基于半导体可饱和吸收镜的可调谐光纤激光器

为了实现锁模光纤激光器的波长可调谐, 采用半导体可饱和吸收镜(SESAM), 搭建了环形腔被动锁模掺镱光纤激光器。在腔内无偏振控制器及可调谐滤波器等器件的前提下, 通过改变光纤跳线端面至SESAM的距离, 实现光谱在1029.5nm~1042.7nm之间的稳定可调谐, 基频重复频率为18.0MHz, 脉冲宽度为130ps, 锁模脉冲信噪比达44dB。结果表明, 该锁模光纤激光器具有较高的信噪比及较宽的可调谐范围。该研究为可调谐被动锁模光纤激光器的研制提供了重要的参考价值。     

Bend loss in neodymium-doped fiber lasers

This paper is concerned with the effect of a fixed radius bend upon the operation of a neodymium-doped fiber laser at a wavelength of 1064 nm. In particular, the threshold power, slope efficiency, and cavity lifetime were measured over a range of bend radii and lengths. Oscillations were observed in the variation of the experimentally measured laser parameters with bend length over a range of bend radii which was explained by the finite thickness of the cladding. The results are explained theoretically with the aid of a model in which the pure bend loss coefficient is a parameter in the relevant laser equations and the finite thickness of the cladding is taken into account     

𝒬-switched neodymium-doped phosphate glass fiber lasers

The operation of a short-pulse, 𝒬-switched, neodymium-doped fiber laser operating at 1.054 μm is described experimentally and theoretically. The laser is efficiently pumped with a single-stripe AlGaAs laser diode and emits >1 kW pulses. It is seen that due to high gain short pulses with high energy extraction efficiency can be obtained. The feature of broad emission lines associated with rare-earth-doped glasses is exploited to demonstrate tunable, 𝒬-switched operation over a 40-nm tuning range     

Silica-clad neodymium-doped lanthanum phosphate fibers and fiber lasers

We have fabricated a neodymium-doped phosphate glass fiber with a silica cladding and used it to form a fiber laser. Phosphate and silicate glasses have considerably different glass transition temperatures and softening points making it hard to draw a fiber from these two glasses. A bulk phosphate glass of composition (Nd/sub 2/O/sub 3/)/sub 0.011/(La/sub 2/O/sub 3/)/sub 0.259/(P/sub 2/O/sub 5/)/sub 0.725/(Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/)/sub 0.005/ was prepared and the resultant material was transparent, free from bubbles and visibly homogeneous. The bulk phosphate glass was drawn to a fiber while being jacketed with silica and the resultant structure was of good optical quality, free from air bubbles and major defects. The attenuation at a wavelength of 1.06 /spl mu/m was 0.05 dB/cm and the refractive index of the core and cladding at the pump wavelength of 488 nm was 1.56 and 1.46, respectively. The fibers were mechanically strong enough to allow for ease of handling and could be spliced to conventional silica fiber. The fibers were used to demonstrate lasing at the /sup 4/F/sub 3/2/-/sup 4/I/sub 11/2/ (1.06 /spl mu/m) transition. Our work demonstrates the potential to form silica clad optical fibers with phosphate cores doped with very high levels of rare-earth ions (27-mol % rare-earth oxide).     

Modal analysis of semiconductor lasers with nonplanar mirrors

We present a formalism for analyzing laser resonators which possess nonplanar mirrors and lateral waveguiding [e.g., an unstable resonator semiconductor laser (URSL)]. The electric field is expanded in lateral modes of the complex-index waveguide and is required to reproduce itself after, one roundtrip of the cavity. We show how the waveguide modes, their gain and loss, and hence the criterion for truncation of the infinite set of modes can be derived from the Green's function of the one-dimensional eigenvalue equation for the waveguide. Examples are presented for three cases of interest-a purely gain-guided URSL, an index-guided URSL, and a gain-guided tilted-mirror resonator. We compare theoretical calculations to previous experiments.     

