Switchable multi-wavelength fiber laser based on modal interference

A comb fiber filter based on modal interference is proposed and demonstrated in this paper. Here two cascaded uptapers are used to excite the cladding mode, and a core-offset jointing point is used to act as an interference component.Experimental results show that this kind of structure possesses a comb filter property in a range of the C-band. The measured extinction ratio is better than 12 dB with an insertion loss of about 11 dB. A switchable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser based on this novel comb filter is demonstrated. By adjusting the polarization controller, the output laser can be switched among single-, dual-, and three-wavelengths with a side mode suppression ratio of better than 45 dB.

Recent progress in multi-wavelength fiber lasers:principles,status,and challenges

In recent years,multi-wavelength fiber lasers play a significant role in plenty of fields,ranging from optical communications to mechanical processing and laser biomedicine,owing to their high beam quality,low cost,and excellent heat dissipation properties.Benefitting from increasing maturity of optical elements,the multi-wavelength fiber laser has made rapid developments.In this review,we summarize and analyze diverse implementation methods covering continuous wave and pulsed fiber lasers at room temperature conditions:inserting an optical filter device and intensity-dependent loss structure in the resonant cavity,and applying ultrafast nonlinear optical response of materials and a dual-cavity structure.Finally,future challenges and perspectives of the multi-wavelength fiber laser are discussed and addressed.

Wavelength-interval switchable Brillouin–Raman random fiber laser through Brillouin pump manipulation

A wavelength-interval switchable Brillouin–Raman random fiber laser(BRRFL) based on Brillouin pump(BP) manipulation is proposed in this paper. The proposed wavelength-interval switchable BRRFL has a full-open cavity configuration, featuring multiwavelength output with wavelength interval of double Brillouin frequency shifts. Through simultaneously injecting the BP light and its first-order stimulated Brillouin-scattered light into the cavity, the laser output exhibits a wavelength interval of single Brillouin frequency shift. The wavelength-interval switching effect can be manipulated by controlling the power of the first-order stimulated Brillouin scattering light. The experimental results show the multiwavelength output can be switched between double Brillouin frequency shift multiwavelength emission with a broad bandwidth of approximately 60 nm and single Brillouin frequency shift multiwavelength emission of 44 nm. The flexible optically controlled random fiber laser with switchable wavelength interval makes it useful for a wide range of applications and holds significant potential in the field of wavelength-division multiplexing optical communication.

Generation of cavity-birefringence-dependent multi-wavelength bright-dark pulse pair in a figure-eight thulium-doped fiber laser

We experimentally demonstrated a stable multi-wavelength bright-dark pulse pair in a mode-locked thulium-doped fiber laser(TDFL).The nonlinear polarization rotation(NPR)and nonlinear optical loop mirror(NOLM)were employed in a figure-eight cavity to allow for multi-wavelength mode-locking operation.By incorporating different lengths of high birefringence polarization-maintaining fiber(PMF),the fiber laser could operate stably in a multi-wavelength emission state.Compared with the absence of the PMF,the birefringence effect caused by PMF resulted in rich multi-wavelength optical spectra and better intensity symmetry and stability of the bright-dark pulse pair.

On the generation of high-quality Nyquist pulses in mode-locked fiber lasers

Nyquist pulses have wide applications in many areas,from electronics to optics.Mode-locked lasers are ideal platforms to generate such pulses.However,how to generate high-quality Nyquist pulses in mode-locked lasers remains elusive.We address this problem by managing different physical effects in mode-locked fiber lasers through extensive numerical simulations.We find that net dispersion,linear loss,gain and filter shaping can affect the quality of Nyquist pulses significantly.We also demonstrate that Nyquist pulses experience similariton shaping due to the nonlinear attractor effect in the gain medium.Our work may contribute to the design of Nyquist pulse sources and enrich the understanding of pulse shaping dynamics in mode-locked lasers.

