Efficient and compact Yb:YAG ring laser

An efficient and compact Yb:YAG ring laser was demonstrated with a slope efficiency of 39.0% with respect to the absorbed power. The design issues for using Yb:YAG as the gain medium in the reentrant multipass ring laser are discussed. The high absorption coefficient and low quantum defect of Yb:YAG make it an ideal gain medium for the multipass ring cavity to fulfil reentrant condition and reduce reabsorption loss. The absorption characteristics of a 20-at.% doped Yb:YAG crystal and the optimum ratio of absorption depth to Yb:YAG thickness were measured. The degrees of linear polarization were 99.0% and 94.1% in planar N=2 and nonplanar (N,M)=(2,1) ring lasers, respectively. The multipass ring cavities can be applied in a compact mode-locked laser with long round-trip length.     

Mode structure of active resonators

An analysis is made of the mode structure of lasers when the interaction with the active medium is taken into account. We consider the combined effect of gain and refractive-index variations for arbitrary mirror configurations. Using a dimensionless round-trip matrix for a medium with a quadratic variation of the propagation constant with distance from the optic axis, dimensionless beam parameters are derived in terms of cavity and medium parameters. Beam waist and radius of curvature are obtained explicitly as a function of a dimensionless parameter containing the variation of propagation constant, wavelength, and cavity length. The spot size depends only on the absolute value of the gain variation, whereas the deviation of the radius of curvature of the beam from the mirror curvature changes sign when the sign of the gain variation is reversed. As long as radial gain variations are present stable oscillations can always be obtained for any set of curved and/or flat mirrors. For large gain variations the spot size and radius of curvature of the outcoming beam become independent of mirror curvatures.     

双镜环行行波激光器

提出了一种全新的固态双镜立体环行行波激光器.此类激光器的谐振腔仅由两面反射镜组成,其中一面反射镜直接镀制在激光介质上,激光束在腔内沿立体环形光路行进,形成闭合谐振回路.利用Nd:YAG作为工作介质和双凹稳定谐振腔型,实现了用激光二极管(LD)抽运的多种双镜环行行波激光的稳定运转.实验结果表明此类激光器具有结构简单、调整容易、稳定性好的优点,并可望通过多点纵向抽运实现热效应低的高效率、高光束质量、大功率全固态激光器,单向输出的基频光和/或倍频光的单频激光器,以及高重复频率、短腔长的锁模激光器.     

Simulation of mode-locking by nonlinear polarization rotation in a semiconductor optical amplifier

We present a theoretical investigation of a mode locked laser that has a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) in its ring cavity. A mode-locked train of narrow pulses is obtained by combining nonlinear polarization rotation in the SOA and a polarization filter whose polarization axis is set such that the tail of optical pulses is removed in each cavity round-trip. The pulse narrowing process is demonstrated numerically and good qualitative agreement with experiments in our previous work is achieved. The pulse performance is largely determined by the ultrafast SOA gain dynamics and the cavity dispersion. Our simulation shows that the laser can produce a pulse train of subpicosecond pulsewidth at a repetition rate of 28 GHz for a moderate SOA current level. We observe that the laser can switch itself on or off depending on the initial pulse.     

偏振态稳定型光纤激光器的仿真与实验

提出了一种以价格较为经济的非保偏掺铒光纤作为增益介质的新型结构的Sigma谐振腔光纤激光器.使用Jones矩阵对该光纤激光器的偏振特性进行了分析,并在不同温度条件下进行了实验的验证.实验表明Sigma腔光纤激光器能够提供偏振状态稳定的输出光,因而可应用于光网络测量系统和光纤传感等领域.     

Bandwidth-limited picosecond pulse generation by hybrid mode-locking in a ring cavity GaAlAs laser

Bandwidth-limited picosecond pulses have been obtained using hybrid active/passive mode-locking in an external cavity semiconductor diode ring laser. Active mode-locking by application of sinusoidal RF modulation at the cavity round-trip frequency to a diode laser providing gain is supplemented by passive mode-locking in a second laser which is biased to provide saturable loss. Simultaneous streak camera and scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer measurements show that bandwidth-limited pulses of 25 Ps duration are obtained. Operation is not limited to near laser threshold, and frequency detuning sensitivity is improved when compared to the case of purely active mode-locking.     

