CsPbBr3 nanocrystal for mode-locking Tm-doped fiber laser

CsPbBr3 nanocrystal is used as the saturable absorber(SA) for mode-locking Tm-doped fiber laser in a ring fiber cavity.The modulation depth, saturable intensity, and non-saturable loss of the fabricated SA are 14.1%, 2.5 MW/cm^2,and 5.9%, respectively.In the mode-locking operation, the mode-locked pulse train has a repetition rate of 16.6 MHz with pulse width of 24.2 ps.The laser wavelength is centered at 1992.9 nm with 3-dB spectrum width of 2.5 nm.The maximum output power is 110 mW with slope efficiency of 7.1%.Our experiment shows that CsPbBr3 nanocrystal can be used as an efficient SA in the 2-μm wavelength region.

Electron dynamics of active mode-locking terahertz quantum cascade laser

The pulse generation from active mode-locking terahertz quantum cascade laser is studied by Maxwell-Bloch equations.It is shown that longer dephasing time will lead to multiple pulses generation from the laser.The dependence of output field on modulation length and radio-frequency parameters is obtained.In order to achieve short pulse generation,the DC bias should close to threshold value and modulation length should be shorter than 0.256 mm.The output pulse is unstable and the envelope shows many oscillations in the presence of spatial hole burning,resulting destabilization of mode-locking.

Passive harmonic mode-locking of Er-doped fiber laser using CVD-grown few-layer MoS_2 as a saturable absorber

Passive harmonic mode locking of an erbium-doped fiber laser based on few-layer molybdenum disulfide(MoS2)saturable absorber(SA) is demonstrated. The few-layer MoS2 is prepared by the chemical vapor deposition(CVD) method and then transferred onto the end face of a fiber connector to form a fiber-compatible Mo S2SA. The 20 th harmonic modelocked pulses at 216-MHz repetition rate are stably generated with a pulse duration of 1.42 ps and side-mode suppression ratio(SMSR) of 36.1dB. The results confirm that few-layer MoS2 can serve as an effective SA for mode-locked fiber lasers.

Generation of 12th order harmonic mode-locking in a Nd-doped single-mode all-fiber laser operating at 0.9μm

Based on the Nd-doped single-mode fiber as the gain medium,an all-fiber 12th harmonic mode-locked(HML)laser operating at the 0.9μm waveband was obtained for the first time,to the best of our knowledge.A mandrel with a diameter of 10 mm was employed to introduce bending losses to suppress mode competition at 1.06μm,which resulted in a suppression ratio of up to 54 dB.The 1st–12th order HML pulses with the tunable repetition rate of 494.62 kHz–5.94 MHz were obtained in the mode-locked laser with a center wavelength of∼904 nm.In addition,the laser has an extremely low threshold pump power of 88 mW.To the best of our knowledge,this is the first time that an HML pulse has been achieved in a 0.9μm Nd-doped single-mode all-fiber mode-locked laser with the advantages of low cost,simple structure,and compactness,which could be an ideal light source for two-photon microscopy.

Passive Q-switching and Q-switched mode-locking operations of 2 μm Tm:CLNGG laser with MoS2 saturable absorber mirror

With MoS2 as saturable absorber, passive Q-switching and Q-switched mode-locking operations of a Tm-doped calcium lithium niobium gallium garnet（Tm:CLNGG） laser were experimentally demonstrated. The Q-switched laser emitted a maximum average output power of 62 mW and highest pulse energy of 0.72 μJ. Q-switched mode locking was also obtained in the experiment. The research results will open up applications of MoS2 at the mid-infrared wavelength.

Stable mode-locking in an Yb:YAG laser with a fast SESAM

Stable mode-locking in a diode-pumped Yb:YAG laser was obtained with a very fast semiconductor sat-urable absorber mirror (SESAM). The pulse width was measured to be 4 ps at the central wavelength of 1047 nm. The average power was 200 mW and the repetition rate was 200 MHz.