Internal phase control of fiber laser array based on photodetector array

Coherent beam combining(CBC) of fiber laser array is a promising technique to realize high output power while maintaining near diffraction-limited beam quality. To implement CBC, an appropriate phase control feedback structure should be established to realize phase-locking. In this paper, an innovative internal active phase control CBC fiber laser array based on photodetector array is proposed. The dynamic phase noises of the laser amplifiers are compensated before being emitted into free space. And the static phase difference compensation of emitting laser array is realized by interference measurement based on photodetector array. The principle of the technique is illustrated and corresponding simulations are carried out, and a CBC system with four laser channels is built to verify the technique. When the phase controllers are turned on, the phase deviation of the laser array is less than λ/20, and ~ 95% fringe contrast of the irradiation distribution is obtained. The technique proposed in this paper could provide a reference for the system design of a massive high-power CBC system.

Numerical design of an efficient Ho^(3+)-doped InF3 fiber laser at~3.2μm

In this work,we theoretically unlock the potential of Ho^(3+)-doped InF3 fiber for efficient~3.2μm laser generation(from the ^(5)F_(4),^(5)S_(2)→^(5)F_(5) transition),by employing a novel dual-wavelength pumping scheme at 1150 nm and 980 nm,for the first time.Under clad-coupled 1150 nm pumping of 5 W,~3.2μm power of 3.6 W has been predicted with the optical-to-optical efficiency of 14.4%.Further efficient power scaling,however,is blocked by the output saturation with 980 nm pumping.To alleviate this behavior,the cascaded ^(5)I_(5)→^(5)I_(6) transition,targeting~3.9μm,has been activated simultaneously,therefore accelerating the population circulation between the laser upper level ^(5)F_(4),^(5)S_(2) and long-lived ^(5)I_(6) level under 980 nm pumping.As a result,enhanced~3.2μm power of 4.68 W has been obtained with optical-to-optical efficiency of 15.6%.Meanwhile the~3.9μm laser,yielding power of 2.76 W with optical-to-optical efficiency of 9.2%,is theoretically achievable as well with a moderate heat load,of which the performance is even better than the prior experimentally and theoretically reported Ho^(3+)-doped InF3 fiber lasers emitting at~3.9μm alone.This work demonstrates a versatile platform for laser generation at~3.2μm and~3.9μm,thus providing the new opportunities for many potential applications,e.g.,polymer processing,infrared countermeasures,and free-space communications.

Broadband bidirectional Brillouin–Raman random fiber laser with ultra-narrow linewidth

We present a Brillouin–Raman random fiber laser(BRRFL)with full-open linear cavity structure to generate broadband Brillouin frequency comb(BFC)with double Brillouin-frequency-shift spacing.The incorporation of a regeneration portion consisting of an erbium-doped fiber and a single-mode fiber enables the generation of broadband BFC.The dynamics of broadband BFC generation changing with the pump power(EDF and Raman)and Brillouin pump(BP)wavelength are investigated in detail,respectively.Under suitable conditions,the bidirectional BRRFL proposed can produce a flatamplitude BFC with 40.7-nm bandwidth ranging from 1531 nm to 1571.7 nm,and built-in 242-order Brillouin Stokes lines(BSLs)with double Brillouin-frequency-shift spacing.Moreover,the linewidth of single BSL is experimentally measured to be about 2.5 kHz.The broadband bidirectional narrow-linewidth BRRFL has great potential applications in optical communication,optical sensing,spectral measurement,and so on.

