diameter of the tapered waist is experimentally observed. An all fiber visible supercontinuum source with 1.88 W output is demonstrated in our experiments. To the best of our knowledge, it is the highest all fiber visible supercontinuum generation in tapered PCF, pumping by picosecond pulse at 1064 nm. The suitably designed short tapered PCF can extend the visible spectrum, while, how to preserve the tapered waist is crucial for the all fiber visible supercontinuum source in the practical applications.     

基于光子晶体光纤和拉锥式单模光纤的超连续光谱产生的实验研究

本文使用重复频率为250 MHz、脉冲宽度为135 fs、最大功率为2.2 W的锁模掺镱光纤激光作为种子源,利用光子晶体光纤和自制的拉锥式单模光纤两种高非线性光纤研究了超连续光谱的产生特性,通过对比两种光纤的结构、色散等特性,分析了拉曼孤子、色散波及其他非线性效应对产生的超连续谱形状的影响,并均得到了大于一个倍频程的超连续光谱,特别是拉锥式单模光纤产生的超连续光谱,耦合效率达到60%,这为众多研究领域,尤其是光学频率梳的建立提供了实用的超连续光源.     

Femtosecond parabolic pulse nonlinear compression with gas-filled hollow-core fiber

We study theoretically the spectral intensity evolutions of the femtosecond Gaussian and parabolic pulses with different initial pulse energies and compare the nonlinear compressions of these pulses based on a meter-long hollow-core fiber filled with neon for different initial pulse durations. The pulses are first coupled into gas-filled hollow-core fiber for spectrum broadening, then compressed by the optimal chirp compensation. The parabolic pulse possesses a shorter pulse duration, larger peak power, and cleaner wings than Gaussian pulse. The properties are useful for compressing the pulses and thus generating the high-energy, short-duration pulses.     

高非线性光纤产生自相似抛物线脉冲的特性研究

基于脉冲在光纤中传输所满足的非线性薛定谔方程,采用数值计算的方法对脉冲在高非线性光纤中演化成自相似抛物线脉冲的传输特性进行了研究。结果表明,脉冲在不同初始能量和啁啾参量的情况下,高非线性光纤产生自相似抛物线脉冲,且随着归一化长度的增大,脉冲的自相似指数从0.0796减小到0.0720。进一步的研究表明:啁啾高斯脉冲在光纤传输过程中,脉冲逐渐展宽,同时正啁啾越大,其自相似演化结果越差;参数N=8的正负啁啾脉冲分别演化成平顶自相似抛物线脉冲以及三角形脉冲。     

Dark pulse generation in a dispersion-managed fiber laser

We report an experimental observation of dark pulse generation in a dispersion-managed erbium-doped fiber laser with net anomalous cavity group-velocity dispersion. It is found that apart from the bright soliton pulses, dark pulses with spectral sidebands could be obtained in the laser under appropriate operating conditions. The generation of dark pulses may be attributed to soliton shaping in the cavity.     

Ultrashort pulse generation using fiber FM laser

Ultrashort optical pulse generation using a fiber FM laser is presented and analyzed in detail. Fiber FM laser operation is realized using a fiber ring with an internal phase modulator and an erbium-doped fiber amplifier. To compress FM laser pulses, an external dispersive single-mode fiber is employed. Furthermore, by external intensity modulation, the pulse background is removed. The background ratio of the generated ultrashort pulse is calculated and compared with the experimental results. The experimental results show an output optical pulse width of 1.77 ps and a spectral bandwidth of 0.5 THz.     

全光纤多种子激光脉冲产生系统

报道一种可精确同步输出宽带啁啾脉冲、纳秒级整形脉冲以及窄带光参量啁啾放大抽运脉冲的全光纤多种子激光脉冲产生系统.采用掺镱光纤锁模激光器和掺镱单纵模光纤振荡器作为系统的光源,将掺镱光纤锁模激光器输出的超短脉冲分束啁啾展宽至0.9ns后,一路进行放大产生10μJ量级的宽带啁啾脉冲为高能拍瓦激光器系统提供种子光脉冲,另一路通过1.2nm滤波产生140ps的基元脉冲,通过光纤堆积器产生可编程整形的2.3ns脉冲,再经过放大达到10μJ量级,提供任意整形的压缩脉冲.同时,将部分掺镱光纤锁模激光器输出的超短脉冲进行光电转换并锁相后,产生与锁模超短脉冲高精度同步的电脉冲用于触发幅度调制器,将掺镱单纵模光纤振荡器输出的连续光削波放大,产生光参量啁啾放大抽运脉冲.该系统能够根据物理实验的需要,非常灵活地在输出各种脉冲之间做出选择.     

