Q-switched mode-locked diode-pumped Nd:YVO_4 laser with a saturable Bragg reflector

We demonstrated a diode-pumped passively Q-switched mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser by using a relaxed saturable Bragg reflector (SBR). Stable mode-locked pulse train with the repetition rate of -230 MHz was achieved and the pulse train was modulated by the Q-switched envelope with the repetition rate of -150 kHz. The maximum output of 4 W was obtained under the pump power of 13.5 W. The optical-to-optical efficiency was 30%. We also discussed the transition of each process having emerged.

Wavelength and duration tunable soliton generation from a regeneratively mode-locked fiber laser

A 10-GHz soliton source with pulse duration between 4-8 ps and wavelength continuously tunable from 1530 nm to 1563 nm is presented. Using regeneratively mode-locking technology, the harmonically mode-locked fiber ring laser could work without pulse dropout at room temperature when no cavity length or polarization maintaining mechanism is available. Applying only one 980-nm laser diode pump, the average output power reaches more than 4 mW.

5.3-W Nd:YVO_4 passively mode-locked laser by a novel semiconductor saturable absorber mirror

We report a diode end-pumped continuous wave (CW) passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser with a homemade semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The maximum average output power is 5.3 W at the incident pump power of 17 W, which corresponds to an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 31.2% and slope efficiency of 34.7%. The corresponding optical spectrum has a 0.2-nm full width at half maximum (FWHM). and the pulse repetition rate is 83 MHz.

Rational harmonic figure-eight actively-passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser

The nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) is used as a saturable absorbed to reshape pulses. Experimentally, an actively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber ring laser with figure-eight structure is set up. 2 - 4 order harmonic pulse train with stable amplitude has been obtained when the RF modulation frequency is about 2.5 GHz.

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.

Actively mode-locked fiber ring laser based on photonic crystal fiber

A wavelength tunable, high repetition rate mode-locked fiber ring laser was demonstrated. In the experiment, photonic crystal fiber （PCF） is used as an intracavity compression medium. The high nonlinearity and anomalous dispersion of PCF can cause intracavity compression and result in significant reduction in the pulse width. The pulses duration at the repetition rate of 9.99 GHz was less than 10 ps over the range of 1532-1565 nm.

Polarized operation of Yb^(3+):YAl_3(BO_3)_4 CW and mode-locked lasers

A diode-pumped Yb3+:YAl3(BO3)3 (Yb:YAB) laser system was demonstrated with continuous wave (CW) and pulsed output. The polarized CW outputs and femtosecond mode-locked lasers with semiconductor saturable-absorber mirrors (SESAM) at the fundamental wavelength were measured. For the CW output, polarization ratios were 88.1% (for e-ray) and 87.2% (for o-ray). For the mode-locked system, polarization ratio reached 38.5%, and the repetition frequency was 117.6 MHz.

Multi-pulse operation of a Kerr-lens mode-locked femtosecond laser

Our experimental results show that the presence of a proper amount of negative group velocity dispersion is essential to multi-pulse operation of a Kerr-lens mode-locked femtosecond laser. We demonstrate that the pulse separations and the number of pulses contained within a cavity round trip are strongly dependent on the initial perturbations. The results allow us to get a better understanding on the influences of the convoluted self-phase modulation and intra-cavity dispersions on the stable multi-pulse oscillation in a Kerr-lens mode-locked femtosecond laser.

Diode-pumped passively Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YLF laser with Cr^(4+):YAG saturable absorber

A diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd：YLF laser was demonstrated by using saturable absorber of Cr^4＋：YAG. At the incident power of 7.74 W, pure passively Q-switched laser with per pulse energy of 210 μJ and pulse width of 19.6 ns at repetition rate of 1.78 kHz was obtained by using Cr^4＋：YAG with initial transmission of 80%. At the incident power of 8.70 W, a Q-switched mode-locking with average output power of 650 mW was achieved, the overall slop efficiency was 16%, corresponding to the initial transmission of 85% of Cr^4＋ ：YAG.

