Real-Time 4-Mode MDM Transmission Using Commercial 400G OTN Transceivers and All-Fiber Mode Multiplexers

Weakly-coupled mode division multiplexing(MDM)technique is considered a promising candidate to enhance the capacity of an optical transmission system,in which mode multiplexers/demultiplexers(MMUX/MDEMUX)with low insertion loss and modal crosstalk are the key components.In this paper,a low-modal-crosstalk 4-mode MMUX/MDEMUX for the weakly-coupled triple-ring-core few-mode fiber(TRC-FMF)is designed and fabricated with side-polishing processing.The measurement results show that a pair of MMUX/MDEMUX and 25 km weakly-coupled TRC-FMF MDM link achieve low modal crosstalk of lower than−17.5 dB and insertion loss of lower than 11.56 dB for all the four modes.Based on the TRC-FMF and all-fiber MMUX/MDEMUX,an experiment for 25 km real-time 4-mode 3-λwavelength division multiplexing(WDM)-MDM transmission is conducted using commercial 400G optical transport network(OTN)transceivers.The experimental results prove weakly-coupled MDM techniques facilitate a smooth upgrade of the optical transmission system.

Linearly Polarized Polarization-Maintaining Er^(3+)-Doped Fluoride Fiber Laser in the Mid-Infrared

We demonstrated the~2.8-μm and~3.5-μm linearly polarized continuous wave(CW)laser outputs from a polarization-maintaining(PM)Er^(3+)-doped fluoride fiber laser.By introducing a film polarizer into the cavity to select the laser polarization orientation,the~2.8-μm linearly polarized CW laser with a high polarization extinction ratio(PER)of~23 dB and maximum output power of 2.37 W was achieved under double-end pumping at 976 nm.By adding another 1981-nm pump source simultaneously,the~3.5-μm linearly polarized CW laser was also obtained,giving higher PER of~27 dB and maximum output power of 307 mW which is only limited by the available power of 1981-nm pump.To the best of our knowledge,this is the first report on a mid-infrared linearly polarized CW PM fiber laser in the>2.5-μm mid-infrared region.This work not only opens up opportunities for some new mid-infrared applications,but also provides a promising platform for developing high-stability and versatile mid-infrared laser sources.

Low-noise compact fiber laser based on nonlinear polarization evolution in an all-polarization-maintaining figure-8 cavity

We demonstrate an all-polarization-maintaining(APM)fiber mode-locked laser based on nonlinear polarization evolution(NPE).A well-designed Sagnac fiber loop is employed to establish the nonlinear polarization evolution process in a polarization beam splitter(PBS)figure-8 fiber laser.Nonlinear loss curves are calculated to verify the saturable absorption characteristic of this NPE-based APM oscillator.Then,we simulate the pulse propagation process in the cavity to demonstrate the pulse mode-locked formation.Finally,we also design a realizable compact scheme to further reduce noise disturbances,achieving a 101-fs mode-locked pulse train with a 0.3-mrad integrated phase noise and a 0.006%integrated relative intensity noise(RIN).This figure-8 fiber laser provides a new scheme for compacting low-noise compact APM fiber lasers based on the NPE mode-locked mechanism.

Experimental demonstration of single-mode fiber coupling using adaptive fiber coupler

Coupling plane wave into a single-mode fiber （SMF） with high and steady coupling efficiency is crucial for fiber- based free-space laser systems, where random angular jitters are the main influencing factors of fiber coupling. In this paper, we verified a new adaptive-optic device named adaptive fiber coupler （AFC） which could compensate angular jitters and improve the SMF coupling efficiency in some degree. Experiments of SMF coupling under the angular jitter situation using AFC have been achieved. Stochastic parallel gradient descent （SPGD） algorithm is employed as the control strategy, of which the iteration rate is 625 Hz. In closed loop, the coupling efficiency keeps above 65% when angular errors are below 80/3tad. The compensation bandwidth is 35 Hz at sine-jitter of 15 ~rad amplitude with average coupling efficiency of above 60%. Also, experiments with simulated turbulence have been studied. The average coupling efficiency increases from 31.97% in open loop to 61.33% in closed loop, and mean square error （MSE） of coupling efficiency drops from 7.43% to 1.75%.