Generation of wide-bandwidth pulse with graphene saturable absorber based on tapered fiber

Wide-bandwidth pulses were generated with a dispersion-managed erbium-doped passively mode-locked fiber laser based on a graphene saturable absorber. The graphene saturable absorber was composed of a tapered fiber deposited with graphene fabricated by liquid-phase exfoliation. The output pulse had a 3-dB bandwidth of 13.6 nm, which is the widest spectrum ever achieved with graphene-tapered-fiber saturable absorbers.     

Distortion of parabolic pulse due to higher-order effects in a dispersion-decreasing fiber

Considering Third-order Dispersion (TOD) and Stimulated Raman Scattering effect (SRS) simultaneously, the properties of the self-similar parabolic pulse evolution in a dispersion-decreasing optical fiber with normal group-velocity dispersion are firstly investigated in our paper. Our results show that parabolic pulses are distorted and the characteristic of exactly self-similarity will be lost due to the High-order effects. When only the TOD is taken into account, the chirp still reveals highly linear but glows into asymmetric which causes the waveform appearing optical wave breaking. When only considering SRS, the pulse still reveals highly linear chirp only linearity range narrow down, resulting in delaying the self-similar evolution. When considering SRS and TOD simultaneously, parabolic pulses are distorted less and the characteristic of exactly self-similarity will be better due to SRS effect than only considering TOD effect. The highly linear chirp in optical pulse still allows for efficient and high-quality pulse compression by use of dispersion compensation technique.     

Multicore, tapered optical fiber for nonlinear pulse reshaping and saturable absorption

We present a new method to create a coupled waveguide array via tapering a seven-core telecommunications fiber. The fiber based waveguide array is demonstrated to exhibit the novel physics associated with coupled waveguide arrays, such as discrete diffraction and discrete self-focusing. The saturable absorber characteristics of the device are characterized and an autocorrelation measurement reveals significant single-pass pulse reshaping.     

Long-wavelength continuum generation about the second dispersion zero of a tapered fiber

A dispersion zero near 1300 nm of a narrow-diameter tapered fiber is used to generate broadband, near-infrared light. When femtosecond pulses at 1260 nm with 750 pJ of energy are launched in proximity to the second zero-dispersion wavelength, a continuum spanning 1000-1700 nm is produced.     

Millimeter-wave pulse generation based on pulse reshaping using superstructure fiber Bragg grating

A novel optical approach is proposed to generate millimeter wave (MMW) pulse signal based on the pulse reshaping of superstructure fiber Bragg grating (SSFBG). In our scheme, one input pico-second Gaussian pulse is transformed into n Gaussian pulses by the SSFBG reshaping firstly, and then the pulse train is replicated to form a required frequency modulation MMW optical pulse envelope by the linear chirped fiber Bragg grating (LCFBG) or other highly dispersive element. The high-speed photodetector (PD) and band-pass filter can transform the MMW optical pulse into an MMW pulse signal ultimately. Depending on this scheme, MMW signals with frequency up to 10 GHz can be easily generated by the completed fiber components.     

Supercontinuum generation in tapered fibers

Supercontinuum light with a spectrum more than two octaves broad (370-1545 nm at the 20-dB level) was generated in a standard telecommunications fiber by femtosecond pulses from an unamplified Ti:sapphire laser. The fiber had been tapered to a diameter of :2mum over a 90-mm length. The pulse energy was 3.9 nJ (average power, 300 mW). This source of high-intensity single-mode white light should find widespread applications in frequency metrology and spectroscopy, especially since no unconventional fibers are needed.     