Comparative studies of semiconductor saturable absorber mirror mode-locking dynamics in pulsed diode-end-pumped picosecond Nd:GdVO_4 and Nd:YAG lasers

Ultrashort pulses were generated in passively mode-locked Nd：YAC and Nd：CdVO4 lasers pumped by a pulsed laser diode with 10-Hz repetition rate. Stable mode-locked pulse trains were produced with the pulse width of 10 ps. The evolution of the mode-locked pulse was observed in the experiment and was discussed in detail. Comparing the pulse evolutions of Nd：YAG and Nd：GdVO4 lasers, we found that the buildup time of the steady-state mode-locking with semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors （SESAMs） was relevant to the upper-state lifetime and the emission cross-section of the gain medium.

Energy reduction:a technique for seed-injection locking of single-axial-mode Q-switched Nd:YAG laser

A new technique for seed-injection locking of single-axial-mode （SAM） Q-switched Nd：YAG laser is reported. The technique called energy reduction （ER） is utilized when SAM operation is locked to design its feedback scheme. This method ensures long-term 100% seed-injection locking performance and the pulsed SAM output energy can reach as high as 200 mJ. Both temporal and spatial interferometric experiments have been executed to confirm the SAM oscillation.

Experimental investigation on Q-switching and Q-switched mode-locking operation in gold nanorods-based erbium-doped fiber laser

We report on the generation of Q-switched and Q-switched mode-locked （QML） pulses in an erbium-doped fiber ring laser by using a polyvinyl alcohol （PVA） -based gold nanorod （GNR） saturable absorber （SA）. The PVA- based GNR SA has a modulation depth of -4.8% and a non-saturable loss of -26.9% at 1.5 μm. A Q-switched pulse train with a repetition rate varying from 18.70 to 39.85 kHz and a QML pulse train with an envelope repetition rate tuning from 20.31 to 31.50 kHz are obtained. Moreover, the lasing wavelengths of the Q-switched pulses can be flexibly tuned by introducing a narrow bandwidth, tunable filter into the laser cavity. The results demonstrate that the GNRs exhibit good optical performance and can find a wide range of applications in the field of laser technology.

Efficient femtosecond optical parametric oscillator pumped by all solid-state mode-locking Yb:YCOB laser

We experimentally demonstrate a femtosecond optical parametric oscillator （OPO） synchronously pmnped by a home-made solid-state mode-locking Yb：YCOB laser, which is capable of laser pulse as short as 102 fs and average power of 620 mW at the central wavelength of 1052 nm. By using a periodically poled lithium niobate with tuning of the grating periods from 28.5 to 31.5μm as the nonlinear gain crystal, tunable femtosecond pulses from 1444 to 1683 nm are realized by conveniently adjusting the OPO cavity length with 76.8 MHz repetition rate. The maximum average output power is 152 mW at 1568 nm, corresponding to an idler power of 75 mW at 3197 nm as well as 36.6% total extraction efficiency.

Frequency-stabilized laser system at 1572 nm for space-borne CO2 detection LIDAR

A frequency-stabilized laser system at 1572 nm for space-borne carbon dioxide （CO2） detection LIDAR to realize the precise measurement of the global atmospheric CO2 concentration is presented in this Letter. A distributed- feedback laser diode serves as the master laser （ML） and is wavelength locked to the CO2 line center at 1572.0179 nm using the external frequency modulation technique. The root mean square frequency drift is sup- pressed to about 50 kHz at an average time of 0.1 s over 8 h. Based on optical phase-locked loops, an online seeder and an offiine seeder are offset locked to the reference laser at 1572.024 and 1572.081 nm, respectively, retaining virtually the same frequency stability as the ML.

Wavelength stabilization of a 980-nm semiconductor laser module stabilized with high-power uncooled dual FBG

An optimized dual fiber Bragg grating （FBG） is proposed for 980-nm semiconductor lasers without thermoelectric coolers to restrict temperature-induced wavelength shift.The mathematical model of the temperature-induced wavelength shift of the laser with the dual FBG is built using the external cavity feedback rate equations.The external cavity parameters are optimized for achieving the stability mode-locking laser output.The spectral characteristics of the dual FBG stabilized laser are measured to range from 0 to 70 °C.The side mode suppression ratio （SMSR） is more than 45 dB,while the full-width at half-maximum （FWHM） is less than 1 nm.The peak wavelength shift is less than 0.1 nm.The dual FBG wavelength shift proportional coefficient is between 0.1086 and 0.4342.

