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.

Low-repetition-rate, all-polarization-maintaining Yb-doped fiber laser mode-locked by a semiconductor saturable absorber

A low-repetition-rate, all-polarization-maintaining（PM）-fiber sub-nanosecond oscillator is presented, which is simple and low-cost, composed of standard components. The ring cavity is elongated by 114-m-long standard PM fiber, and passively mode-locked by a fiber pigtailed semiconductor saturable absorber. Linearly polarized pulses with 1.66 MHz repetition rate and 22 dB polarization extinction ratio are generated at a wavelength of 1030 nm, which is determined by an intracavity filter. In addition, to demonstrate that the oscillator is a good seed for high energy pulse generation, an all-fiber master oscillator power amplifier is built and amplified pulses with energy about 2 μJ are obtained.

Influence of laser mode on splitting beam illumination effect of Dammann grating

The influences of various laser modes on the splitting beam effect of Dammann grating are studied in theory and by numerical simulation. The results show that fundamental mode laser resembles plane wave while high order mode laser differs from plane wave in the splitting beam effect by Dammann grating. Therefore, the fundamental mode laser is more suitable to be the light source to improve the energy efficiency in far-distance image detecting systems, such as laser image ladar, which use Dammann grating in the ilhlmination svstem.

Soliton fiber laser mode locked with two types of film-based Bi2Te3 saturable absorbers

We propose a low-threshold soliton fiber laser passively mode locked with two different types of film-like saturable absorbers, one of which is fabricated by mixing Bi2Te3 with de-ionized water, as well as polyvinyl alcohol（PVA）, and then evaporating them in a Petri dish, and the other of which is prepared by directly dropping Bi2Te3 solution on the PVA film. Both Bi2Te3–PVA films exhibit outstanding features of low loss, high flexibility, and easy synthesis. By incorporating Bi2Te3–PVA films into fiber lasers, stable single-soliton emissions are obtained at a low pump power of 13 mW. Our results suggest that the Bi2Te3 can work as a promising mode locker for ultrafast lasers,while PVA is an excellent host for fabricating high-performance film-based saturable absorbers.

Laser-induced damage of 1064-nm narrow-band interference filters under different laser modes

The laser-induced damage behavior of narrow-band interference filters was investigated with a Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm under single-pulse mode and free-running laser mode. The absorption measurement of such coatings has been performed by surface thermal lensing (STL) technique. The relationship between damage morphology and absorption under the two different laser modes was studied in detail. The explanation was given by the standing-wave distribution theory.

Generation and evolution of multiple operation states in passively mode-locked thulium-doped fiber laser by using a graphene-covered-microfiber

Using graphene-covered-microfiber （GCM） as a saturable absorber, the generation and evolution of multiple operation states are proposed and demonstrated in passively mode-locked thulium-doped fiber laser. The microfiber was fabricated using the flame brushing method to an interaction length of - 1.2 cm with a waist diameter of -10 μm. Graphene layers were grown on copper foils by chemical vapor deposition and transferred onto the polydimethylsiloxane （PDMS） to form a PDMS/graphene film, which allowed light-graphene interaction via evanescent field. With the increase of the pump power from 1.25 W to 2.15 W, five different lasing regimes, including continuous-wave, conventional soliton mode-locking, multi- soliton mode-locking, a period of transition, and noise-like mode-locking, were achieved in a fiber ring cavity. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first report of the generation and evolution of multiple operation states by covering graphene on the microfiber in the 2-μ.m region. The results demonstrate that GCM can be a promising method for fabricating all fiber SA, and the switchable operation states can provide more portability in complex application domain.

Mode-locked fiber laser with MoSe_2 saturable absorber based on evanescent field

An all-fiber mode-locked fiber laser was achieved with a saturable absorber based on a tapered fiber deposited with layered molybdenum selenide(MoSe_2). The laser was operated at a central wavelength of 1558.35 nm with an output spectral width of 2.9 nm, and a pulse repetition rate of 16.33 MHz. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on mode-locked fiber lasers using MoSe_2 saturable absorbers based on tapered fibers.

High power diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO_4 laser at repetition rate of 3.2 GHz

A compact high power diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO_4 laser with high repetition rate is realized.Using an Nd:YVO_4 crystal and a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror(SESAM) in the oscillator, the picosecond pulse output with an average power of 1.38 W, a repetition rate of 3.24 GHz, and a pulse duration of 11.4 ps is achieved. After one stage of amplification, the final output power reaches 11.34 W, corresponding to a total optical-to-optical efficiency of about 32%. The root mean square(RMS) value of power fluctuation is demonstrated to be less than 0.6% in 24 hours,showing a superior stability with the compact configuration.

