Free-electron interactions with light using the inverse Cerenkov effect

An analysis and experimental verification of momentum modulation of relativistic electrons by laser light using the inverse Cerenkov effect is presented. As an alternative to the free-electron laser for achieving energy exchange between particles and photons, the inverse Cerenkov effect uses the index of refraction of a gaseous medium to retard the phase velocity of an electromagnetic wave, enabling the electrons to remain in a field of constant phase. The momentum modulation converts to charge-density modulation by allowing the electrons to drift, thus forming electron bunches separated by optical wavelengths. An analysis is presented for the maximum amount of energy exchange, the energy exchange distribution, and the optimum bunching distance. A computer simulation of the interaction process is also given. These results are compared with the observed momentum modulation of a 102 MeV electron beam by a 30 MW Nd:YAG 1.06 μm laser in both hydrogen and methane gases. Initial observation of coherent optical radiation from a 57 MeV electron beam using the same laser system is also presented. Laser-driven particle accelerators and optical klystrons are possible applications of this interaction.     

Femtosecond solid-state lasers

The emergence of new ultrafast optical modulation techniques has opened the way towards a new femtosecond laser technology based on solid-state gain media. The authors address the requirements for stable ultrashort pulse generation in these novel femtosecond sources. The theoretical considerations are backed up by experimental results obtained with a number of different laser systems. The conclusions drawn from the presented theoretical and experimental investigations provide general guidelines for the design and optimization of a wide range of femtosecond solid-state laser oscillators     

非成像式激光告警系统的光学设计及优化

针对非成像式激光告警系统的工作特点与要求,提出并设计了一种双片式柱透镜光学结构。对柱面光线追迹以及柱透镜成像进行了深入分析,提出了一种新型像差优化方法,使其在子午方向各个视场的调制传递函数得到最大幅度的优化。此光学系统由两片硒化锌柱透镜组成,满足了1.0~4.0 m 工作波长范围,并且克服了传统单片式柱透镜和柱面反射镜视场通常小于1且聚焦线斑不理想的缺点,其视场达到20,在7lp/mm 空间分辨率条件下,边缘视场子午方向的调制传递函数值优于0.7,达到了非成像式激光告警系统的要求。     

Self-mixing interference inside a single-mode diode laser foroptical sensing applications

This paper presents a theoretical analysis and a comparison with experimental results on self-mixing interference inside a single-longitudinal-mode diode laser. A theoretical model, based on the steady-state equations of the lasing condition in a Fabry-Perot type laser cavity, is described, and through it a satisfactory analysis of self-mixing interference for optical sensing applications is given. In this work, the self-mixing interference produced by an external optical feedback is found to be due to the variations in the threshold gain and in the spectral distribution of the laser output. The gain variation results in an optical intensity modulation, and the spectral variation determines both the modulation waveform and the coherence properties of the interference. The theoretical analysis of the self-mixing interference is seen to yield a simulation of the laser power modulation which is in good agreement with the experiment results reported     

35 AM-VSB TV channels distribution with high signal quality using a1480 nm diode-pumped erbium-doped fiber postamplifier

In the system considered, the postamplifier, with an output power of +9.6 dBm, did not degrade the very high linearity of the isolated distributed-feedback (DFB) laser transmitter. A 51.2-dB weighted signal-to-noise ratio was obtained, and an optical power budget of 16 dB was achieved with a weighted signal-to-noise ratio higher than 48 dB. A larger power budget with a higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is possible with an increase of DFB laser output power and erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) saturated output power, and with a minimization of the EDFA noise contribution     

Small-signal analysis of semiconductor lasers modulated atfrequencies on the order of the beat frequency

A small-signal analysis of direct modulation of laser diodes is presented. The analysis is valid over a wide frequency range, up to the frequency corresponding to the round trip time of the active region. This theory is best for laser diodes with small active regions but with large and complicated optical cavities. Optical resonances may occur in this range, resulting in a large response to direct modulation as a result of interaction of the lasing mode with the optical resonance. This theory can predict the linear response of the laser to direct modulation throughout this frequency range. It also predicts the lower frequency relaxation oscillation effect, thus unifying these different effects with a single treatment. The form of the modulation response is found to be the same as the standard relaxation oscillation formula, modified by a factor the form of which depends on the optics of the laser cavity alone     

Dynamic response of a fiber-optic ring resonator: Analysis with influences of light-source parameters

In practice, dynamic behavior of fiber-optic ring resonator (FORR) appears as a detrimental factor to influence the transmission response of the FORR. This paper presents dynamic response analysis of the FORR by considering phase modulation of the FORR loop and sinewave modulation of input signal applied to the FORR from a laser diode. The analysis investigates the influences of modulation frequency and amplitude modulation index of laser diode, loop delay time of the FORR, phase angle between FM and AM response of laser diode, and laser diode line-width on dynamic response of the FORR. The analysis shows that the transient response of the FORR strongly depends on the product of modulation frequency and loop delay time, coupling and transmission coefficients of the FORR. The analyses presented here may have applications in optical systems employing an FORR with a laser diode source.     