Picosecond flat-top pulse generation using dual-mode fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometers

We report on an optical fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer made by offset splicing a dual-mode fiber with two single-mode fibers. The extinction ratio can be tuned from less than 1 dB to greater than 28 dB by rotating the dual-mode fiber along its axial direction. The interferometer is utilized as a pulse shaper to convert a 2.5 ps Gaussian pulse to a 5.2 ps flat-top pulse.     

三角形光脉冲在正色散光纤中产生的实验研究

利用一种无源非线性脉冲整形方法, 实现了在普通正色散(ND)光纤中产生三角形光脉冲, 此方法依赖于脉冲预啁啾和脉冲在ND光纤中传输时群速度色散与自相位调制的相互作用. 实验研究表明, 在较宽的脉冲预啁啾值范围内, 通过优化脉冲输入功率和脉冲传输的ND光纤长度, 均可得到典型的三角形光脉冲: 脉冲时域形状前后沿的变化率接近恒定、整个脉冲具有线性频率啁啾. 另外, 在不同的脉冲预啁啾下, 要得到高质量的三角形光脉冲, 均需要较高的脉冲输入功率; 并且脉冲预啁啾较大时, 三角形脉冲的形成对ND光纤长度和脉冲输入功率有较大的容差, 易获得三角形光脉冲.     

Ultra-broadband optical spectrum generation from a stretched pulse fiber laser utilizing zero-dispersion fiber

We investigate the effects of a piece of zero-dispersion fiber(ZDF) on the pulse dynamics of a passively mode-locked fiber laser operating in the stretched-pulse regime.Numerical simulation suggests that the proper location and length of ZDF facilitate spectrum broadening and pulse shortening in fiber lasers while maintaining constant net cavity dispersion.A nonlinear polarization evolution mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser with a dispersion map is built based on the simulation.Larger optical spectrum broadening is obtained by inserting a longer ZDF after the active fiber during single-pulse operation,which well agrees with the simulation.     

Parabolic pulse generation in a dispersion-decreasing solid-core photonic bandgap Bragg fiber

We analyze the interplay of nonlinearity and dispersion in a dispersion-decreasing photonic bandgap Bragg fiber as a new platform for generating parabolic pulses. A suitably designed linearly tapered, low-index-contrast, solid-core Bragg fiber - amenable to fabrication by conventional modified chemical vapor deposition technology - is shown to yield stable parabolic pulses. The fiber design was optimized through a simple and accurate transfer-matrix formalism and pulse evolution was studied by the well-known split-step Fourier method. Our study revealed feasibility of generating parabolic pulses in such a dispersion-decreasing Bragg fiber of length as short as 1 m. We have also studied the effect of third order dispersion on generated parabolic pulse, which is an important deteriorating factor in such applications. The effective single-mode operation of the proposed device is achieved through appropriate tailoring of the outer cladding layers.     

Effect of pulse width on near-infrared supercontinuum generation in nonlinear fiber amplifier

The effect of pulse width on near-infrared supercontinuum generation in nonlinear fiber amplifier is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The complex Ginzburg–Landau equation and adaptive split-step Fourier method are used to simulate the propagation of pulses with different pulse widths in the fiber amplifier, and the results show that a longer pulse is more profitable in near-infrared supercontinuum generation if the central wavelength of the input laser lies in the normal dispersion region of the gain fiber. A four-stage master oscillator power amplifier configuration is adopted and the output spectra under picosecond and nanosecond input pulses are compared with each other. The experimental results are in good accordance with the simulations which can provide some guidance for further optimization of the system.     

High-peak-power nanosecond pulse generation by stimulated Brillouin scattering pulse compression in a seeded Yb-doped fiber amplifier

We demonstrate the generation of nanosecond and multikilowatt peak-power pulses in a double-clad Yb-doped fiber amplifier seeded by a spectrally narrowed gain-switched laser diode. Injected pulses with 100 ns duration were simultaneously compressed and amplified by the combination of high amplifier gain and stimulated Brillouin scattering. A maximum peak power of 20 kW has been obtained, corresponding to a single-pass gain of +57 dB in terms of peak power. Part of this output signal was also converted into IR continuum light by splicing a length of single-mode fiber at the end of the fiber amplifier.