Precise determination of characteristic laser frequencies by an Er-doped fiber optical frequency comb

Femtosecond optical frequency combs correlate the microwave and optical frequencies accurately and coherently.Therefore,any optical frequency in visible to near-infrared region can be directly traced to a microwave frequency.As a result,the length unit“meter”is directly related to the time unit“second”.This paper validates the capability of the national wavelength standards based on a home-made Er-doped fiber femtosecond optical frequency comb to measure the laser frequencies ranging from visible to near-infrared region.Optical frequency conversion in the femtosecond optical frequency comb is achieved by combining spectral broadening in a highly nonlinear fiber with a single-point frequencydoubling scheme.The signal-to-noise ratio of the beat notes between the femtosecond optical frequency comb and the lasers at 633,698,729,780,1064,and 1542 nm is better than 30 d B.The frequency instability of the above lasers is evaluated by using a hydrogen clock signal with a instability of better than 1×10^(-13)at 1-s averaging time.The measurement is further validated by measuring the absolute optical frequency of an iodine-stabilized 532-nm laser and an acetylenestabilized 1542-nm laser.The results are within the uncertainty range of the international recommended values.Our results demonstrate the accurate optical frequency measurement of lasers at different frequencies using the femtosecond optical frequency comb,which is not only important for the precise and accurate traceability and calibration of the laser frequencies,but also provides technical support for establishing the national wavelength standards based on the femtosecond optical frequency comb.

A Temperature-Insensitive Amplified Spontaneous Emission Broadband Source Based on Er-Doped Fiber

To obtain a stable amplified spontaneous emission（ASE） source for complex environment applications, we design an ASE source and study the output power and spectral characteristics under different ambient temperatures.We optimize the structure of the ASE source to flatten the ASE spectrum, and study the output characteristics in terms of output power and optical spectrum under different pump powers. Then the performance of the ASE source is investigated in the temperature range from-18.9°C to 50°C. A stable-power and flat-spectrum ASE source can be obtained by structural optimization and pump control.

Dispersive Nonlinearity in Er-Doped Optical Fiber

Optical dispersive nonlinearities in Er-doped optical fiber are discussed and measured at the third window wavelength 1.55 μm for optical communications firstly. The experimental method, which is developed by us, is based on dynamic scanning for fixed-point-interference (DSFPI) of two fiber beams. The real part and complex value of the third-order susceptibility at the wavelength are also obtained from the measured Kerr coefficient and nonlinear-absorption coefficient reported elsewhere.

Chirp Extraction of Self-Similar Pulses in a Passively Mode-Locked Er-doped Fiber Laser

In this paper, we adopt cloud computing in a specific scientific computing field for its virtualization, distribution and dynamic extendibility as follows: We obtain high-energy parabolic self-similar pulses by numerical simulation using our non-distributed passively mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser model. For researching characteristics of these wave-breaking-free self-similar pulses, chirp of them must be extracted. We propose several time-frequency analysis methods adopted in chirp extraction of ultra-short optical pulses for the first time and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of them in this particular application.

Using Reduced Graphene Oxide to Generate Q-Switched Pulses in Er-Doped Fiber Laser

Using the reduced graphene oxide（rGO） as a saturable absorber（SA） in an Er-doped fiber（EDF） laser cavity,we obtain the Q-switching operation. The rGO SA is prepared by depositing the GO on fluorine mica（FM） using the thermal reduction method. The modulation depth of rGO/FM is measured to be 3.2%. By incorporating the rGO/FM film into the EDF laser cavity, we obtain stable Q-switched pulses. The shortest pulse duration is3.53 μs, and the maximum single pulse energy is 48.19 nJ. The long-term stability of working is well exhibited.The experimental results show that the rGO possesses potential photonics applications.

Observation of 550 MHz passively harmonic mode-locked pulses at L-band in an Er-doped fiber laser using carbon nanotubes film

We demonstrate a passively harmonic mode-locked（PHML） fiber laser operating at the L-band using carbon nanotubes polyvinyl alcohol（CNTs-PVA） film. Under suitable pump power and an appropriate setting of the polarization controller（PC）, the 54^（th） harmonic pulses at the L-band are generated with the side mode suppression ratio（SMSR） better than 44 dB and a repetition frequency of 503.37 MHz. Further increasing the pump power leads to a higher frequency of 550 MHz with compromised stability of 38.5 dB SMSR. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration on the generation of L-band PHML pulses from an Er-doped fiber laser based on CNTs.

Theoretical modelling of the effect of photon lifetime on the output dynamics of Er-doped distributed feedback fibre lasers

By employing a simple model of describing three-level lasers, we have theoretically investigated the effect of photon lifetime on the output dynamics of Er-doped distributed feedback fibre lasers. And based on the theoretical analysis we have proposed a promising method to suppress self-pulsing behaviour in the fibre lasers.