Pulse-train nonuniformity in an all-fiber ring laser passively mode-locked by nonlinear polarization rotation

This paper reports the periodic power variation of the pulse-train in a passively mode-locked soliton fiber ring laser. It can obtain either the uniform or nonuniform pulse-train output by simply rotating the polarization controllers. The experimental results show that the pulse-train nonuniformity is caused by the interaction between the nonuniform polarization states of the soliton pulses and the passive polarizer in the cavity.

Mechanism and elimination of spectrum filtering in a high power mode-locked fibre laser with a free output coupler

The filtering mechanism of a free output coupler mode-locked laser based on large-mode-area photonic-crystal fibre is analysed. A filtering-soliton mode-locked laser with 495 fs pulse width and 21 nJ pulse energy is achieved. Another novel cavity configuration is established to eliminate the filtering effect. Pulses, each 457 fs in width and 16.5 nJ in energy, are obtained in a soliton-like regime. Pulses, each 387 fs in width and 15.8 nJ in energy, are also generated in a stretched pulse regime and could be dechirped to 119 fs externally to the cavity.

Low Power Consumption Distributed-Feedback Quantum Cascade Lasers Operating in Continuous-Wave Mode above 90℃ at λ～7.2μm

We report on the design and fabrication of λ-7.2μm distributed feedback quantum cascade lasers lot very high temperature cw operation and low electrical power consumption. The cw operation is reported above 90℃. For a 2-mm-long and 10-μm-wide laser coated with high-reflectivity on the rear facet, more than 170mW of output power is obtained at 20℃ with a threshold power consumption of 2.4 W, corresponding to 30mW with a threshold power consumption of 3.9 W at 90℃. Robust single-mode emission with a side-mode suppression ratio above 25 dB is continuously tunable by the heat sink temperature or injection current.

All-normal-dispersion Yb-doped mode-locked fibre laser and its stability analysis

We experimentally demonstrate an all-normal-dispersion Yb-doped mode-locked fibre laser with no intentional spectral filter inserted. Pulses with 1.1 nJ pulse energy at a repetition rate of 20.4 MHz are achieved. A theoretical model of the fibre laser is derived, whose coefficients are explicitly dependent on the orientations of the wave plates and the polarizer. Based on the model, stability diagrams of both the mode-locking and the continuous wave regimes of the laser are presented. The influence of group-velocity dispersion （GVD） and cavity length on the stability of mode-locking is also discussed.

Kerr-lens mode-locked polycrystalline Cr:ZnS femtosecond laser pumped by a monolithic Er:YAG laser

We demonstrated a Kerr-lens mode-locked polycrystalline Cr：ZnS laser pumped by a narrow-linewidth linearpolarised monolithic Er：YAG nonplanar ring oscillator operated at 1645 nm. With a 5-mm-thick sapphire plate for intracavity dispersion compensation, a compact and stable Kerr-lens mode-locking operation was realised. The oscillator delivered 125-fs pulses at 2347 nm with an average power of 80 m W. Owing to the special polycrystalline structure of the Cr：ZnS crystal, the second to fourth harmonic generation was observed by random quasi-phase-matching.

Passively mode-locked Nd：GdVO4 laser at 912nm

This paper demonstrates the passively mode-locked Nd：GdVO4 laser operating on the ^4F3/2-^4I9/2 transition at 912 nm by using a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror for passive mode locking, stable continuous wave modelocked 912nm laser was achieved with a repetition rate of 176 MHz. At the incident pump power of 17.7W, 22.6mW average output power of stable mode-locked laser was obtained with a slope efficiency of 0.3%.

Transition state to mode locking in a passively mode-locked erbium-doped fibre ring laser

The transition state between the continuous wave region and the mode-locked region in a passively mode-locked erbium-doped fibre ring laser has been experimentally observed by utilizing the nonlinear polarization rotation technique. When the pump power reaches the mode-locked threshold, the metastable pulse train with a tunable repetition rate is obtained in the transition from the continuous wave state to the passive mode-locked state via proper adjustment of the polarization controller. A simpie model has been established to explain the experimental observation.

Reduced graphene oxide as saturable absorbers for erbium-doped passively mode-locked fiber laser

We demonstrate a nanosecond mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser （EDFL） based on a reduced graphene oxide （RGO） saturable absorber （SA）. The RGO SA is prepared by depositing the graphene oxide （GO） on fluorine mica through thermal reduction of GO. A scanning electron microscope （SEM）, Raman spectrometer, and x-ray photoelectron spec- troscopy （XPS） are adopted to analyze the RGO characteristics. The results show that the reduction degree of graphene oxide is very high. By embedding the RGO SA into the EDFL cavity, a stable mode-locked fiber laser is achieved with a central wavelength of 1567.29 nm and repetition rate of 12.66 MHz. The maximum output power and the minimum pulse duration are measured to be 18.22 mW and 1.38 ns respectively. As far as we know, the maximum output power of 18.22 mW is higher than those of other nanosecond mode-locked oscillators reported. Such a nanosecond pulse duration and megahertz repetition rate make this mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser a suitable seed oscillator for high-power applications and chirped pulse amplifications.

