新型高功率中红外光纤激光材料与超连续谱激光研究进展

制备出一种具有较好热稳定性和化学稳定性的氟碲酸盐玻璃光纤,并利用其作为非线性介质研制出光谱范围覆盖0.6～5.4μm的宽带超连续谱(SC)激光光源和平均功率约为20 W、光谱范围覆盖1～4μm的SC激光光源。主要对目前国内外高功率中红外SC激光光源的研究进展进行了总结,包括氟化物玻璃光纤和氟碲酸盐玻璃光纤的材料特点和以其作为非线性介质的SC激光光源,并对此类SC激光光源的进一步发展进行了展望。     

中红外玻璃光纤材料及拉曼激光光源研究进展(特邀)

高功率中红外光纤激光光源在前沿科学研究、空间光通信、医学诊断与治疗、环境污染监测和光电对抗等领域有着重要应用。拉曼光纤激光光源输出波长灵活，原则上可以在光纤材料透过窗口范围内获得任意波长激光，是实现中红外激光输出的一种重要手段。目前，基于硫系玻璃光纤、氟化物玻璃光纤、碲酸盐玻璃光纤等中红外玻璃光纤材料，已实现工作波长位于3.77μm的拉曼光纤激光器、平均输出功率为3.7 W的2 231 nm拉曼光纤激光器和波长调谐范围覆盖2～4.3μm的拉曼孤子激光光源。近期，笔者研究组制备出一种具有高热学和化学稳定性、高激光损伤阈值、大拉曼频移和高拉曼增益系数的氟碲酸盐玻璃光纤，并利用其作为非线性介质，先后实现了级联拉曼散射、级联拉曼光纤放大器、波长调谐范围覆盖1.96～2.82μm的拉曼孤子激光以及波长为～4μm的红移色散波，验证了氟碲酸盐玻璃光纤在中红外拉曼光纤激光光源研制方面的应用潜力。主要介绍了氟化物、硫化物及碲酸盐玻璃光纤材料的特点及相应的拉曼激光光源的相关研究进展，并对其未来发展趋势进行了展望。     

基于特种玻璃光纤的中红外拉曼激光器研究进展

高功率中红外光纤激光器在基础科学研究、大气通信、环境监测和国防安全等领域有着重要应用。拉曼光纤激光技术是实现中红外激光的一种重要手段,通过级联拉曼运转可在光纤透过窗口内输出任意波长激光。目前,以碲酸盐、氟化物或硫系玻璃光纤作为拉曼增益介质,研究者分别研制出工作波长为3.77μm的二级级联拉曼激光器和波长调谐范围覆盖2～4.3μm的中红外拉曼孤子光纤激光光源。最近,本研究组制备出一种具有高稳定性、高抗激光损伤阈值、大拉曼频移和高拉曼增益系数的氟碲酸盐玻璃光纤,并以其作为拉曼增益介质,先后实现了波长调谐范围覆盖1.96～2.82μm的中红外拉曼孤子激光以及～3μm处的"拉曼孤子雨",初步验证了该氟碲酸盐玻璃光纤在中红外拉曼光纤激光器方面的应用潜力。主要对国内外中红外拉曼光纤激光光源的研究进展进行了总结,介绍了碲酸盐、氟化物、硫系以及氟碲酸盐玻璃光纤材料的特点及相应的拉曼光纤激光器,并对发展趋势进行了展望。     

13W全光纤中红外超连续谱光源

<正>和传统的石英光纤相比,硫系元素光纤、亚碲酸盐光纤、氟化物光纤等软玻璃光纤在中红外波段具有较低的传输损耗,以这些软玻璃光纤为非线性介质产生中红外超连续谱的研究均有报道。然而,在高功率中红外超连续谱的实验研究中,ZBLAN(组分为ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF)氟化物光纤表现出了更为优越的性能。2009年,美国密西根大学以     