Widely-wavelength-tunable brillouin fiber laser with improved optical signal-to-noise ratio based on parity-time symmetric and saturable absorption effect

A widely-wavelength-tunable Brillouin fiber laser(BFL)with improved optical signal-to-noise ratio(OSNR)based on parity-time(PT)symmetric and saturable absorption(SA)effect is present.This novel BFL realizes PT symmetry and SA effect through polarization-maintaining erbium-doped fiber(PM-EDF)Sagnac loop,which is composed of a PM-EDF,a coupler and two polarization controllers(PCs).By using the inherent birefringence characteristic of PM-EDF,two feedback loops in orthogonal polarization state are formed when the Strokes signal in injected.One of these loops provides gain in the clockwise direction with in the Sagnac loop,while the other loop generates loss in the counterclockwise direction.By adjusting the PCs to control the polarization state of the PM-EDF,a single-longitudinal-mode(SLM)BFL can be achieved,as the PT symmetry is broken when the SA participating stimulated Brillouin scattering(SBS)gain and loss are well-matched and the gain surpasses the coupling coefficient.Compared to previous BFLs,the proposed BFL has a more streamlined structure and a wider wavelength tunable range,at the same time,it is not being limited by the bandwidth of the erbium-doped fiber amplifier while still maintaining narrow linewidth SLM output.Additionally,thanks to SA effect of the PM-EDF,the PT symmetric SBS gain contract is enhanced,resulting in a higher optical signal-to-noise(OSNR).The experimental results show that the laser has a wide tunable range of 1526.088 nm to 1565.498 nm,an improved OSNR of 77 dB,and a fine linewidth as small as 140.5 Hz.

Imaging through scattering layers using a near-infrared low-spatial-coherence fiber random laser

Optical memory effect-based speckle-correlated technology has been developed for reconstructing hidden objectsfrom disordered speckle patterns,achieving imaging through scattering layers.However,the lighting efficiency and fieldof view of existing speckle-correlated imaging systems are limited.Here,a near-infrared low spatial coherence fiberrandom laser illumination method is proposed to address the above limitations.Through the utilization of random Rayleighscattering within dispersion-shifted fibers to provide feedback,coupled with stimulated Raman scattering for amplification,a near-infrared fiber random laser exhibiting a high spectral density and extremely low spatial coherence is generated.Based on the designed fiber random laser,speckle-correlated imaging through scattering layers is achieved,with highlighting efficiency and a large imaging field of view.This work improves the performance of speckle-correlated imagingand enriches the research on imaging through scattering medium.

Dynamics of different pulse types in a single-/dualwavelength mode-locked fiber laser

We explore for the first time the real-time spectra of dissipative soliton(DS)and noise-like pulse(NLP)inter-switching by adjusting the pump power,as well as the dual-pulse collision dynamics for three modes:dual-NLP,NLP-DS,and dual-DS in a single-/dual-wavelength mode-locked fiber laser.Different types of dual-pulses differ in collision duration.During spectral reconstruction,dual-pulses exchange energy twice due to their respective accumulation dynamics.Additionally,collisioninduced soliton explosions have chaotic properties,leading to each collision being random.The experimental results advance the study of the dynamics of different pulse types and also contribute to the conduction of in-depth investigations on dual-comb sources.

Harmonic splitting phenomenon of bright-dark pulse pairs in a passive mode-locked Thulium-Holmium co-doped fiber laser

This study reports a passive mode-locked Thulium-Holmium co-doped fiber laser featuring a figure-9 shaped resonator structure.The laser utilizes a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror(NALM)as the mode-locking device.By increasing pump power,the laser’s output evolution was experimentally observed,showing that bright-dark pulse pairs first split into double pulses and then into a second harmonic state.Additionally,the time intervals between bright and dark pulses and between double pulses increased with higher pump power.The RF spectrum of the bright-dark pulse pairs exhibited envelope modulation,with a modulation frequency approximately equal to the reciprocal of the time interval between bright and dark pulses.When the pump power increased from 0.46 W to 0.72 W,the reciprocal of the modulation frequency showed a linear growth trend.These findings contribute to understanding the evolution patterns of bright-dark pulse pairs in passive mode-locked fiber lasers.