5 Gbit/s direct optical DPSK modulation of a 1530-nm DFB laser

5 Gb/s direct optical differential-phase-shift-keying (DPSK) modulation of a 1530-nm distributed feedback (DFB) laser is demonstrated using injection current modulation with a bipolar signal format. Delay demodulation is performed using an interferometer with a delay time T equal to the duration of one bit. The input and differentially encoded nonreturn to zero (NRZ) signals are shown. The bipolar modulation current signal is basically the time derivative of the NRZ signal. There was no degradation of the optical DPSK signal due to thermal frequency modulation of the laser. The direct DPSK modulation technique avoids the insertion loss and systems complexity of external DPSK modulators     

Integrated Electro-Absorption Modulation DFB Laser Based Optical True Time-Delay Feeder for X-Band Phased Array Antennas

A 4-bit optical true-time-delay feeder incorporating an integrated electro-absorption modulation distributed feedback (DFB) laser for X-band phased array antennas is demonstrated. The integrated electro-absorption modulation DFB laser is an attractive device that provides a very compact, low-cost solution for optical true-time-delay systems. The variable delay line is constructed by cascaded magneto-optic switches, which have fast switching speed. The integrated electro-absorption modulation DFB laser system shows high signal-to-noise ratio up to 58dB, and the transmission performance of the system is relatively good and accredited.     

Characterization of Parasitics in TO-Packaged High-Speed Laser Modules

An elaborate analysis of the parasitic network of high-speed through-hole packaging (TO)-type laser modules is presented using a small-signal equivalent circuit model. The intrinsic laser diode is obtained using the optical modulation technique, and is embedded into the model as a separate component. Three step-by-step measurements are made for determining the packaging parasitic network, including the test fixture, TO header, submount, bonding wire, and parasitics of the laser chip. A good agreement between simulated and measured results confirms the validation and accuracy of the characterization procedures. Furthermore, several key parasitic elements are found based on the simulation of the high-frequency responses of the packaged devices. It is expected that the 3-dB bandwidth of 12 GHz or more of the low-cost TO packaged laser module may be achieved using the proposed optimization method     

Performance of linecoded optical heterodyne FSK systems withnonuniform laser FM response

A simple theoretical analysis for evaluating the performance of linecoded optical frequency shift keying (FSK) systems is presented. It accounts for the combined effects of laser phase noise, receiver noise, and nonuniform BM response of distributed feedback lasers. A close form expression for the random frequency noise due to the combined effect of laser nonuniform FM response and phase noise is developed. The analysis is carried out for three different linecoding schemes, i.e., alternate mark inversion, Miller code or delay modulation, and Manchester coding, to investigate the efficacy of the line coding schemes in counteracting the effect of nonflat FM response. Theoretical and simulation results show that the sensitivities of linecoded FSK systems are within 0.7 and 0.4 dB for single-branch and dual-branch detection, respectively, at a bit error probability of 10^-9 relative to the random non-return to zero FSK with flat FM response     

Nondegenerate Phase-Locking of a Semiconductor Laser by Sideband Injection

A semiconductor laser rate equation theory is presented that describes sideband injection locking under both weak optical injection and current modulation. By simultaneous optical injection and current modulation, control of both the phase and the frequency of a semiconductor laser is demonstrated. The phase-locked semiconductor laser operates at a different frequency to the optical injection source, with a frequency-difference given by the current modulation frequency. This method can be used to produce broadband sources, such as those producing ultrashort pulses and those required for coherent control, or to create high-frequency electronic oscillator sources with phase control by interference beating     

Spectral analysis of optical mixing measurements

A general rigorous theory of optical heterodyne and homodyne measurements is presented. The power spectrum of the photocurrent resulting from two uncorrelated optical beams mixing on a photodetector is derived. In particular, a rigorous analysis is presented for the delayed self-homodyne method which is used to characterize laser source linewidth by a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with a delay exceeding the source coherence length. Existing treatments are generalized to address non-Lorentzian laser sources of arbitrary lineshape. The analysis is further generalized to cover the case of modulated nonstationary sources. An example of the application of this theory is given. It is shown how the theory may be used to interpret an experimental result obtained using the gated delayed self-homodyne technique for characterizing the frequency chirp of laser sources under modulation     