基于类噪声脉冲抽运的高功率全光纤中红外超连续谱光源

报道了一个基于类噪声脉冲抽运的高功率全光纤结构的中红外超连续谱光源。利用非线性环镜锁模技术,在1966 nm处实现类噪声脉冲激光输出,3 d B光谱宽度为11 nm,脉冲包络宽度为1.4 ns,重复频率为3.36 MHz。将该纳秒类噪声脉冲作为两级单模掺铥光纤放大器的种子源进行功率放大。在此过程中,类噪声脉冲的最大输出功率可达28.5 W,相应的光谱范围为1.9~2.4μm。最后将放大的类噪声脉冲耦合到一段10 m长的氟锆酸盐ZBLAN光纤中,实现光谱的进一步展宽。此时,ZBLAN光纤的最大输出功率为14.3 W,相应的光谱范围为1.9~3.62μm。     

上海光机所掺铥双包层碲酸盐玻璃光纤获得2μm 1.12W激光输出

2010年7月,中国科学院上海光学精密机械研究所高功率激光单元技术研发中心胡丽丽研究员、张军杰研究员课题组承担的科技部863项目2007AA03Z441“2μm稀土掺杂激光玻璃光纤研制项目”工作取得突破性进展。该研究组利用自行研制的铥单掺双包层碲酸盐玻璃光纤,首次实现800nmLD泵浦下－2μm瓦级激光输出,输出功率达到1.12W,创造了目前碲酸盐玻璃光纤中－2μm激光输出的最高纪录。     

透红外氟化物玻璃

本文报道了两种氟化物玻璃:氟铝酸盐玻璃和氟锆酸盐玻璃,并给出了玻璃的制备方法和物理性质。这两种玻璃具有从紫外到中红外7～8μm宽的透光范围、低的折射率、高的阿贝数和好的化学稳定性等特点。     

中红外侧面泵浦合束器及全光纤超荧光光源的研制(特邀)

中红外超荧光光源具有光谱范围宽、空间相干性好、时域稳定性高等特点，应用前景广泛，但受限于中红外侧面泵浦合束器，目前普遍利用空间结构泵浦产生。文中根据拉锥光纤侧面耦合的原理，在125μm包层直径的无源双包层氟化物光纤上实现了中红外光纤侧面泵浦合束器的研制，该合束器泵浦光耦合效率达82.3%，可承受的最大泵浦功率达87.5 W。通过在中红外增益光纤上制得侧面泵浦合束器，实现了全光纤中红外超荧光光源产生，前后向输出的中红外超荧光最高功率和为91.09 mW(后向输出53.67 mW，前向输出37.42 mW)，输出光谱范围从2 702 nm覆盖至2 830 nm。在中红外超荧光总输出功率为33.03 mW时，获得了108 nm的最宽20 dB带宽。文中实现的中红外全光纤超荧光光源克服了以往空间泵浦复杂度高、调节难的问题，对推动中红外超荧光光源的进一步功率放大具有重要意义。     

高功率3～5微米波段超连续谱光纤激光研究进展

高功率3～5μm波段中红外超连续谱激光器在环境监测、生物医疗、测绘计量、国防安全等领域有重要应用。在用于产生中红外超连续谱激光的非线性介质中,光纤易于实现大的非线性系数,且有效作用距离长、结构灵活、便于集成,得到了广泛研究。近年来,3～5μm波段高功率中红外超连续谱光纤激光的技术方案日益丰富,性能指标逐步提升。总结了光谱覆盖3～5μm的中红外超连续谱光纤激光的发展现状,并对其发展趋势进行了展望。     

掺铒碲酸盐玻璃基上转换光纤激光器的理论研究

建立了以掺铒碲酸盐玻璃光纤作为增益介质的上转换光纤激光器数值模型,理论研究了碲酸盐玻璃基上转换光纤激光器的激光输出特性,得到了980 nm抽运源激励下546 nm绿色激光信号输出功率与入射抽运功率、谐振腔光纤长度的变化关系.研究表明,碲酸盐玻璃基上转换光纤激光器可以在厘米长度的增益介质上实现毫瓦功率的绿色激光输出,斜率效率达到了7%左右.相比于报道的氟化物玻璃基上转换光纤激光器,碲酸盐玻璃基上转换光纤激光器显示出一种潜在的小型化固体激光器特征.     