Relationship between rheological manufacturing process and optical performance of optical fiber coupler

Through theoretical analysis and experiments, the viscoelastic mechanical model of optical fiber coupler in the process of fused biconical taper was established, and the numerical analysis in non-uniform temperature field was made. The results show that the rheological parameters, such as drawing speed and fused temperature, have a tremendous influence on stress distribution and performance of optical fiber coupler, especially the influence of fused temperature. The change of fused temperature by 5℃ can lead to the change of the maximum stress by 30% and stress difference by 20% in the same cross section. The change of temperature gradient by 3% can result in the change of stress difference by 90%. In the present condition of rheological technology, rheological defects such as crystallizations and microcracks are easy to generate in the optical fiber coupler.

Experimental measurement and numerical analysis of fused taper shape for optical fiber coupler

To find out the effect of the shape of fused taper region on the optical fiber coupler, the fiber couplers were fabricated at different drawing speeds with a six-axes fiber coupler machine. The results, which were obtained fi＇om the shape of fused taper region measured with microscope, show that there is a close correlation between the cone angle and optical performance of fiber coupler. High-performance fiber coupler cannot be obtained until rheological shape is controlled accurately. The numerical analysis model, which was built based on generalized Maxwell viscoelastic theory, is resolved with ANSYS software. The calculated results accord with the experimental data. It can apply a theoretic basis for forecasting the shape of fiber coupler fabricated under the conditions of different technological parameters.

Novel manufacturing method of optical fiber coupler

Based on the coupling mode theory that the coupling ratio of fiber coupler changes periodically with center distance of two optical fibers, a novel manufacturing method of optical fiber couplers was developed with fused biconical taper experimental system. Its fabrication process is that the fiber is fused but not stretched when light begins to split, and the reduction of diameter of fiber is dependent on the theological characteristic of the fused fiberglass. The performance of the coupler was tested. The results show that the performance of the novel optical fiber coupler meets the performance expectations, and its diameter of coupling region （about 30 μm） is twice as long as that of classical fused biconical taper coupler （about 16 μm）, so the default, that is, the device is easy to fracture, is restrained and the reliability is greatly improved.

Visible-light all-fiber vortex lasers based on mode selective couplers

We demonstrate visible-light all-fiber vortex lasers by incorporating the home-made mode selective couplers (MSCs). The MSC at green or red wavebands is fabricated by specially designing and fusing a single-mode fiber (SMF) and a few-mode fiber (FMF). The MSCs inserted into visible fiber cavities act as power splitters and mode converters from the LP01 to LP11 mode at green and red wavelengths, respectively. The red-light all-fiber vortex laser is formed by a 10-cm Pr3+/Yb3+:ZBLAN fiber, a fiber Bragg grating, a fiber end-facet mirror and the MSC at 635 nm, which generates vortex beams with OAM±1 at 634.4 nm and an output power of 13 mW. The green-light all-fiber vortex laser consists of a 12-cm Ho3+:ZBLAN fiber, two fiber pigtail mirrors, and the MSC at 550 nm, which generates vortex beams with OAM±1 at 548.9 nm and an output power of 3 mW.

Structure analysis of optical fiber coupler with infrared spectrometry

To obtain excellent performance optical fiber couplers, the structural difference of SiO2 in couplers with different manufacturing techniques was investigated. With 740-FT-IR infrared spectrometric analyzer, the infrared absorption spectrum of SiO2 in couplers at different drawing velocities was measured, and two characteristic peaks in the wavenumber range of 6502000 cm-1 were observed. One characteristic peak is at about 943 cm-1, which is （attributed） to Si—O—Si bond asymmetric stretching vibration, the other is at about 773 cm-1, which is attributed to （Si—O—Si） bond symmetric stretching vibration. From the infrared spectrum, it is found that the intensity and wavenumber of the characteristic peaks are related to the manufacturing technique of couplers. The characteristic peak at （about） 943 cm-1 becomes steeper when increasing the drawing velocity. At the drawing velocity of 150 μm/s, the distance between the two characteristic peaks is maximum, and then the optical fiber coupler has excellent performance, indicating that the performance of the optical fiber coupler has a close relationship with the wavenumber of the two characteristic peaks.