多波长布里渊掺铒光纤激光器的结构优化研究

基于受激布里渊散射效应(SBS)和掺铒光纤(EDF)的线性增益机理研究了一种环形腔多波长布里渊掺铒光纤激光器(BEFL)。在该激光器中使用单模光纤作为布里渊增益介质,使用掺铒光纤来放大产生的斯托克斯(Stokes)信号,使该激光器在室温下产生稳定的多波长输出。通过对激光器结构中的环行器和耦合器的位置以及耦合器的接入方式的研究与分析发现:耦合器的接入方式、环行器与耦合器的位置均对激光器的输出有影响。在可调谐光源TLS(布里渊泵浦激光器)的功率大小为14dBm,980nm泵浦激光器的功率大小为23dBm,单模光纤长度为10km的情况下进行了实验测试,结果表明:耦合器的接入方式对BEFL的输出影响很明显,最后给出了详细的测试结果和相应解释。     

Unstable ring resonator with an intracavity prism beam expander

A type of unstable ring resonator that includes a prism beam expander is proposed. Neither lenses nor curved mirrors are used, and transverse mode discrimination is achieved, despite the one-dimensional beam expansion, by configuring the cavity mirrors to cause 90° image rotation during a round-trip pass. The output beam has a filled-in rectangular cross section, and the cross section of the resonator mode is also rectangular.     

1 532 nm全光纤Er/Yb共掺杂激光器

近年来,相干探测激光雷达是测量远距离低空风切变的有效手段,1.6 μm波段固体激光器以其人眼安全、探测器件成熟等优势成为相干雷达主要光源。其增益介质Er:YAG晶体在1532 nm波段有较强的吸收峰,但吸收谱较窄,因此通过使用1 532 nm光纤激光器进行谐振泵浦可以有效提高晶体输出效率。为此,文中以Er/Yb双包层光纤为增益介质,1532 nm光纤光栅为反射腔镜,976 nm半导体激光器为泵浦源,实现了全光纤化1532 nm激光输出。输出激光最大功率73.44 W,波长可调谐范围为1531.35~1532.14 nm,波长谱宽为0.06 nm,x和y方向的光束质量M2分别为1.38和1.26,是1.6 μm固体激光器的理想泵浦源。并采用此激光器泵浦Er:YAG非平面环形腔获得1.3 W单频激光输出,斜率效率为31.76%。     

基于啁啾光纤光栅的五波长掺铒光纤激光器

提出并实验验证了一种新型的基于啁啾光纤光栅的全光纤的可切换的五波长掺铒光纤激光器,该激光器采用简洁的线性腔结构,使用一段高掺铒的光纤作为增益介质,利用一个内含宽带啁啾光纤光栅的萨格纳克环作为激光器的谐振腔腔镜,担当了一个梳状滤波器的作用,另一个腔镜由一个宽带光纤反射镜担当,适当调整环中的偏振控制器,可以获得最多五波长的激光输出,并具有4种不同的激光输出模式,所有激发线均具有大于32 dB的光学信噪比,小于0.6 nm的线宽以及小于8 dB的峰值功率差异。     

Bidirectional single-mode Er-doped fiber ring laser

Rare Er-doped fiber lasers have been studied for fibe sensor applications with the advantage of frequency readou [1,2]. Due to this advantage, gyroscope application for a bidi rectional Er-doped fiber-ring laser was also demonstrated They also have high s…     

LOW COHERENCE PULSED DOPPLER LIDAR WITH AMPLIFIED REFERENCE BEAM STORAGE

In this paper, we have successfully developed a new low coherence pulsed Doppler lidar concept for wind speed measurements, in which a pulsed laser is used as the source for measurement and reference beam. A fraction of the transmitted pulse is stored in a fiber optic ring resonator with a path length longer than the pulse. The output of the resonator is a pulse train that is used as the reference beam and can be mixed with the Doppler shifted measurement signal. Because this reference has traveled a distance equivalent to the measurement beam’s path length, low coherence sources can be used. Inserting an erbium-doped fiber amplifier into the resonator ensures that the stored pulses do not decay in amplitude. Careful control of gain and amplified spontaneous emission is required to prevent laser oscillation while maintaining sufficient gain for the signal. Experiments prove that 16 reference pulses of sufficient amplitude and stability can be generated. Computer simulations suggest that 70 pulses should be achievable, which would be equivalent to a Doppler lidar measurement range of 2,550 m.     