Mode-locking of fiber lasers using novel two-dimensional nanomaterials: graphene and topological insulators [Invited]

The paper summarizes the recent achievements in the area of ultrafast fiber lasers mode-locked with so-called lowdimensional nanomaterials: graphene, topological insulators（Bi2Te3, Bi2Se3, Sb2Te3）, and transition metal sulfide semiconductors, like molybdenum disulfide（MoS2）. The most important experimental achievements are described and compared. Additionally, new original results on ultrashort pulse generation at 1.94 μm wavelength using graphene are presented. The designed Tm-doped fiber laser utilizes multilayer graphene as a saturable absorber and generates 654 fs pulses at 1940 nm wavelength, which are currently the shortest pulses generated from a Tm-doped fiber laser with a graphene-based saturable absorber.

Experimental observation of transient mode-locking in the build-up stage of a soliton fiber laser

In this paper, we demonstrated a series of short-living mode-locking(ML) states(each lasting a few to a hundred microseconds) that happened before a fiber laser reached a steady ML state.With time-stretched dispersion Fourier transform spectroscopy, a rich diversity of transient multi-pulse dynamics were revealed spectrally and temporally.As a result, we found that the formation of the short-living ML states was related to abundant pump power, and their decaying evolution dynamics were possibly governed by gain depletion and recovery.Our results revealed unexpected transient lasing behaviors of a soliton laser and thus might be useful to understand the complex dynamics of mode-locked lasers.

Graphene oxide-COOH as a new saturable absorber for both Q-switching and mode-locking fiber lasers

Graphene oxide carboxylic acid（COOH）, a novel two-dimensional（2D） layered material with its unique optical and electronic properties, is discovered to exhibit the saturation of optical absorption under laser illumination.Applying the liquid-phase exfoliation method, we prepare graphene oxide-COOH dispersions with deionized water and fabricate graphene oxide-COOH polyvinyl alcohol polymer composite film. We further obtain stable Q-switching pulse and mode-locked laser operation with a 22.7 MHz repetition rate and a 1.5 ps pulse duration by incorporating the graphene oxide-COOH-based saturable absorbers into the all-fiber erbium-doped fiber laser cavity. The experimental results show that the proposed graphene oxide-COOH material can act as an effective absorber for pulsed fiber lasers, which demonstrate potential applications in the area of ultrafast optics.

Coexistence of bound soliton and harmonic mode-locking soliton in an ultrafast fiber laser based on MoS2-deposited microfiber photonic device

As the typical material of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides（TMDs）, few-layered MoS2 possesses broadband saturable absorption and a large nonlinear refractive index, which could be regarded as a promising candidate for dual-function photonic device fabrication. In this work, the coexistence of a bound soliton and harmonic mode-locking soliton was demonstrated in an ultrafast fiber laser based on a MoS2-deposited microfiber photonic device. Through a band-pass filter, each multi-soliton state was investigated separately. The bound soliton has periodic spectral modulation of 1.55 nm with a corresponding pulse separation of 5.16 ps.The harmonic mode-locking soliton has the repetition rate of 479 MHz, corresponding to the 65th harmonic of the fundamental repetition rate. The results indicated that there exist more possibilities of different multi-soliton composites, which would enhance our understanding of multi-soliton dynamics.