Effect of technological parameters on optical performance of fiber coupler

To find out the influence of technological parameters on optical performance of fused optical fiber device, the fiber coupler was served as subject investigated by using the fused biconical taper machining as experimental setup. Fused fiber coupler's optical performances such as insertion loss, excess loss, directivity and uniformity were tested with the optical test system that was constituted of tunable laser and optical spectrum analyzer. Especially the relationship between optical performance and drawing speed was investigated. The experimental results show that the optical performance is closely related to process conditions. At fused temperature of 1 200 ℃, there exists a drawing speed of 150 μms, which makes the device's performance optimum. Out of this speed region, the optical performance drops quickly. At drawing speed of 200 μms, the excess loss is relatively small when the fused temperature is above 1 200 ℃. So the technological parameters have close relationship with optical performance of the coupler, and the good performance coupler can't get until the drawing speed and fused temperature match accurately.

Low Cost Acrylic-Based 1×2 Asymmetric Plastic Optical Fiber Coupler for Optical Code Generating Devices

An optical code generating device has been developed based on a 1×2 asymmetric plastic optical fiber （POF） coupler. The code generating device provides a unique series of output power which are successively used as an optical code in a portable optical access-card system. The device utilizing a tap-off ratio （TOFR） technique based on a simple variation of the tap width of an asymmetric Y-branch splitter, allows various ratios of optical power to be generated. The POF coupler has been fabricated using low cost acrylic material and computer numerical control （CNC） machining technique. The simulated and fabricated results show the same linear characteristics between the TOFR and the tap width. The fabricated device enables a variation of the TOFR from 10% up to 50% for a tap width of 500 um to 1 mm.

A kind of multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber laser based on Lyot filter

A multiwavelength tunable ring-cavity erbium-doped fiber laser(EDFL)based on a Lyot filter was presented.For the proposed Lyot filter,a comb filter consisting of an EDF-polarization-maintaining fiber(EDF-PMF),a polarization controller(PC),and a circulator with four ports was used to suppress the mode competition.The light transmission direction was guaranteed by the circulator.For the proposed fiber laser,tunable single,dual,triple,quadruple,quintuple,sextuple,and septuple wavelengths were realized.A single-wavelength laser output with an optical signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)of up to30.56 dB was realized,and a tuning range of 1590.54 nm to 1599.54 nm was achieved by tuning the PC.The stability of the single,dual,triple,and quadruple-wavelength center power fluctuations was less than 0.05 dB,0.98 dB,5.07 dB,and7.71 dB respectively.When the laser was operated in the multiwavelength condition,the SNR was more than 20.97 dB.The proposed erbium-doped fiber laser is suitable for fiber-sensing system applications.

基于对称光纤模式选择耦合器的多波长高阶横模光纤激光器

提出并实现了一种基于对称光纤模式选择耦合器和单模-少模-单模光纤滤波器的环形腔高阶横模光纤激光器,获得了多波长、高纯度的LP11模式激光输出。实验结果表明,该激光器可以稳定地工作在单波长、双波长、三波长和四波长状态,对应的LP11模式激光纯度分别为97.60%、97.54%、97.34%和97.19%。对称光纤模式选择耦合器制造工艺简单,性能稳定,为高阶横模光纤激光的获得提供了一种新的可选方案,在光通信、光传感等领域具有潜在的应用价值。

百兆赫兹重频的轨道角动量模式飞秒光纤激光器

轨道角动量(orbital angular momentum,OAM)模式激光器在大容量通信系统、激光加工、微粒子操作、量子光学领域研究有潜在应用价值.OAM模式飞秒光纤激光器具有结构简单、成本低、峰值功率高等优势而被重点研究.当前OAM模式飞秒光纤激光器在重复频率、脉冲宽度、光谱宽度等关键参数上分别都有突破,但性能难以兼得,且重复频率目前在数十MHz.本文基于模式相位匹配原理,制作了大带宽的模式耦合器,结合非线性偏振旋转锁模机理,通过优化腔内的色散,搭建了百兆赫兹重复频率的OAM模式飞秒光纤激光器.实验结果表明,一阶OAM模式光纤激光器的重复频率可达113.6 MHz,脉冲半高全宽98 fs,10 d B带宽可达101 nm;二阶OAM模式光纤激光器的重复频率可达114.9 MHz,脉冲半高全宽60 fs,10 d B带宽可达100 nm.相对于已报道的方案,本文报道的方案在重复频率、脉宽和光谱宽度等关键参数上综合性能较好,有望更广泛地应用于OAM通信、粒子操控等研究领域.