635 nm femtosecond fiber laser oscillator and amplifier

Although visible femtosecond lasers based on nonlinear frequency conversion of Ti:sapphire femtosecond oscillators or near-infrared ultrafast lasers have been well developed,limitations in terms of footprint,cost,and efficiency have called for alternative laser solutions.The fiber femtosecond mode-locked oscillator as an ideal solution has achieved great success in the 0.9 to 3.5μm infrared wavelengths,but remains an outstanding challenge in the visible spectrum(390 to 780 nm).Here,we tackle this challenge by introducing a visible-wavelength mode-locked femtosecond fiber oscillator along with an amplifier.This fiber femtosecond oscillator emits red light at 635 nm,employs a figure-nine cavity configuration,applies a double-clad Pr3þ-doped fluoride fiber as the visible gain medium,incorporates a visible-wavelength phase-biased nonlinear amplifying loop mirror(PB-NALM)for mode locking,and utilizes a pair of customized high-efficiency and high-groove-density diffraction gratings for dispersion management.Visible self-starting mode locking established by the PB-NALM directly yields red laser pulses with a minimum pulse duration of 196 fs and a repetition rate of 53.957 MHz from the oscillator.Precise control of the grating pair spacing can switch the pulse state from a dissipative soliton or a stretched-pulse soliton to a conventional soliton.In addition,a chirped-pulse amplification system built alongside the oscillator immensely boosts the laser performance,resulting in an average output power over 1W,a pulse energy of 19.55 nJ,and a dechirped pulse duration of 230 fs.Our result represents a concrete step toward high-power femtosecond fiber lasers covering the visible spectral region and could have important applications in industrial processing,biomedicine,and scientific research.

Random fiber laser using a cascaded fiber loop mirror

Random fiber lasers(RFLs)have attracted extensive attention due to their rich physical properties and wide applications.Here,a RFL using a cascaded fiber loop mirror(CFLM)is proposed and presented.A CFLM with 10 fiber loop mirrors(FLMs)is simulated by the transfer matrix method and used to provide random feedback.Multiple spikes are observed in both the simulated and measured reflection spectra.The RFL operates in a single longitudinal mode near the threshold and a time-varying multilongitudinal mode at higher pump powers.The RFL exhibits a time-varying radio-frequency spectrum.The Lévy–Gaussian distribution transition is observed,as in many RFLs.The operation mechanism of the lasing longitudinal modes and the impact of complex mode competition and mode hopping on the output characteristics are discussed through experimental and theoretical results.In this study,we unveil an artificial random feedback structure and pave another way for the realization of RFLs,which should be a platform for multidisciplinary studies in complex systems.

Unveiling optical rogue wave behavior with temporally localized structures in Brillouin random fiber laser comb

The optical rogue wave(RW),known as a short-lived extraordinarily high amplitude dynamics phenomenon with small appearing probabilities,plays an important role in revealing and understanding the fundamental physics of nonlinear wave propagations in optical systems.The random fiber laser(RFL),featured with cavity-free and“modeless”structure,has opened up new avenues for fundamental physics research and potential practical applications combining nonlinear optics and laser physics.Here,the extreme event of optical RW induced by noise-driven modulation instability that interacts with the cascaded stimulated Brillouin scattering,the quasi-phase-matched four-wave mixing as well as the random mode resonance process is observed in a Brillouin random fiber laser comb(BRFLC).Temporal and statistical characteristics of the RWs concerning their emergence and evolution are experimentally explored and analyzed.Specifically,temporally localized structures with high intensities including chair-like pulses with a sharp leading edge followed by a trailing plateau appear frequently in the BRFLC output,which can evolve to chair-like RW pulses with adjustable pulse duration and amplitude under controlled conditions.This investigation provides a deep insight into the extreme event of RWs and paves the way for RW manipulation for its generation and elimination in RFLs through adapted laser configuration.