Ultra-short pulsed ytterbium-doped fiber laser and amplifier

This paper investigates a high power all fiber ultrashort pulse laser system. This system consists of a mode-ocking laser oscillator, a multi-stage amplifier, a pulse selector, and a paired grating pulse compressor. With pulse energy of 12 μJ at repetition rate of 30 kHz, the laser at center wavelength of 1.05 μm was obtained. Pulse width of 525 fs was achieved after the grating pair compressor.

Seed laser frequency stabilization for Doppler wind lidar

We demonstrate a tunable wavelength-locked seed laser source with high-frequency stability to realize the precise measurements of global atmospheric wind field. An Nd：YAG laser at 1 064 nm is used as the master laser （ML）. Its frequency is locked to a confocal Fabry-Perot interferometer by using the Pound-Drever- Hall method, which ensures the peak-to-peak value of its frequency drifts less than 180 kHz over 2 h. Another Nd：YAG laser at 1 064 nm, as the slave laser, is offset-locked to the above ML using optical phase locked loop, retaining virtually the same absolute frequency stability as the ML. The tunable ranges of the frequency differences between two lasers are up to 3 OHz, and the tuning step length was an arbitrary integral multiple of 200 kHz. The researched seed laser source is compact and robust, which can well satisfy the requirement of the Doppler wind lidar.

High-Q microwave photonic filter with self-phase modulation spectrum broadening and third-order dispersion compensation

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a scheme of high-Q microwave photonic filter （MPF） using the techniques of self-phase modulation （SPM） spectrum broadening and third-order dispersion （TOD） compensation. The optical pulses from a mode-locking laser are spectrally broadened by the SPM in the highly nonlinear fiber. A wideband optical frequency comb with 365 spectral lines within 10-dB power variation from the highest spectral power is obtained. By applying a cubic phase modulation via a waveshaper, the effect of TOD which broadens the MPF passband is eliminated. The final implemented MPF has a Q-value as high as 296 and a tuning range of 700 MHz.

Ultrafast nonlinear optical response of Ag:BaTiO_3 composite films at the near-ultraviolet wavelengths

The ultrafast nonlinear optical response of Ag：BaTiO3 composite films synthesized by pulse laser deposition （PLD） is studied at the near-ultraviolet （400 nm） wavelength. The pulse duration of the laser used in the measurement is 200 fs. The real and imaginary parts of the third-order nonlinear susceptibility x^（3） of the composite materials are measured. The composite films indicate self-focusing effect and nonlinear saturation, the values of Rex^（3） and Imx^（3） are measured to be 3.42 ×10 ^-10 and -1.37 ×10 ^-10 esu respectively, which are much lower than those reported before. It is mainly because that the duration of the laser used in the measurements is too short to induce the hot electron excitation and the thermal effect. The ultrafast nonlinear saturated absorption response of the Ag：BaTiO3 composite films may have potential applications for femtosecond laser mode locking.

Short Ring Cavity Swept Source Based on a Highly Reflective Chirped FBG

An optical akinetic swept source （AKSS） at 1060nm, comprising a 5m length fiber ring cavity, a semiconductor optical amplifier （SOA） as gain medium, and a 98% reflective chirped fiber Bragg grating as a dispersive element, is described. Active mode-locking was achieved by directly modulating the current of the SOA with sinusoidal signal of frequency equal to 10 times and 20 times the cavity resonance frequency. In the static regime, linewidths as narrow as 60pm and a tuning bandwidth of 30nm were achieved, while a 2roW output power, without any optical booster, was measured dynamically at a sweep speed of 100kHz. The axial range of the AKSS was evaluated by scanning through the channeled spectrum of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer.