Multiwavelength picosecond and single wavelength femtosecond pulses emission in a passively mode-locked fiber laser using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror and a contrast ratio tunable comb filter

We propose and demonstrate a highly flexible fiber laser capable of generating stable multiwavelength picosecond and single wavelength femtosecond pulses by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror and a contrast ratio tunable comb filter. In the multiwavelength lasing regime, up to 11-wavelength stable mode-locked pulses in 3 dB bandwidth with a channel spacing of 0.8 nm were obtained. While in the single wavelength with broadband spectrum lasing regime, the fiber laser emitted 576 fs soliton pulse. Through changing the contrast ratio of the comb filter, the conversion between the multiwavelength picosecond and single wavelength femtosecond pulsed operations could be efficiently achieved.     

Multifrequency erbium-doped fiber laser operating at room temperature

A method to realize room-temperature operation of a multifrequency Er-doped fiber laser with low-frequency shift feedback placed within a linear laser cavity is theoretically proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Simultaneous multiwavelength lasing with 0.5 nm wavelength spacing is experimentally demonstrated by applying a sinusoidal signal of 10 kHz to a fiber phase modulator inserted within the linear cavity to prevent single wavelength steady-state oscillation. In the linear cavity, an all-polarization-maintaining fiber Sagnac loop is used as a periodic filter, and a single-mode fiber loop with a polarization controller is used as a partial reflector and also as an output port.     

Switchable dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode erbium-doped fiber laser using an inverse-Gaussian apodized fiber Bragg grating filter and a low-gain semiconductor optical amplifier

We present a stable and switchable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser. In the ring cavity, an inverse-Gaussian apodized fiber Bragg grating serves as an ultranarrow dual-wavelength passband filter, a semiconductor optical amplifier biased in the low-gain regime reduces the gain competition of the two wavelengths, and a feedback fiber loop acts as a mode filter to guarantee a stable single-longitudinal-mode operation. Two lasing lines with a wavelength separation of approximately 0.1 nm are obtained experimentally. A microwave signal at 12.51 GHz is demonstrated by beating the dual wavelengths at a photodetector.     

Wavelength-spacing switchable multiwavelength fiber lasers based on nonlinear polarization rotation with cascaded birefringence fibers

A wavelength-spacing switchable multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber lasers incorporating a highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) based on nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) has been demonstrated. The intensity-dependent transmission effect originating from NPR ensures room-temperature multi-wavelength lasing, which is further self-stabilized by the four-wave mixing in the HNF. Moreover, the equivalent Lyot birefringence fiber filter with two cascaded birefringence fibers makes the wavelength spacing switchable depending on the effective length of the birefringence fiber. The experimentally obtained multiwavelength outputs agree well with the simulation filter transmission spectra.     

Switchable and tunable multiple-channel erbium-doped fiber laser using graphene-polymer nanocomposite and asymmetric two-stage fiber Sagnac loop filter

A high-performance multiple-channel erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated, using graphene-polymer nanocomposite as a multiwavelength equalizer and an asymmetric two-stage polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF) Sagnac loop as a flexible comb filter. At first, the filtering characteristics of the PMF Sagnac loop filter (SLF) are investigated. Both theoretical and experimental results show that it can provide a flexibly switchable and tunable comblike filtering. Then, the two-stage PMF SLF is inserted into a graphene-assisted EDFL cavity for generating multiwavelength oscillation. The extreme-high third-order optical nonlinearity of graphene is exploited to suppress the mode competition of the EDFL, and a stable multiple-channel lasing is observed. By carefully adjusting the polarization controllers in the two-stage PMF SLF, not only can the lasing-line number per channel be switchable between single and multiple wavelengths, but also the wavelength spacing in the triple-wavelength condition can be tunable. In the case of triple wavelengths per channel, up to 12 wavelengths with four channels stable oscillations can be achieved. The multiple-channel EDFL can keep a high extinction ratio of >40 dB and a narrow linewidth of <0.01 nm.     

Simultaneous multiwavelength real-time optical spectrum analysis

We propose a technique for performing a real-time Fourier transformation simultaneously over all the channels of a multiwavelength signal traveling in a single optical fiber. The technique requires only the reflection of the original signal in an appropriately designed structure of superimposed chirped fiber gratings. The potential and the limitations of superimposed fiber-grating structures for implementing known applications of fiber gratings over various multiwavelength channels (including the application proposed herein) are analytically and numerically studied. To demonstrate our proposal we design a real-time optical spectrum analyzer operating on three different wavelength channels. Numerical calculations show that the design works properly, and we use joint time-frequency signal representations to get a better understanding of the physical processes that determine the behavior of the system.     