多模与Sagnac复合干涉型振动传感器

传统光纤振动传感器可测量的振动频率范围有限,为进一步提高光纤振动传感器的频率识别能力,利用多模光纤(MMF)耦合器构建萨格纳克(Sagnac)干涉仪,将多模干涉与Sagnac干涉相结合,提出了基于多模干涉的可测量振动频率的新型Sagnac干涉型振动传感器结构。利用105μm和62.5μm芯径的MMF分别制作分光比为1∶1的多模光纤耦合器,并用其构建Sagnac环。为了对比分析,利用MMF分别制作了单模-多模-单模(SMS)干涉结构及马赫增德尔干涉结构的传感器。通过大量实验对几种类型的振动传感器在振动频率检测范围、振动频率检测准确度和振动信号幅值等方面进行了详细的对比研究。研究结果表明:基于105μm芯径阶跃折射率分布MMF的Sagnac干涉结构在0.3~20 kHz的频率范围内,获得了频谱主级峰和次级峰强度差大于20 dB的频率识别效果,可测频率范围宽,主次级峰强度差大,对低频振动更灵敏,且频率偏差在Hz量级,在几种对比结构中振动测试性能最好,为振动检测的研究提供了一种新方案。

Electro-Optical Effect Measurement of Thin-Film Material Using PM Fiber Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

A polarization-maintaining （PM） fiber Mach-Zehnder （MZ） interferometer has been established to measure the EO effect of very thin film materials with optical anisotropy. Unlike a common MZ interferometer, all the components are connected via polarization-maintaining fibers. At the same time, a polarized DFB laser with a maximum power output of 10mW is adopted as the light source to induce a large extinction ratio. Here,we take it to determine the electro-optical coefficients of a very thin superlattice structure with GaAs, KTP, and GaN as comparative samples. The measured EO coefficients show good comparability with the others.

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.

Self-starting all-fiber PM Er:laser mode locked by a biased nonlinear amplifying loop mirror

A compact all-fiber polarization-maintaining Er:laser using a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror is reported. Fundamental single-pulse mode-locking operation can always self start, with a cavity round-trip decreased from ~ 4.7 m to~ 1.7 m. When the pulse repetition rate is 121.0328 MHz, output pulse is measured to have a center wavelength/3-d B spectral bandwidth/radio frequency signal to noise ratio(SNR)/pulse width of 1571.65 nm/18.70 nm/80 d B/477 fs, respectively. Besides, three states including the exponential growth, damping state, and steady state are investigated through the build-up process both experimentally and numerically. Excellent stability of this compact Er:laser is further evaluated,demonstrating that it can be an easy-fabrication maintenance-free ultrafast candidate for the scientific area of this kind.

High coupling efficiency and low signal light loss(2+1)×1 coupler

The coupling efficiency of the pump coupler determines the pump light injection capacity of a laser system. Experi- mental analysis of the influences of different factors on the pump coupling efficiency is in accordance with this conclusion. We use two Nufern fibers （400 Ixrn/440 p.m with NA = 0.22） as pump arm, one Nufern fiber （20 μm/400 μm with NA = 0.06/0.46） as a main fiber to make a side-pumping （2 ＋ 1） × 1 coupler. The experimental result shows that the total output power of this （2 ＋ 1） × 1 coupler is about 1160 W, corresponding to a coupling efficiency as high as 98.6%. The loss of signal light is less than 1%.

Periodic Modulation of Nonlinearity in a Two-Core Photonic Crystal Fiber: A Numerical Investigation

We present a numerical investigation of the propagation and the switching of ultra-short pulses (100 fs) in a two-core nonlinear coupler of photonic crystal fibers constructed with periodically modulated the non-linearity fiber (PMNL-PFC). Our simulations are taking into account different amplitude and frequency modulations of the PMNL-PFC. A coupler for coupling whose length is Lc = 1.8 cm, the transmission characteristics, the compression factor, the crosstalk (Xtalk) and extinction ratio (Xratio) levels of the first order solitons were studied for low to high pump energies considering 2Lc. By an analysis on the reference channel (channel 2), it is observed that at low modulation frequencies an increase occurs in the switching power increasing transmission efficiency. For high modulation frequencies, the transmitted energy efficiency loses. The switching pulses are stronger for low frequency and high amplitude modulation. The Xtalk is a function of the measurement made on the secondary channel (channel 1). It was observed that this unwanted high-frequency energy increases to lessen the measure of the amplitude modulation. In summary, we have demonstrated that introduction of a non-linearity profile takes the periodically modulated PMNL-PFC to strong variations at transmission efficiency, Xtalk, Xratio a function of frequency and modulation amplitude and the input power.