Mid-Infrared Raman Fiber Lasers

As mid-infrared (MIR) lasers show numerous applications in the field of defense, medical, materials processing, and optical communications. Investigation on MIR Raman fiber lasers (RFLs) increasingly becomes a hot topic. Compared with the traditional silica fibers, fluoride and chalcogenide glass fibers possess higher nonlinear coefficients and excellent MIR transmittances. In this article, the latest developments of the MIR RFLs using fluoride and chalcogenide glass fibers as gain media are introduced, respectively. This review article mainly focuses on the developments of MIR RFLs in aspects of output wavelength, output power, and optical efficiency. Besides, the prospect of MIR RFLs is also discussed.     

High-power mid-infrared supercontinuum sources: Current status and future perspectives

Mid-infrared (mid-IR) supercontinuum (SC) sources have recently gained much interest, as a key technology for such applications as spectral molecular fingerprinting, laser surgery, and infrared counter measures. However, one of the challenges facing this technology is how to obtain high power and broadband light covering a spectral band of at least 2–5 µm, especially with a very efficient output power distribution towards the mid-IR region. This directly affects their usage in the practical applications mentioned above. Typically, an SC is generated by pumping a piece of nonlinear fibre with high-intensity femtosecond pulses provided by mode-locked lasers. Although this approach can lead to wide continuum generation, the output power is limited only to the milliWatt level. Therefore, to achieve high-power SC light, other laser systems need to be employed as pump sources.This paper briefly reviews SC sources, restricted to those with an average output power of over 0.4 W and simultaneously with a long-wavelength edge of the continuum spectrum of over 2.4 µm. Firstly, the concepts of SC generation, including the nonlinear phenomena governing this process and the most relevant mid-IR fibre materials, are presented. Following this study, a review of the main results on SC generation in silica and soft-glass fibres, also including my experimental results, is presented. Emphasis is given to high-power SC generation with the use of different pump schemes, providing an efficient power distribution towards longer wavelengths. Some discussion and prospective predictions are proposed at the end of the paper.     

Quantum cascade superluminescent light emitters with high power and compact structure

Quantum cascade(QC)superluminescent light emitters(SLEs)have emerged as desirable broadband mid-infrared(MIR)light sources for growing number of applications in areas like medical imaging,gas sensing and national defense.However,it is challenging to obtain a practical high-power device due to the very low efficiency of spontaneous emission in the intersubband transitions in QC structures.Herein a design of^5μm SLEs is demonstrated with a two-phonon resonancebased QC active structure coupled with a compact combinatorial waveguide structure which comprises a short straight part adjacent to a tilted stripe and to a J-shaped waveguide.The as-fabricated SLEs achieve a high output power of 1.8 mW,exhibiting the potential to be integrated into array devices without taking up too much chip space.These results may facilitate the realization of SLE arrays to attain larger output power and pave the pathway towards the practical applications of broadband MIR light sources.     

非氧化物玻璃光纤和波导的组成、制备及应用

本文介绍了氟化物玻璃和硫系玻璃的化学组成、特征温度和透射光谱。总结了一些稀土掺杂氟化物玻璃光纤激光器和放大器的性能.并具体阐述了硫系玻璃光纤在红外波段的被动化学传感应用。     

Visible fiber lasers excited by GaN laser diodes

This paper describes and discusses visible fiber lasers that are excited by GaN laser diodes. One of the attractive points of visible light is that the human eye is sensitive to it between 400 and 700 nm, and therefore we can see applications in display technology. Of course, many other applications exist. First, we briefly review previously developed visible lasers in the gas, liquid, and solid-state phases and describe the history of primary solid-state visible laser research by focusing on rare-earth doped fluoride media, including glasses and crystals, to clarify the differences and the merits of primary solid-state visible lasers. We also demonstrate over 1 W operation of a Pr:WPFG fiber laser due to high-power GaN laser diodes and low-loss optical fibers (0.1 dB/m) made by waterproof fluoride glasses. This new optical fiber glass is based on an AlF₃ system fluoride glass, and its waterproof property is much better than the well known fluoride glass of ZBLAN.     