Graded-index polymer optical fiber for high-speed data communication

We successfully obtained a high-bandwidth (1 GHz km) and low-loss (90 dB/km at 0.572 μm of wavelength) graded-index polymer optical fiber by using the interfacial-gel polymerization technique, in which we used an unreactive component to obtain the quadratic refractive-index distribution. This high-bandwidth graded-index polymer optical fiber makes it possible to transmit a high-speed optical signal in a short-range network, which is not possible when we use the step-index type of polymer optical fiber commercially available.     

Tunable multiwavelength fiber laser based on a double Sagnac HiBi fiber loop

A tunable multiwavelength fiber laser based on double Sagnac loops is proposed and demonstrated. Comb filter characteristics of single and double Sagnac loops are analyzed by Jones matrix. Simulated results show that there are better tunability and controllability with double loops than with a single loop, and this also has been confirmed by experimental results. By adjusting the polarization controller and the length of the polarization maintaining fiber the wavelength range, wavelength spacing, and laser linewidth can be tuned. Experimental results indicate that the linewidth of the multiwavelength fiber laser was 0.0187 nm and the optical sidemode suppression ratio was 50 dB.     

光纤光栅半导体激光器激射波长与Bragg波长的偏离

利用包含光纤布拉格光栅(FBG)反射率分布的光纤光栅外腔半导体激光器(FGSL)的理 论模型,对FGSL 的激射波长进行了研究。结果表明激射波长并不一定在FBG布拉格反射波长处;布拉格反射波长相对于激射波长的偏移量与FBG的反射率分布、半导体增益介质的增益谱分布及增益峰值波长有关;激射波长可大于或小于布拉格反射波长。     

多波长掺镱光纤激光器实验研究

为了产生室温下掺镱光纤激光器稳定的多波长激光振荡,采用两个光纤环镜作为线形腔掺镱光纤激光器的端镜,在其中一个环镜中熔接一段保偏光纤构成梳状滤波器,通过优化掺镱光纤长度和腔损耗,实现了室温下1060nm附近稳定的多波长振荡.实验结果表明,在室温下,掺镱光纤存在比较明显的非均匀加宽效应,从而使得激光器的振荡波长数随泵浦功率的增加而增加.     

Thermal tuning of mechanically induced long-period fiber grating

We have developed a wideband tunable optical filter that uses a long-period fiber grating (LPFG) in which both resonance wavelength and its signal attenuation can be adjusted. We create the grating mechanically by pressing a spring coil to an optical fiber. We achieve continuous fine tuning of wavelength and attenuation by varying the temperature of the LPFG. The adjustable ranges of the LPFG are more than 200 nm in resonance wavelength and more than 10 dB in signal attenuation.     

Technique for continuous tuning of optical fiber lasers

For the first time to the authors' knowledge, we have demonstrated how thermally controlled overcoupled fused fiber couplers and fiber loop mirrors based on these couplers can be used as broadband tuning elements in a fiber laser cavity. No bulk optical elements play any role in this technique. Temperature tuning the coupler results in a shift in the coupling ratio or in the effective output coupler transmission. For a fixed pump source, and for a given laser cavity, this shift causes the lasing wavelength to shift. We have continuously tuned an Er silica fiber laser in this manner over the range of 1527-1570 nm in a ring configuration, and, using a fiber loop mirror with these couplers in a linear Tm silica fiber laser cavity, we have achieved more than 50-nm broadband tuning over the range of 1850-1910 nm. The tuning range and the sensitivity to temperature depend on the degree of overcoupling of the loop mirror coupler.     

Impact of signal filling factor for switching in reflective vertical cavity-based fast semiconductor saturable absorbers

A numerical model on reflective vertical cavity-based fast semiconductor (carrier recombination time in ps regime) saturable absorbers (VC-FSSA) is investigated for all-optical high-speed future applications, where the fluctuation of cavity optical length due to thermo-optic effects and cavity heating, and optically induced carrier density change are considered simultaneously with the increase of input signal intensity. The phase-shift due to thermal-optic effects and cavity heating is very important for high-speed device performances. At first, intensity and wavelength bi-stabilities are modelled with the different intensity time filling factor of RZ modulated pump signals and also, with the different input intensities, where the intensity tuning time is considered at few μs. Then the inverse saturation characteristics of reflectivity for the universal logic operations are shown for probe signal with the proper wavelength, which can control the negative effects of optically induced heating effects. These characteristics can be used for the high-speed thermally stable bi-stable optical switch and all-optical logic applications.     

Hybrid wavelength-division and optical time-division multiplexed multiwavelength mode-locked semiconductor laser

A multiwavelength laser source composed of a single semiconductor optical amplifier and a commercially available off-the-shelf wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) filter is constructed and tested under actively mode-locking operation. Five independent mode-locked wavelength channels are generated simultaneously, with a wavelength spacing of 1.6 nm established by the WDM filter. In addition, to demonstrate the potential of this mixed time-frequency, or hybrid WDM-optical time-division multiplexed, signal, we demonstrate a simple parallel-to-serial wavelength conversion to increase the pulse repetition rate of the mode-locked laser by a number of output wavelengths for applications in high-performance optical sampling applications.     