A variable coefficient microwave photonic filter based on multi-wavelength fiber laser and Mach-Zehnder interferometer

A microwave photonic filter(MPF) with variable coefficient is proposed and demonstrated, which is constructed by a multi-wavelength fiber laser and Mach-Zehnder interferometer(MZI). Through changing the slope characteristics of Mach-Zehnder interference spectrum adjusted by optical variable delay line(OVDL), the conversion from phase modulation(PM) to intensity modulation(IM) is realized. The multi-wavelength fiber laser with Lyot-Sagnac optical filter has variable wavelength spacing. So the designed filter has a variable number of taps and tap weights. As a result, the tunable range of passband center frequency is 2.6 GHz. The reconfigurability of MPF can be also realized by adjusting the output of fiber laser.

Generation of multi-wavelength square pulses in the dissipative soliton resonance regime by a Yb-doped fiber laser

Multi-wavelength square pulses are generated in the dissipative soliton resonance(DSR) regime by a Yb-doped fiber laser(YDFL) with a long cavity configuration. The spectral filter effect provided by a passive fiber with low-stress birefringence facilitates the establishment of multi-wavelength operation. Through appropriate control of the cavity parameters,a multi-wavelength DSR pulse can be generated in single-and dual-waveband regions. When the multi-wavelength DSR works in the 1038 nm waveband, the pulse duration can broaden from 2 ns to 37.7 ns. The maximum intra-cavity pulse energy is 152.7 nJ. When the DSR works in the 1038 nm and 1080 nm wavebands, the pulse duration can be tuned from2.3 ns to 10.5 ns with rising pump power. The emergence of the 1080 nm waveband is attributed to the stimulated Raman scattering(SRS) effect. Our work might help a deeper insight to be gained into DSR pulses in all-normal-dispersion YDFLs.

A widely tunable microwave photonic notch filter with adjustable bandwidth based on multi-wavelength fiber laser

A widely tunable microwave photonic notch filter with adjustable bandwidth based on multi-wavelength fiber laser is proposed and demonstrated. The multi-wavelength fiber laser generates the multi-taps of the microwave photonic filter （MPF）. In order to obtain notch frequency response, a Fourier-domain optical processor （FD-OP） is introduced to con- trol the amplitude and phase of the optical carrier and phase modulation sidebands. By adjusting the polarization con- troller （PC）, different numbers of taps are got, such as 6, 8, 10 and 121 And the wavelength-spacing of the multi-wavelength laser is 0.4 nm. The bandwidth of the notch filter is changed by adjusting the number of taps and the corresponding bandwidths are 4.41 GHz, 3.30 GHz, 2.64 GHz and 2.19 GHz, respectively. With the additional phase shift introduced by FD-OP, the notch position is continuously ttmed in the whole free spectral range （FSR） of 27.94 GHz. The center frequency of the notch filter can be continuously tuned from 13.97 GHz to 41.91 GHz.

Fiber Coupling of Laser Diode Bar to M ultimode Fiber Array

A piece of multimode optical fiber with a low num er ical aperture (NA) is used as an inexpensive microlens to collimate the output r adiation of a laser diode bar in the high numerical aperture (NA) direction.The emissions of the laser diode bar are coupled into multimode fiber array.The radi ation from individual ones of emitter regions is optically coupled into individu al ones of fiber array.Total coupling efficiency and fiber output power are 75% and 15W,respectively.

Porosity sensitivity of A356 Al alloy during fiber laser welding

In order to decrease the metallurgical porosity and keyhole-induced porosity during deep penetration laser welding of Al and its alloys, and increase the mechanical properties of work-piece, the effects of welding parameters such as laser power, welding speed and defocusing value on both kinds of porosities were systemically analyzed respectively, and the shape and fluctuation of plume of the keyhole were observed to reflect the stability of the keyhole. The results show that increasing laser power or decreasing laser spot size can lead to the rising of both number and occupied area of pores in the weld; meanwhile, the plume fluctuates violently over the keyhole, which is always companied with the intense metallic vapor, liquid metal spatter and collapsing in the keyhole, thus more pores are generated in the weld. The porosity in the weld reaches the minimum at welding velocity of 2.0 m/min when laser power is 5 kW and defocusing value is 0.