High Performance Asymmetric Three Corrugation-Pitch-Modulated DFB Lasers Suitable for Stable Single Longitudinal Mode Operation

This paper presents an optimized asymmetric three corrugation-pitch-modulated DFB laser (3CPM-DFB) with extremely high mode selectivity(△αL= 0.97) and low flatness(F = 0.009), which are two key parameters to indicate the laser’s single longitudinal mode(SLM) performance. In threshold analysis, the optimization process based on transfer matrix method is demonstrated to maximize △αL?and minimize F simultaneously. In the above-threshold regime, the evolutions of △αL?and?longitudinal distribution of photon density with injection current are evaluated. More importantly, nanoimprint lithography which was proved an efficient way to fabricate DFB gratings can provide completely same simple fabrication procedure for both 3CPM grating and conventional uniform grating. So the big practical value of 3CPM-DFB can be expected because of its advanced performance and easy manufacturability.

Keyhole formation and its characteristics in laser welding mode transition

Keyhole is the most important characteristic for laser deep penetration welding, and its formation indicates the beginning of laser deep penetration welding mode. The keyhole developing process was analyzed and the keyhole formation time was calculated according to welding speed and the length of weld bead formed in the keyhole formation process. The results showed that the keyhole forms in 40 -70 ms at different rate of change of laser power. In laser deep penetration welding process, the variation of light intensity radiated by laser induced plasma can identify the keyhole formation, but it can not be used to estimate the keyhole formation time because of delay effect.

Fiber laser pumped burst-mode operated picosecond mid-infrared laser

We demonstrate a compact periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate（MgO：PPLN）-based optical parametric oscillator（OPO） quasi-synchronously pumped by a fiber laser system with burst-mode operation.The pump source is a peak-power-selectable pulse-multiplied picosecond Yb fiber laser.The chirped pulses from a figure of eight-cavity modelocked fiber laser seed are narrowed to a duration of less than 50 ps using an FBG reflector and a circulator.The narrowed pulses are directed to pass through a pulse multiplier and to form pulse bunches,each of which is composed of 13 subpulses.The obtained pulse bunches are amplified by two-stage fiber pre-amplifiers：one-stage is core-pumped and the other is cladding-pumped.A fiberized acousto-optic modulator is inserted to control the pulse repetition rate（PRR） of the pulse bunches before they are power-amplified in the final amplifier stage with a large mode area（LMA） PM Yb-doped fiber.The maximum average powers from the final amplifier are 85 W,60 W,and 45 W,respectively,corresponding to the PRR of2.72 MHz,1.36 MHz,and 0.68 MHz.The amplified pulses are directed to pump an MgO：PPLN-based optical parametric oscillator（OPO）.A maximum peak power at 3.45 μm is obtained approximately to be 8.4 kW.Detailed performance characteristics are presented.

Review of low timing jitter mode-locked fiber lasers and applications in dual-comb absolute distance measurement

Passively mode-locked fiber lasers emit femtosecond pulse trains with excellent short-term stability. The quantum-limited timing jitter of a free running femtosecond erbium-doped fiber laser working at room temperature is considerably below one femtosecond at high Fourier frequency. The ultrashort pulse train with ultralow timing jitter enables absolute time-of-flight measurements based on a dual-comb implementation, which is typically composed of a pair of optical frequency combs generated by femtosecond lasers. Dead-zone-free absolute distance measurement with sub-micrometer precision and kHz update rate has been routinely achieved with a dual-comb configuration, which is promising for a number of precision manufacturing applications, from large step-structure measurements prevalent in microelectronic profilometry to three coordinate measurements in large-scale aerospace manufacturing and shipbuilding. In this paper, we first review the sub-femtosecond precision timing jitter characterization methods and approaches for ultralow timing jitter mode-locked fiber laser design. Then, we provide an overview of the state-of-the-art dual-comb absolute ranging technology in terms of working principles, experimental implementations, and measurement precisions. Finally, we discuss the impact of quantum-limited timing jitter on the dual-comb ranging precision at a high update rate. The route to highprecision dual-comb range finder design based on ultralow jitter femtosecond fiber lasers is proposed.