Linearly polarized polarization-maintaining Er3+-doped fluoride fiber laser in the mid-infrared

We demonstrated the ~2.8-μm and ~3.5-μm linearly polarized continuous wave (CW) laser outputs from a polarization-maintaining (PM) Er3+-doped fluoride fiber laser. By introducing a film polarizer into the cavity to select the laser polarization orientation, the ~2.8-μm linearly polarized CW laser with a high polarization extinction ratio (PER) of ~23 dB and maximum output power of 2.37 W was achieved under double-end pumping at 976 nm. By adding another 1981-nm pump source simultaneously, the ~3.5-μm linearly polarized CW laser was also obtained, giving higher PER of ~27 dB and maximum output power of 307 mW which is only limited by the available power of 1981-nm pump. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on a mid-infrared linearly polarized CW PM fiber laser in the >2.5-μm mid-infrared region. This work not only opens up opportunities for some new mid-infrared applications, but also provides a promising platform for developing high-stability and versatile mid-infrared laser sources.     

光纤气体激光光源研究进展及展望(Ⅱ):基于粒子数反转

粒子数反转和受激拉曼散射是实现光纤气体激光器输出的最常见的两种基本原理。与光纤气体拉曼激光光源不同,基于粒子数反转原理的光纤气体激光器是通过气体分子振转能级的本征吸收跃迁实现激光输出。由于绝大多数气体分子的振转能级对应的激射跃迁谱线都在中红外波段,这种激光器的输出波长基本都在中红外波段。简要分析了基于粒子数反转原理的光纤气体激光器在产生中红外波段激光方面的优势,重点回顾了其发展历史与研究现状,并对下一步的发展趋势进行了展望。     

同步脉冲诱导的高功率中红外差频产生技术（特邀）

提出并实验探究了基于同步脉冲诱导的中红外差频产生技术,利用高速光电探测器将泵浦光脉冲转换为超短电信号,使其驱动宽带的幅度调制器,作用于可调谐连续激光器上,从而实现双色脉冲的稳定时域同步。利用了同步脉冲诱导的非线性差频过程,有效降低了光参量下转换的泵浦阈值,能够获得瓦量级的中红外超短脉冲输出,最大泵浦光转换效率达60%,且中心波长在3000~3175 nm范围内可调谐。得益于全保偏光纤架构,平均功率的不稳定度(STD/MEAN)在1 h内低至0.07%,展现了优异的长期稳定性。此外,该方案利用光-电-光高速调制实现高精度脉冲同步,免除了复杂的反馈电路,具有结构简单、即插即用、鲁棒性强的特点,为拓展中红外光源在野外的应用奠定了基础。     

Dispersion-Engineered Photonic Crystal Fibers for CW-Pumped Supercontinuum Sources

We report recent advances on the spectral control of continuous-wave-pumped supercontinuum sources. We show that the generated infrared SC spectrum can be tailored by using photonic crystal fibers with two zero-dispersion wavelengths. The dynamics of the spectral broadening is studied, and we show that slightly different nonlinear mechanisms occur as the zero-dispersion wavelengths are brought closer to each other. We also report the generation of a visible continuous-wave-pumped supercontinuum by using dispersion engineered photonic crystal fibers in which the zero-dispersion wavelength slightly decreases as a function of length over 200 m. The resulting supercontinuum source spans from 650 nm to 1380 nm with an average output power of 19.5 W. The nonlinear mechanisms producing this spectacular effect are carefully investigated with support of numerical simulations. We show that the generation of visible wavelengths is due to the trapping of dispersive waves by powerful red-shifting solitons.      

Germania-based core optical fibers

Germania-glass-based core silica glass cladding single-mode fibers (/spl Delta/n up to 0.143) with a minimum loss of 20 dB/km at 1.9 /spl mu/m were fabricated by the modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) method. The fibers exhibit strong photorefractivity with the type-IIa-induced refractive-index modulation of 2/spl times/10/sup -3/. The Raman gain of 300 to 59 dB/(km/spl middot/W) was determined at 1.07 to 1.6 /spl mu/m, respectively, in a 75 mol.% GeO/sub 2/ core fiber. Only 3 m of such fibers are enough for the creation of a 10-W Raman laser at 1.12 /spl mu/m with a 13-W pump at 1.07 /spl mu/m. Raman generation in optical fiber at a wavelength of 2.2 /spl mu/m was obtained for the first time.