Double Clad Er-doped Fiber Amplifier

Presented is a theoretical study of double-clad Er-doped fiber power amplifier(EDFA). Two kinds of double clad fibers(DCF) with rectangular and "flower" inner clad shapes are studied, and these fibers have different coupling constants and propagation losses. We calculate the effective pump power absorption ratio along the fiber with different coupling constants from the first cladding to the doped core and with different propagation losses for the power in the inner cladding. Then the gains of the double clad Er-doped fiber amplifiers versus fiber lengths are calculated using the EDFA model based on propagation and rate equations of a homogeneous, two-level medium.

Numerical Simulation on Broad-band Er-doped Superfluorescent Fiber Source Filter Using Long Period Chirped Fiber Grating

Given is an analysis of broad-band Er-doped superfluorescent fiber source(EDSFS)filter using long period chirped fiber grating by transmission matrix method.For our EDSFS attenuated amplitude demand and the flattened wavelength range demand,proposed are the key factors of designing such filters of high performances.The simulation result demonstrates that such type filters have an enough attenuation to flatten the dramatic increase in output amplified spontaneous emission(ASE)in the wavelength range of 1529nm^1535nm by choosing conformable fiber filter parameters such as chirped degree,original period,induced index change,length of the fiber filter,and then broad-band EDSFS could be achieved.

Pump quantum efficiency optimization of 3.5 μm Er-doped ZBLAN fiber laser for high-power operation

976 nm+1976 nm dual-wavelength pumped Er-doped ZBLAN fiber lasers are generally accepted as the preferred solution for achieving 3.5μm lasing.However,the 2μm band excited state absorption from the upper lasing level(^(4 )F_(9/2)→^(4)F_(7/2))depletes the Er ions population inversion,reducing the pump quantum efciency and limiting the power scaling.In this work,we demonstrate that the pump quantum efciency can be efectively improved by using a long-wavelength pump with lower excited state absorption rate.A 3.5μm Er-doped ZBLAN fber laser was built and its performances at diferent pump wavelengths were experimentally investigated in detail.A maximum output power at 3.46μm of~7.2 W with slope efciency(with respect to absorbed 1990 nm pump power)of 41.2%was obtained with an optimized pump wavelength of 1990 nm,and the pump quantum efciency was increased to 0.957 compared with the 0.819 for the conventional 1976 nm pumping scheme.Further power scaling was only limited by the available 1990 nm pump power.A numerical simulation was implemented to evaluate the cross section of excited state absorption via a theoretical ftting of experimental results.The potential of further power scaling was also discussed,based on the developed model.

Study on the protection of Er-doped phosphate glass waveguide surface in ion-exchange processing

A novel method, sputtering K9 glass film, is proposed to solve the surface corrosion of Er-doped phosphate glass during ion-exchange processing for optical waveguide fabrication. The corrosion causes are analyzed to be the intrinsically weak stabilization of phosphate glass structure, hydrophile and weakly acidic property of phosphate radical. Experimental results show that the K9 glass film could not only protect the Er-doped phosphate glass surface from being corroded but also give no influence on the waveguide fabrication. The effect of thickness of K9 glass film on the optical property of waveguide is also investigated and the op- timal thickness is found to be 60―80 nm. It provides a good base for further fabri- cation of active phosphate glass optical waveguide devices.

60 nJ, 95 fs environmentally stable Er-doped fiber laser system

We demonstrate here an environmentally stable and extremely compactable Er-doped fiber laser system capable of delivering sub-100-fs temporal duration and tens of nanojoules at a repetition rate of 10 MHz.This laser source employs a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror mode-locked soliton laser to generate seed pulses.A singlemode-fiber amplifier and a double-cladding-fiber amplifier(both with double-pass configuration)are bridged by a divider and used to manage the dispersion map and boost the soliton pulses.By using 64 replicas,pulses with as high as 60 n J energy within 95 fs duration are obtained at 10 MHz,corresponding to 600 kW peak power.

High Response Gas Sensors for Formaldehyde Based on Er-doped In_2O_3 Nanotubes

Pure and Er-doped In 2O 3 nanotubes were systematically fabricated by using a single nozzle eletrospinning method followed by calcination.The as-synthesized nanotubes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy（SEM）,energy-dispersive X-ray（EDX） spectrometry and X-ray powder diffraction（XRD）.Compared with pure In 2O 3 nanotubes,Er-doped In 2O 3 nanotubes exhibit improved formaldehyde sensing properties at 260 ℃.The response of Er-doped In 2O 3 nanotubes to 20 ppm formaldehyde is about 12,which is 4 times larger than that of pure In 2O 3 nanotubes.The response and recovery times of Er-doped In 2O 3 nanotubes to 20 ppm formaldehyde are about 5 and 38 s,respectively.Furthermore,the response of Er-doped In 2O 3 nanotubes to 100 ppb formaldehyde is 2.19.