基于高精细度光纤滤波器的双波长光纤激光器

提出了基于高精细度光纤环形滤波器的双波长窄线宽光纤激光器结构.在单波长光纤激光器的基础上,增加保偏光纤布拉格光栅(PM-FBG)和高精细度的光纤滤波器.其中保偏光纤布拉格光栅作为激光器的波长选择元件,可产生两个波长的激光输出.高精细度的光纤滤波器由两个光耦合器和一段弱抽运的掺铒光纤构成,掺铒光纤产生的增益和光纤时延使滤...     

Tunable dual-wavelength actively mode-locked fiber laser with anF-P semiconductor modulator

A novel actively mode-locked fiber laser for generating dual-wavelength picosecond pulses is proposed by using a Fabry-Perot laser diode as the modulator in the ring cavity. A linear chirped fiber grating was used as a wavelength selector and produces temporal-spectral multiplexing of the pulses in the gain medium to reduce gain cross-saturation effects. About 2-GHz stable dual-wavelength pulses with a wavelength spacing of 0.92 nm at room temperature were experimentally demonstrated and the wavelengths could be tuned in a range of about 3 nm     

Effect of mirror imperfections on phase-locked semiconductor laser arrays

Phase-locked semiconductor laser arrays normally have far-field-radiation patterns broader than that predicted by theory. We propose a possible broadening mechanism caused by steps on the cleaved mirror facets and by misalignment of the laser guide with respect to the laser facet. In the presence of facet steps, supermodes are coupled upon reflection. To satisfy the round-trip threshold condition, a laser cavity mode has to be an admixture of supermodes. This results in a broader far-field pattern (FFP) than that of a single supermode. Asymmetry of the pattern can also be predicted by this model. For an array of 10 lasers with center-to-center spacing of 8μm, the FWHM angle in the FFP of the lowest cavity mode is broadened by 1.5 and 2.5 folds, respectively, for random steps of average heights 17 and 90 Å between adjacent lasers. The broadening factor is 2.3 when a single 204 Å step exists between the third and the fourth laser. If the laser cavity is not aligned perpendicular to the facet, significant change in the FFP occurs only for a civity length not much shorter than the coupling length. A general consequence of the supermode mixing is the diminution of the threshold gain difference among the cavity modes, encouraging their simultaneous excitation.     

Universality of mode-locked jitter performance

It is shown experimentally that the jitter of actively mode-locked laser pulses is determined by two factors: first, by spontaneous noise associated with cavity loss, and second, by round-trip propagation time. As the round-trip time is increased, a characteristic frequency which defines the high-frequency limit of phase noise decreases. For a comparable round-trip time and cavity loss, the jitter of mode-locked lasers based on diverse gain media, whether semiconductor or erbium ion is universal and independent of the upper-state transition lifetime.     

Laser mirror by degenerate four-wave mixing in a saturable amplifier

A phase conjugate mirror by degenerate four-wave mixing in a saturable gain medium has been successfully operated in a pulsed laser cavity. This mirror works with low-intensity pump beams when they are resonant with the nonlinear medium. The pump beams can thus be delivered by a continuous-wave, frequency stable laser of low power. In such a device, the pulsed laser emission displays automatic frequency locking to the pump waves without cavity length stabilization.     

Multiwavelength Fiber Optical Parametric Oscillator

We demonstrate, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, a multiwavelength fiber ring laser using a continuous-wave dual-pump fiber optical parametric amplifier (FOPA) as gain medium. In the ring cavity, two high-power pumps are injected into a spool of 1-km highly nonlinear dispersion-shifted fiber to generate the parametric gain, and a superimposed chirped fiber Bragg grating is used as the comb-like filter. Benefiting from the high and flat gain of the dual-pump FOPA, seven lasing lines around 1.55 mum with wavelength spacing of 1 nm have been obtained. Each lasing line has a linewidth of as narrow as 20 pm and an extinction ratio of > 30 dB. The proposed mechanism using a dual-pump FOPA as gain medium is a promising alternative for generating multiwavelength laser.     

External design freedom for optimization of resonator originatedbeam shaping

Modern fabrication techniques like electron beam lithography allow the use of resonator mirrors with sophisticated surface modulation. We use this flexibility to realize a resonator with a beam the intensity distribution of which is specified in the focal region. The phase in the focal region is used as a freedom to homogenize the beam in the active medium and by that to allow the satisfaction of the laser gain condition. This is possible by a decoupling of the beam propagation characteristic of the beam inside and outside of the cavity. The design concept is described and experimentally demonstrated in a Nd:YAG laser