Wavelength switchable L-band erbium-doped fiber laser employing C-band EDFA as gain medium

A new structure for the L-band multiwavelength switchable erbium-doped fiber laser is proposed. Overlapping laser cavities are formed by cascading fiber Bragg gratings as reflectors in a ring structure with a C-band EDFA as a common gain medium. The proposed laser is made to be wavelength-switchable by individually adjusting the loss of each overlapping cavity. Instead of using an L-band EDFA as the gain medium in the L-band fiber laser, we have experimentally demonstrated that by tailoring the gain of the C-band EDFA to have a significant gain tilt in the L-band, a lasing power efficiency of 26% can be achieved over a wide range of switchable lasing wavelengths. Following this optimal design, the side-mode suppression ratio and the minimal separation between two switchable lasing wavelengths were found to be over 42 dB and 0.33 nm, respectively.     

一种新型全光纤弹速测量系统的研制

研制了一种新型的利用激光光束反射原理的全光纤弹速测量系统。该系统采用了全光纤结构和光纤耦合器等无源器件,以输出光功率1mW, 工作波长1300nm的半导体激光器作为测试系统的光源,用光纤耦合器进行分光,实现了在一根光纤中同时传输光源和接受目标反射的信号光,避免了复杂的调节和准直过程。该系统结构简单、可靠性高,利用它,成功地测量了霍普金森杆发射的子弹速度,结果表明其速度测量相对不确定度小于1%。     

Tunable microwave generation based on a dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode fiber laser using a phase-shifted grating on a triangular cantilever

Frequency tunable microwave signal generation, based on a dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser, incorporating a phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating (PS-FBG) with two π-phase shifts, is demonstrated. In the proposed configuration, the PS-FBG with two ultranarrow transmission bands is embedded in a triangular cantilever to serve as a wavelength spacing tunable filter with a fixed center wavelength by applying various strains on the cantilever. A section of unpumped EDF is employed as a saturable absorber to ensure SLM operation in each of the two lasing lines. By beating the two wavelengths at a photodiode, a tunable microwave signal ranging from 8.835 to 24.360 GHz is successfully achieved.     

Wavelength switching of picosecond pulses generated from a self-seeded Fabry-Perot laser diode with a tilted fiber Bragg grating formed in a graded-index multimode fiber

We demonstrated the generation of wavelength-switchable picosecond pulses from a self-seeded Fabry-Perot laser diode that used a tilted fiber Bragg grating (FBG) formed in a graded-index multimode fiber as an external optical feedback element, where wavelength switching was achieved by controlling the modal distribution in the FBG. We measured the reflection spectra of multimode FBGs fabricated with different tilt angles and discussed the effects of the tilt angle on wavelength selection. By using a 20?mm long 1.65° tilted FBG and a fiber deformer to control the modal distribution in the FBG, we generated 2?GHz pulses with a wavelength switchable over 14 wavelengths at a spacing of ～0.8?nm.     

Semiconductor optical amplifier-based multi-wavelength ring laser utilizing photonic crystal fiber

A multi-wavelength laser source is demonstrated with a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) as a gain medium. A multi-wavelength comb with equal spacing is achieved due to Fabry–Pérot modes of the SOA which oscillates in the ring cavity. A 100 m long photonics crystal fiber (PCF) is inserted in the ring cavity to provide a nonlinear gain by four-wave mixing (FWM) so that the output comb spectrum can be greatly broadened and flattened. The stability of the ring laser is also increased due to the efficient FWM phenomenon occurring in the PCF. The SOA-based laser can generate 35 lasing lines with equal spacing of 0.28 nm and extinction ratios of more than 30 dB at room temperature. The number of channels of the multi-wavelength laser can be controlled flexibly by changing the ratio of the coupler used in the ring cavity configuration as well as controlling the polarization state of the oscillating laser.     

Programmable select multiwavelength gigahertz Raman soliton pulse generation

The generation of programmable multiwavelength pulses based on the self-frequency shift of a Raman soliton is demonstrated. The approach produces tunable multiwavelength picosecond pulses. Only select multiwavelength signals with a tuning range of approximately 50 nm are generated with a repetition rate of 9.95 GHz at each wavelength channel. A bit error rate (BER) of better than 1 x 10(-9) was successfully obtained for all the measured multiwavelength Raman soliton pulses. Furthermore, it was found that the signal has an excellent relative intensity noise (RIN) of better than -135.5 dBc/Hz. The BER and RIN measurements show that the frequency-shifted Raman soliton pulses are promising for use in measurement systems, optical gating, signal processing, and wavelength routing optical packet networks with the ability to provide 1:1 communication and 1:N multicasting.