Compact 517 MHz soliton mode-locked Er-doped fiber ring laser

We report on a compact passive mode-locked Er:fiber ring laser operated at the fundamental repetition rate of 517 MHz, which we believe is the highest fundamental repetition rate ever reported in a ring cavity fiber laser.The key technique is the employment of two innovative high-power wavelength domain multiplexer collimators with all gain fiber cavity suited for the high power(up to 2 W) pumping. The laser is featured with a direct chirpfree output pulse, which is 97 fs without extracavity compression at an average output power of 90 mW.

Temperature-controlled mode selection of Er-doped random fiber laser with disordered Bragg gratings

In this paper, we proposed a way to realize an Er-doped random fiber laser(RFL) with a disordered fiber Bragg grating(FBG) array, as well as to control the lasing mode of the RFL by heating specific locations of the disordered FBG array. The disordered FBG array performs as both the gain medium and random distributed reflectors, which together with a tunable point reflector form the RFL. Coherent multi-mode random lasing is obtained with a threshold of between 7.5 and 10 mW and a power efficiency between 23% and 27% when the reflectivity of the point reflector changes from 4% to 50%. To control the lasing mode of random emission, a specific point of the disordered FBG array is heated so as to shift the wavelength of the FBG(s) at this point away from the other FBGs.Thus, different resonance cavities are formed, and the lasing mode can be controlled by changing the location of the heating point.

Q-switched Er-doped fiber laser with low pumping threshold using graphene saturable absorber

We propose a Q-switched Er-doped fiber laser （EDFL） with a threshold pumping power as low as 7.4 mW, and demonstrate using graphene polyvinyl alcohol （PVA） thin film as a passive saturable absorber （SA）. The SA is fabricated from graphene flakes, which is synthesized by electrochemical exfoliation of graphite at room temperature in 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate aqueous solution. The flakes are mixed with PVA solution to produce a thin film, which is then sandwiched between two ferrules to form a SA and integrated in the EDFL ring cavity to generate a stable Q-switched pulse train. The pulse train operates at 1560 nm with a threshold pump power of 7.4 roW. At maximum 1480 nm pump power of 33.0 roW, the EDFL generates an optical pulse train with a repetition rate of 27.0 kHz and pulse width of 3.56/as. The maximum pulse energy of 39.4 nJ is obtained at a pump power of 14.9 roW. This laser can be used as a simple and low-cost light source for metrology, environmental sensing, and biomedical diagnostics.

Midinfrared optical frequency comb based on difference frequency generation using high repetition rate Er-doped fiber laser with single wall carbon nanotube film

We demonstrated stable midinfrared(MIR) optical frequency comb at the 3.0 μm region with difference frequency generation pumped by a high power, Er-doped, ultrashort pulse fiber laser system. A soliton mode-locked161 MHz high repetition rate fiber laser using a single wall carbon nanotube was fabricated. The output pulse was amplified in an Er-doped single mode fiber amplifier, and a 1.1–2.2 μm wideband supercontinuum(SC) with an average power of 205 m W was generated in highly nonlinear fiber. The spectrogram of the generated SC was examined both experimentally and numerically. The generated SC was focused into a nonlinear crystal, and stable generation of MIR comb around the 3 μm wavelength region was realized.

Er-doped concentric-cores optical fiber for simultaneous amplification and compensation of positive dispersion

The Er-doped concentric-cores dispersion compensating fiber (EDDCF) has been demonstrated. The rare earth has been doped as a ring around the inner core. We have obtained 14-dB gain at 1550 nm (using 100-mW pump power and 980-nm wavelength) with dispersion of about -165 ps/(km·nm). It is useful for the optical fiber network where amplification as well as negative dispersion are necessary.

SUPERFLUORESCENCE CHARACTERISTICS OF ER-DOPED SILICA FIBER

The laser and amplifiers based on RE-doped fiber have been paid much attention to. Recently, fiber superfluorescence- the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE)began to receive more interest. As a broadband source, the superfluorescence is needed in many fiber sensor applications, in particular the fiber gyroscopes and some signal-processing fiber systems. Owing to the high gain in RE-doped fiber, significant superfluorescence power

Influences of GVD on the characteristics of soliton in a passively mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser

In this paper, the characteristics of soliton in a passively mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser modeled by a non-distributed model are numerically investigated with the split-step Fourier method. Based on the analysis and model, sech2-shaped soliton is obtained by controlling the group velocity dispersion （GVD） and small-signal gain of the gain fiber. The law that the dispersion influences the characteristics of soliton in the mode-locked fiber laser is researched in net-cavity averaged anomalous dispersion regime.