A NOVEL MODE-LOCKING TECHNIQUE

A feedback controlled mode-locking in Nd: YAG oscillator has been successfully demonstrated by a novel mode-locking technique. The ultrafast response time of the switch without any avalanche is essential to the mode-locking. For photoconductors in common use, the intrinsic monocrystalline silicon and the GaAs are very familiar to us. Although Si has very fast response and high sensitivity, its dark resistance is not large enough(only about (20—30)×10~3Ω)to stand very high voltage. The Cr-doped GaAs has fast re-

2 μm mode-locking laser performances of sol-gel-fabricated large-core Tm-doped silica fiber

High-power ultrafast fiber lasers operating at the 2 μm wavelength are extremely desirable for material processing, laser surgery, and nonlinear optics. Here we fabricated large-core（LC） double-cladding Tm-doped silica fiber via the sol-gel method. The sol-gel-fabricated Tm-doped silica（SGTS） fiber had a large core diameter of 30 μm with a high refractive index homogeneity（Δn=2 × 10^（-4））. With the newly developed LC SGTS fiber as the gain fiber, high-power mode-locking was realized. By using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror（SESAM） as a mode locker, the LC SGTS fiber oscillator generated mode-locked pulses with an average output power as high as 1.0 W and a pulse duration of 23.9 ps at the wavelength of 1955.0 nm. Our research results show that the self-developed LC Tm-doped silica fiber via the sol-gel method is a promising gain fiber for generating high-power ultrafast lasers in the 2 μm spectral region.

All-fiber acousto-optic modulator based on a cladding-etched optical fiber for active mode-locking

An all-fiber acousto-optic modulator(AOM), which features a compact structure and a low-driving voltage, is experimentally demonstrated for the active mode-locking of a fiber laser. The proposed AOM is based on the short length of the cladding-etched fiber, the ends of which are fixed on a slide glass. On top of the cladding-etched fiber, a piezoelectric transducer was overlaid. A chemical wet-etching technique, which is based on a mixed solution of NH_4F and (NH_4)2SO_4, is used to reduce the fiber diameter down to ～25 μm, and the length of the etched section is only 0.5 cm. The fabricated device exhibited a modulation depth of 73.10% at an acoustic frequency of 918.9 kHz and a peak-to-peak electrical voltage of 10 V, while a laser beam was coupled at 1560 nm.By using the prepared AOM within an erbium-doped-fiber ring cavity, the mode-locked pulses with a temporalwidth of 2.66 ps were readily obtained at a repetition rate of 1.838 MHz.

A 54-fs diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked Yb:LuYSiO_(5) laser

We demonstrate a Kerr-lens mode-locked Yb:Lu YSiO_(5)(Yb:LYSO)laser with the pulse duration of 54 fs,corresponding to a spectral bandwidth of 25 nm centered at 1062 nm.To the best of our knowledge,this is the shortest pulse duration obtained from Yb:LYSO laser.At the repetition rate of 378.3 MHz,an output power of 111.6 m W is obtained using an output coupler with 0.6%transmittance,which can maintain long-time stable mode-locking more than 13 h.

Antimonene-based saturable absorber for a soliton mode-locked and Q-switched fiber laser in the 2 μm wavelength region

We demonstrate antimonene as a saturable absorber(SA) to generate an ultrafast mode-locked and Q-switched laser in the 2 μm wavelength region. The two antimonene-based SAs were prepared and inserted separately in a thulium–holmiumdoped fiber laser to produce the pulsed laser. Antimonene was coated onto a tapered fiber to generate soliton mode-locked pulses and used in thin-film form for the generation of Q-switched pulses. The mode-locking was stable within a pump power of 267 m W–511 m W, and the laser operated at a central wavelength of 1897.4 nm. The mode-locked laser had a pulse width of 1.3 ps and a repetition rate of 12.6 MHz, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 64 d B. Q-switched laser operation was stable at a wavelength of 1890.1 nm within a pump power of 312 m W–381 m W. With the increase in pump power from 312 m W to 381 m W, the repetition rate increased to a maximum of 56.63 k Hz and the pulse width decreased to a minimum value of 2.85 μs. Wide-range tunability of the Q-switched laser was also realized within the wavelength range of1882 nm–1936 nm.

