Erbium-Doped Zirconia-Alumina Silica Glass-Based Fiber as a Saturable Absorber for High Repetition Rate Q-Switched All-Fiber Laser Generation

We propose and demonstrate a Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser （EDFL） using an erbium-doped zirconia-alumina silica glass-based fiber （Zr-EDF） as a saturable absorber. As a 16-cm-long Zr-EDF is incorporated into a ring EDFL cavity, a stable Q-switching pulse train operating at 1565？nm wavelength is successfully obtained. The repetition rate is tunable from 33.97？kHz to 71.23？kHz by increasing the pump power from the threshold of 26？mW to the maximum of 74？mW. The highest pulse energy of 26.67？nJ is obtained at the maximum pump power.

Brillouin Lasing with a Reduced Self-Pulsing Characteristic Using a Short-Length Erbium-Doped Fiber as the Nonlinear Gain Medium

A single-wavelength Brillouin laser is demonstrated by using a 3-m-long erbium doped fiber （EDF） in a ring cavity. The EDF is used to provide both nonlinear and linear gains to generate a stimulated Brillouin scattering （SBS） and to amplify the generated SBS, respectively. The Brillouin erbium fiber laser （BEFL） operates at 1561.5 nm, where the operating wavelength is up-shifted by 0.08nm from the Brillouin pump. The operation wavelength is also tunable within 1560.6-1562.6nm. The BEFL Mso shows a self-pulsing characteristic with repetition of 66. 7kHz when the BP is set around the threshold pump power of 13roW. Compared to the conventional Brillouin fiber laser with a long cavity length, the proposed BEFL exhibits a significantly lower amplitude of pulse. This laser has many potential applications, such as in optical communication and sensors.

Mode-Locked Thulium Ytterbium Co-Doped Fiber Laser with Graphene Oxide Paper Saturable Absorber

A mode-locked thulium ytterbium co-doped fiber laser （TYDFL） is proposed and demonstrated by using a commercial graphene oxide （GO） paper as saturable absorber （SA）. The GO paper is sandwiched between two fiber ferrules and incorporates a ring laser cavity to generate soliton pulse train operating at 1942.0nm at a threshold multimode pump power as low as 1.8 W. The mode-locked TYDFL has a repetition rate of 22.32 MHz and the calculated pulse width of 1.1 ns. Even though the SA has a low damage threshold, the easy fabrication of GO paper should promote its potentiM application in ultrafast photonics.

Comparison between Analytical Solution and Experimental Setup of a Short Long Ytterbium Doped Fiber Laser

In this research, Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) spectrum characteristics for a highly Yb3+ doped glass fiber with different pump powers and pump wavelengths are scrutinized. ASE spectral profile and wavelength shift corresponding to different optical fiber lengths are measured. Highly-doped Yb3+ fiber lasers in a linear-cavity are both experimentally and analytically investigated. Rate equations are solved using quasi-numerical models. Numerical results are reported for wide range of operating conditions to enable design optimization. The model takes into account the scattering loss and the distributed laser loss power density in strongly pump condition. The effects of various parameters such as pump power, pump wavelength, signal wavelength and fiber length on the output power and laser threshold are studied. Theoretical results are shown to be in good agreement with the experimental data.

A Mode-Locked Soliton Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser with a Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Poly-Ethylene Oxide Film Saturable Absorber

We present a simple, compact and low-cost mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser （EDFL） using single-wMled carbon nanotubes （SWCNTs） embedded in a poly-ethylene oxide （PEO） thin film as a passive saturable absorber. The film is fabricated by using a prepared homogeneous SWCNT solution, which is mixed with a diluted PEO solution and cast onto a glass Petri dish to form, by evaporation, a thin film. The 50 μm-thick film is sandwiched between two fiber connectors to construct a saturable absorber, which is then integrated in an EDFL cavity to generate self-started stable soliton pulses operating at 1560.8nm. The soliton pulse starts to lase at a pump power threshold of 12.3mW with a repetition rate of 11.21MHz, a pulse width of 1.02ps, an average output power of 0.65 mW and a pulse energy of 57.98pJ.