Polarization-dependent nonlinear gain in semiconductor lasers

We have numerically studied the nonlinear gain coefficients in terms of spectral hole burning for the optical fields in parallel and orthogonal polarizations in semiconductor lasers by solving the equation of motion for the density matrix in perturbation series. The electronic band structures and the transition matrix elements used in the calculations are obtained by diagonalizing Luttinger's Hamiltonian. In the present analysis for InGaAsP lasers, the cross-saturation coefficient for the parallel polarizations is twice as large as the self-saturation. Also, the cross-saturation coefficient for the orthogonal polarizations, which affects the polarization switching and polarization bistable operations of the laser, rests between the two. The relative magnitude of self-saturation coefficients and cross-saturation coefficients for orthogonal polarizations satisfies the condition for polarization bistable operations. We also discuss the effect of carrier heating on gain saturation coefficients     

Effective nonlinear gain in semiconductor lasers

An effective nonlinear gain is introduced for semiconductor lasers by taking into account the effect of laser structure and the associated distribution of the mode intensity along the cavity length. It should be used in the analysis of laser dynamics and noise in place of the material nonlinear gain parameter. A general expression for the effective nonlinear gain is given by using the Green's function method. The results obtained for Fabry-Perot and distributed feedback lasers show that the effective nonlinear gain could be considerably enhanced. The exact value of the enhancement factor depends on cavity parameters. Affected by the laser structure, the nonlinear gain has a different power dependence than expected from material considerations alone     

Broadband semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors in the1.55-μm wavelength range for pulse generation in fiber lasers

Broadband low-loss semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) in the 1.55-μm wavelength range were monolithically grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy using a Burstein-Moss blue-shifted Ga_0.47In_0.53As-InP distributed Bragg reflector. Absorbers with fast and slow temporal responses were used to start up and to stabilize a stretched pulse mode-locked fiber laser. Reliable operation at a fundamental repetition rate was obtained without multiple pulse break-up with pulse energy of over 250 pJ     

基于椭圆形反射镜面的扇形半导体微环激光器

为了设计新型基于椭圆形反射镜面的扇形半导体微环激光器,采用光线追迹和有限时域差分的方法进行了理论分析和设计仿真。与普通的三角形环形腔相比,由于引入了椭圆形反射镜面,使得这种新型的微腔的镜面反射损耗极低,仅为1%,功率传输率为93%,Q值极高,在1576.36nm谐振波长处,Q值达到了23318.6。结果表明,这种新型的微环激光器有利于实现方向双稳态,并可进一步用于全光信号处理领域。     

半导体光纤环形腔激光器调谐特性的实验研究

采用国产半导体器件,组建了半导体光纤环形腔激光器(FRSLs)的实验装置及相应的测试系统,系统地研究了FRSLs的输出和调谐特性.结果表明,已实现高速调制情况下的动态单纵模调谐,并获得波长调谐范围大于36nm的稳定光脉冲输出.确立了FRSLs的阈值特性、输出功率等物理参量与振荡波长之间的关系,提出通过控制分光比来优化和兼顾FRSLs的调谐范围及输出功率.实验结果较好地与理论模拟结果相吻合,为进一步改善FRSLs的性能指标提供了实验依据.同时,这些分析与结论对于相关结构类型的激光器设计也具有一定的参考价值.     

Memory effect for polarization of pump light in optically pumpedvertical-cavity semiconductor lasers

We report that the polarization of the emission of an optically pumped vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) is sensitive to the polarization state of the pump light. By measuring this memory effect for circularly polarized pump light, we determine the normalized relaxation rate of the carrier spin, Γ_s, which is a vital parameter in current theoretical models of VCSEL polarization. We find Γ_s=300±150, a value which is significantly larger than previously estimated. We also observe a memory effect for the orientation of linearly polarized pump light. This signals that, apart from the carrier spin, the VCSEL polarization is also determined by the carrier momentum     

Pulsed semiconductor lasers with higher optical strength of cavity output mirrors