The effect of laser chirping on lightwave system performance

Directly modulated semiconductor lasers exhibit a dynamic wavelength shift (chirping) arising from gain-induced variations of the laser refractive index. The effect of laser chirping on the performance of multi-Gb/s lightwave systems operating at a wavelength of 1550 nm is investigated. Models suitable for computer-aided analysis are used to describe the dynamic response of the laser and the propagation of chirped optical pulses through a step-index single-mode optical fibre. A truncated pulse train, Gauss quadrature rule method is used to evaluate the average bit error rate of the receiver. This permits pattern effects in the transmitted optical waveform due to the laser dynamics and nonlinear optical power transmission properties of optical fibers to be included in the system model. The influence that modulation and device parameters have on the receiver sensitivity is assessed     

空间激光通信高速多制式光调制技术

空间激光通信调制技术以幅度调制和相位调制为主,单一通信终端只能适应特定的调制格式,灵活性较差,存在星间链路组网应用的局限性。文章基于数字处理的光调制技术,采用LiNbO₃晶体正交相位调制器,结合闭环偏压控制算法,实现了光调制格式、调制速率可变的星载光调制器,并针对空间应用对幅度调制和相位调制方式进行了优化,最大化光纤放大器效率。该技术硬件实现了625Mb/s~5Gb/s通信速率分档可调,OOK,BPSK和QPSK调制格式可变,发射EVM优于9%,实际引入灵敏度损耗小于1dB。该调制器已经完成所有空间环境试验,可广泛适用于各种体制的激光通信终端,进行星地、星间激光通信建链。同时,该调制器具备模拟调制的功能,可实现星间微波光子信号的透明转发。     

Optical phase-locked loop for coherent detection optical receiver

A novel subcarrier-based optical phase-locked loop (SC-OPLL/sup /spl reg//), with off-the-shelf optical components, is presented and demonstrated. The method, based on a continuous-wave laser and optical subcarrier modulation using a standard LiNbO/sub 3/ Mach-Zehnder modulator, allows easier practical implementation than the previously proposed OPLL circuits based on laser direct modulation.     

Optical coherence domain reflectometry by synthesis of coherencefunction with nonlinearity compensation in frequency modulation of alaser diode

Optical coherence domain reflectometry (OCDR) is proposed by synthesis of the coherence function for high-spatial-resolution diagnoses of optical systems and waveguide devices. By changing the output frequency of a laser diode using its direct frequency modulation characteristic, the coherence function having the shape of a delta function is synthesized. In the basic experiments, the reflectivity distribution is measured successfully by sweeping the position of the peak. Nonlinearity compensation in the direct frequency modulation is experimentally demonstrated in order to improve the resolution. A three-electrode DFB laser diode with wide-frequency tunable range is introduced as the light source. A spatial resolution of 2-4 mm in air is demonstrated. The measurement range flexibility of this method is confirmed in the experiments     

Synchronized chaotic optical communications at high bit rates

Basic issues regarding synchronized chaotic optical communications at high bit rates using semiconductor lasers are considered. Recent experimental results on broadband, high-frequency, phase-locked chaos synchronization, and message encoding-decoding at 2.5 Gb/s are presented. System performance at a bit rate of 10 Gb/s is numerically studied for the application of three encryption schemes, namely chaos shift keying, chaos masking, and additive chaos modulation, to three chaotic semiconductor laser systems, namely the optical injection system, the optical feedback system, and the optoelectronic feedback system. By causing synchronization error in the forms of synchronization deviation and desynchronization bursts, the channel noise and the laser noise both have significant effects on the system performance at high bit rates. Among the three laser systems, the optoelectronic feedback system has the best performance while the optical feedback system has the worst. Among the three encryption schemes, only the performance of additive chaos modulation with low-noise lasers is acceptable at high bit rates.     

Generation of 140 GHz optical pulses with suppressed amplitudemodulation by subharmonic synchronous modelocking of Fabry-Perotsemiconductor laser

140 GHz optical pulses with a pulsewidth of 2.7 ps are generated from a standard Fabry-Perot semiconductor laser using subharmonic optical injection. A new technique based on optical feed forward modulation is also presented to suppress the amplitude modulation associated with subharmonic injection     

Asymptotic clipping noise distribution and its impact on M-ary QAMtransmission over optical fiber

Performance analysis for a hybrid subcarrier-multiplexed (SCM) AM/QAM transmission over an optical fiber is presented. It is shown that the bit-error-rate (BER) of M-ary QAM in such hybrid systems can be significantly affected due to occasional laser “clipping” of the SCM signal. Here we analytically determine the asymptotic distribution of the clipping noise by modeling it as a Poisson impulse train. The BER of M-ary QAM is then evaluated in terms of optical modulation indices of M-ary QAM and AM signals which in turn specify signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), impulsive index (clipping index) of the clipping noise, and power ratio of the Gaussian noise to the clipping noise. Numerical examples are given and compared with experimental data with reasonably good agreement for small SNR's. The results have application for estimating the BER's of digital signals for SCM analog/digital transmission over an optical fiber and for employing appropriate error correction codes and/or optimum receiver design for such environments