Passively Q-Switched EDFL Using a Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Polymer Composite Based on a Saturable Absorber

A stable passive Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser （EDFL） operating at 1563.5 nm is demonstrated by using a multi-walled carbon nanotube （MWCNT） polymer composite film based saturable absorber for the first time. The composite is prepared by mixing the MWCNTs homogeneous solution into a dilute PEO polymer solution before it is left to dry at room temperature to produce thin film. Then the film is sandwiched between two FC/PC fiber connectors and is integrated into the laser cavity for Q-switching pulse generation. The EDFL generates a stable pulse train with repetition rates ranging from 4.5 kHz to 20.0 kHz by varying the 1480 nm pump power from 35 mW to 53 mW. At the 53 mW pump power, the pulse width and pulse energy are 8.8 μs and 15.3 nJ, respectively.

Q-switched pulse generation from an all-f iber distributed Bragg reflector laser using graphene as saturable absorber

A Q-switched distributed Bragg reflector fiber laser using a graphene passive saturable absorber is proposed in a cavity consisting of a fiber Bragg grating and Faraday rotator mirror as end mirrors, together with a highly doped erbium-doped fiber as a gain source. The laser has a Q-switched threshold of about 28 mW and a tunable repetition rate of 10.4-18.0 kHz with varying pump power. The shortest pulse width obtained from the system is 3.7 its, with a maximum pulse energy and peak power of 22.2 nJ and 3.4 mW, respectively.

Multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser using four-wave mixing effect in doped fiber

We demonstrate a multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser （EDFL） using erbium gain and four-wave mixing （FWM） effect in a piece of erbium-doped fiber （EDF） with high erbium ion concentration. The EDF has a pump absorption rate of 24.6 dB/m at 979 nm and is bi-directionally pumped by 980-nm laser diodes. FWM effect redistributes the energy of different oscillating lines and causes multi-wavelength operation. The laser generates more than 22 lines of optical comb with a line spacing of approximately 0.10 nm at the 1569-nm region using only 1.5-m-long EDF.

Performance Evaluation of a Bilayer SPR-Based Fiber Optic RI Sensor With TiO2 Using FDTD Solutions

We proposed a new bilayer surface plasmon resonance-based fiber-optic refractive index sensor with silver and an over-layer of TiO2. We numerically investigated the optimal thickness of TiO2 over-layer in the proposed sensor and compared its performance to that based on typical bimetallic layers of silver-and-gold in the aqueous media using finite-difference time domain approach. We show that the use of TiO2 over-layer greatly improves the sensor performance in terms of sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio compared to that with gold as the over-layer. Not only does the TiO2 over-layer offer a cost-effective alternative to gold for overcoming the oxidation problem, but also it allows resonance wavelength-tunability.

High power dual-wavelength tunable fiber laser in linear and ring cavity configurations

We describe and compare the performances of two crucial configurations for a tunable dual-wavelength fiber laser, namely, the linear and ring configurations. The performances of these two cavities and the tunability in the dual-wavelength output varied from 0.8 to 11.9 nm are characterized. The ring cavity provides a better performance, achieving an average output power of 0.5 dBm, with a power fluctuation of only 1.1 dB and a signal-to-noise ratio （SNR） of 66 dB. Moreover, the ring cavity has minimal or no background amplified spontaneous emission （ASE）.

Ytterbium-sensitized thulium-doped fiber laser with a single-mode output operating at 1900-nm region

A single-mode laser is demonstrated using a newly developed double-clad thulium-ytterbium-doped fiber （TYDF） in a linear cavity formed by two fiber Bragg gratings （FBGs）. The YTF used is drawn from a D-shape preform fabricated using the modified chemical vapor deposition and solution doping technique. The laser is operated at 1 901.6 nm via the transition of thulium ions from 3F4 to 3H6 with the assistance of ytterbium to thulium ion energy transfer. The efficiencies of the laser are 0.71% and 0.75% at 927- and 905-nm multimode pumping, respectively. The thresholds of the launched pump power for 927- and 905-nm pumping are 1 314 and 1 458 mW, respectively. A 7-mW output is obtained at a 905-nm pump power of 2 400 mW.