Comprehensive analysis of pure-quartic soliton dynamics in a passively mode-locked fiber laser

The understanding of soliton dynamics promotes the development of ultrafast laser technology. High-energy purequartic solitons(PQSs) have gradually become a hotspot in recent years. Herein, we numerically study the influence of the gain bandwidth, saturation power, small-signal gain, and output coupler on PQS dynamics in passively mode-locked fiber lasers. The results show that the above four parameters can affect PQS dynamics. Pulsating PQSs occur as we alter the other three parameters when the gain bandwidth is 50 nm. Meanwhile, PQSs evolve from pulsating to erupting and then to splitting as the other three parameters are altered when the gain bandwidth is 10 nm, which can be attributed to the existence of the spectral filtering effect and intra-cavity fourth-order dispersion. These findings provide new insights into PQS dynamics in passively mode-locked fiber lasers.

Wavelength switchable mode-locked fiber laser with a few-mode fiber filter

We have proposed and constructed a few-mode fiber(FMF)-based comb filter realized by dislocation splicing a fewmode long-period fiber grating(FM-LPFG) with a single-mode fiber(SMF). From an all-fiber laser with a FMF-based comb filter, the generation of switchable single-, dual-, triple-, and quadruple-wavelength continuous light has been achieved.Moreover, wavelength switchable mode-locked pulses have been obtained with the increased pump power. In the experiment, the output wavelength of the mode-locked fiber laser was changed from 1567.72 nm to 1571.04 nm, while the signal-to-noise(SNR) ratio was maintained above 61 d B. The switchable multiwavelength continuous wave(CW) and mode-locked all-fiber lasers have potentially important applications for fiber sensing, wavelength-division multiplexing(WDM) and signal processing.

Direct Kerr-lens mode-locked Tm:LuYO_(3) ceramic laser

A direct Kerr-lens mode-locked Tm:LuYO_(3)ceramic laser without the aid of any mode-locked starting element is reported for the first time. A pulse duration as short as 259 fs and a maximum average output power of 326 m W are obtained at a repetition rate of 97.1 MHz. The corresponding optical spectrum centered at 2053 nm exhibits a bandwidth of 19.8 nm,which indicates the presence of nearly Fourier transform-limited pulses. Such a Kerr-lens mode-locked Tm:LuYO_(3)ceramic laser is a promising ultrashort pulse source, with both the excellent laser characteristics of Tm:LuYO3and the high-power 790 nm laser diode pumping scheme.

980-nm all-fiber mode-locked Yb-doped phosphate fiber oscillator based on semiconductor saturable absorber mirror and its amplifier

A 980-nm semiconductor saturable absorber mirror（SESAM） mode-locked Yb-doped phosphate fiber laser is demonstrated by using an all-fiber linear cavity configuration. Two different kinds of cavity lengths are introduced into the oscillator to obtain a robust and stable mode-locked seed source. When the cavity length is chosen to be 6 m, the oscillator generates an average output power of 3.5 m W and a pulse width of 76.27 ps with a repetition rate of 17.08 MHz. As the cavity length is optimized to short, 4.4-m W maximum output power and 61.15-ps pulse width are produced at a repetition rate of 20.96 MHz. The output spectrum is centered at 980 nm with a narrow spectral bandwidth of 0.13 nm. In the experiment, no undesired amplified spontaneous emission（ASE） nor harmful oscillation around 1030 nm is observed. Moreover,through a two-stage all-fiber-integrated amplifier, an output power of 740 m W is generated with a pulse width of 200 ps.

Passively mode-locked 2-μm Tm:YAP laser with a double-wall carbon nanotube absorber

We report on a diode-pumped passively continuous wave （cw） mode-locked Tm：YAP laser with a double-wall carbon nanotube （DWCNT） absorber operating at a wavelength of 2023 nm for the first time, to the best our knowledge. The DWCNT absorber is fabricated on a hydrophilic quartz substrate by using the vertical evaporation technique. The output power is as high as 375 mW. A stable pulse train with a repetition rate of 72.26 MHz is generated with a highest single pulse energy of 5.2 μJ.