Asymmetric heterostructures with an ultrathick waveguide based on an AlGaAs/GaAs alloy system that allow lasing at a wavelength of 905 nm have been developed and fabricated by hydride metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy. The internal optical loss and internal quantum efficiency of semiconductor lasers based on such structures were 0.7 cm^-1 and 97%, respectively. It is shown that the highest output optical power of laser diodes with antireflecting (SiO₂) and reflecting (Si/SiO₂) coatings deposited on untreated Fabry-Perot cavity facets obtained by cleaving in an oxygen atmosphere reached 67 W in the pulsed mode and is limited by mirror damage. Treatment of Fabry-Perot cavity facets by etching in argon plasma and the formation of coatings with passivating and oxygen-blocking GaN and Si₃N₄ layers allowed an increase in the maximum output optical power to 120 W. Mirror damage was not observed at the attained output optical power.     

光泵垂直扩展腔面发射半导体激光器的研究进展

近年来，光泵垂直扩展腔面发射半导体激光器由于其光束质量好、可实现大功率输出，受到了广泛的关注。在介绍其基本工作原理的基础上，综述了不同波段光泵垂直扩展腔面发射半导体激光器的研究现状与进展，并分析、讨论了实现高功率光泵垂直扩展腔面发射半导体激光器面临的主要问题及解决方案。     

光纤耦合光双稳半导体激光器的研究

介绍一种紧凑的、能以较低输入光功率工作的光学双稳器件,由光电检测器、光纤定向耦合器和半导体激光二极管组合而成的。描述了工作原理,解释所观测到的一些效应,例如滞后回线、微分增益以及记忆功能。     

Edge-emitting lasers with short-period semiconductor/air distributed Bragg reflector mirrors

We demonstrate a short-cavity edge-emitting 0.98-/spl mu/m GaAs-based laser with semiconductor/air distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirrors made by reactive ion etching (RIE). The dc and small-signal modulation properties of 100-/spl mu/m-long lasers have been measured and are characterized by I/sub th/=4.5 mA and f/sub -3dB/=30 GHz under pulsed conditions, respectively. The far-field pattern of light emanating from the DBR is also measured.     

Fabrication and characterization of neodymium-doped glasswaveguides

Waveguides prepared in neodymium-doped lithium-silicate glass by silver-ion exchange are discussed. Refractive index change and diffusion coefficient due to ion exchange are determined. It is observed that silver-ion exchange does not influence the emission wavelength of neodymium-doped glass     

Analysis of passively Q-switched lasers with simultaneous modelocking

Simultaneous Q-switching and modelocking in a diode-pumped Nd:YAG/Cr⁴⁺:YAG laser is experimentally demonstrated. A general recurrence is derived for the analysis of the temporal shape of a single Q-switched envelope with mode locked pulse trains. With the developed model, the modelocked pulse energy and the total Q-switched pulse energy can be calculated. Excellent agreement was found between the present results and detailed theoretical computations     

Analysis of mode broadening due to transient heating of optically pumped semiconductor lasers

We have found that the output spectra of cleaved semiconductor lasers are broadened when they are optically excited with a high-energy pulsed laser. We believe the effect is due to transient heating. A one-dimensional heat-flow equation has been solved, and the results are applied to two representative cases, GaAs and PbTe. Good agreement is obtained between the calculated broadening and the experimentally observed values.     

Effect of nonlinear gain on single-frequency behaviour of semiconductor lasers

The effect of nonlinear gain on the single-frequency behaviour of semiconductor lasers is analysed using a two-mode rate-equation model. We find that the asymmetric nature of the nonlinear gain is responsible for bringing the sidemode above threshold when the power in the main mode exceeds a critical level. We obtain an analytic expression for the critical current density at which the sidemode reaches threshold and apply it to discuss the single-frequency range of distributed-feedback semiconductor lasers.     

Effect of nonlinear gain on the bandwidth of semiconductor lasers

The effect of nonlinear gain on the frequency response of semiconductor lasers at high bias powers is analysed using the multimode rate equations. In spite of the strong damping of the relaxation oscillations due to nonlinear gain, bandwidths of over 40 GHz appear to be attainable in semiconductor lasers.