On the generation of high-quality Nyquist pulses in mode-locked fiber lasers

Nyquist pulses have wide applications in many areas,from electronics to optics.Mode-locked lasers are ideal platforms to generate such pulses.However,how to generate high-quality Nyquist pulses in mode-locked lasers remains elusive.We address this problem by managing different physical effects in mode-locked fiber lasers through extensive numerical simulations.We find that net dispersion,linear loss,gain and filter shaping can affect the quality of Nyquist pulses significantly.We also demonstrate that Nyquist pulses experience similariton shaping due to the nonlinear attractor effect in the gain medium.Our work may contribute to the design of Nyquist pulse sources and enrich the understanding of pulse shaping dynamics in mode-locked lasers.

Passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser via a D-shape-fiber-based MoS_2 saturable absorber with a very low nonsaturable loss

We report on the generation of conventional and dissipative solitons in erbium-doped fiber lasers by the evanescent field interaction between the propagating light and a multilayer molybdenum disulfide（MoS_2） thin film. The MoS_2 film is fabricated by depositing the MoS_2 water–ethanol mixture on a D-shape-fiber（DF） repetitively. The measured nonsaturable loss, saturable optical intensity, and the modulation depth of this device are 13.3%, 110 MW/cm^2, and 3.4% respectively.Owing to the very low nonsaturable loss, the laser threshold of conventional soliton is as low as 4.8 mW. The further increase of net cavity dispersion to normal regime, stable dissipation soliton pulse trains with a spectral bandwidth of 11.7 nm and pulse duration of 116 ps are successfully generated. Our experiment demonstrates that the MoS_2-DF device can indeed be used as a high performance saturable absorber for further applications in ultrafast photonics.

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.

An all-polarization-maintaining repetition-tunable erbium-doped passively mode-locked fiber laser

An environmentally stable, repetition rate tunable, all-polarization-maintaining, Er-doped pulse fiber laser with a single-wall carbon nanotubes saturated absorber is demonstrated. The ring laser cavity includes a delay line enabling a tunable repetition rate to vary from 35.52 MHz to 35.64 MHz with continuous mode-locked operation. The laser output parameters confirm that the tunable mode-locked operations are stable. High environmental stability is also confirmed by the -130 dBc/Hz low phase noise, a 70-dB signal-to-noise ratio of radio frequency signals, a low amplitude fluctuation of 5.76 × 10-4, and a low fluctuation of reoetition rate of 12 Hz. The laser shows a high de^ree of oolarization of 93%.

Sb_2Te_3 mode-locked ultrafast fiber laser at 1.93μm

Ultrafast pulse generation was demonstrated in thulium doped fiber laser mode locked by magnetron sputtering de- posited Sb2Te3 with the modulation depth, non-saturable loss, and saturable intensity of 38%, 31.2%, and 3.3 MW/cm2, respectively. Stable soliton pulses emitting at 1930.07 nm were obtained with pulse duration of 1.24 ps, a 3-dB spectral bandwidth of 3.87 nm, an average output power of 130 mW, and signal-to-noise ratio （SNR） of 84 dB. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of Sb2Te3-based SA in fiber lasers at 2-p.m regime. Ultrafast pulse generation was demonstrated in thulium doped fiber laser mode locked by magnetron sputtering de- posited Sb2Te3 with the modulation depth, non-saturable loss, and saturable intensity of 38%, 31.2%, and 3.3 MW/cm2, respectively. Stable soliton pulses emitting at 1930.07 nm were obtained with pulse duration of 1.24 ps, a 3-dB spectral bandwidth of 3.87 nm, an average output power of 130 mW, and signal-to-noise ratio （SNR） of 84 dB. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of Sb2Te3-based SA in fiber lasers at 2-p.m regime.

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.

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.

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.

Interaction of a parabolic-shaped pulse pair in a passively mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser

We numerically investigate the formation and interaction of a parabolic-shaped pulse pair in a passively mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser. Based on a lumped model, the parabolic-shaped pulse pair is obtained by controlling the intercavity average dispersion and gain saturation energy, Moreover, pulse repulsive and attractive motion are also achieved with different pulse separations. Simulation results show that the phase shift plays an important role in pulse interaction, and the interaction is determined by the inter-cavity average dispersion and gain saturation energy, i.e., the strength of the interaction is proportional to the gain saturation energy, a stronger gain saturation energy will result in a higher interaction intensity. On the contrary, the increase of the inter-cavity dispersion will counterbalance some interaction force. The results also show that the interaction of a parabolic-shaped pulse pair has a larger interaction distance compared to conventional solitons.

Tunable and Switchable Narrow Bandwidth Semiconductor-Saturable Absorber Mirror Mode-Locked Yb-Doped Fiber Laser Delivering Different Pulse Widths

The wavelength-tunable and switchable narrow bandwidth mode-locking operation is demonstrated in an all fiber laser based on semiconductor-saturable absorber mirror （SESAM）. Two narrow-band fiber Bragg gratings centered at 1029.9nm and 1032nm respectively with a polarization controller inserted between them are used to realize the wavelength switchable between 1029.9nm and 1032nm. The laser delivers different pulse widths of 7.5ps for 1030nm and 20ps for 1032nm. The maximum output power for both could reach -6.5mW at single pulse operation. The output wavelength couM be tuned to about 0.gnm intervals ranging from 1030.2nm to 1031.1 nm and from 1032.15nm to 1033.7nm with the temperature change of the fiber Bragg grating, respectively.

A theoretical and experimental study on all-normal-dispersion Yb-doped mode-locked fiber lasers

We report on a theoretical and experimental study of an all-normal-dispersion （ANDi） Yb-doped mode-locked fiber laser, in which nonlinear polarization rotation （NPR） is used to realize mode-locking without any dispersion compensation. Based on the coupled nonlinear Schr6dinger （CNLS） equation, a model simulating the mode-locked process of an all-normal-dispersion ring fiber laser is developed, which shows that the achievement of stable mode-locking depends on the alignment of the polarization controller （PC） along the fast-polarization axis of the fiber, the birefringence intensity, and the net cavity dispersion. According to the theoretical analysis, stable mode-locked pulses with pulse duration 300 ps and average output power 33.9 mW at repetition rate 36 MHz are obtained.

Carboxyl graphene oxide solution saturable absorber for femtosecond mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser

The carboxyl-functionalized graphene oxide（GO-COOH） is a kind of unique two-dimensional（2 D） material and possesses excellent nonlinear saturable absorption property and high water-solubility. In this paper, we prepare saturable absorber（SA） device by depositing GO-COOH nanosheets aqueous solution on a D-shaped fiber. The modulation depth（MD） and saturable intensity of the SA are measured to be 9.6% and 19 MW/cm^2, respectively. By inserting the SA into the erbium-doped fiber（EDF） laser, a passively mode-locked EDF laser has been achieved with the spectrum center wavelength of 1562.76 nm. The pulse duration, repetition rate, and the signal-to-noise ratio（SNR） are 500 fs, 14.79 MHz, and 80 dB,respectively. The maximum average output power is measured to be 3.85 mW. These results indicate that the GO-COOH nanosheets SA can be used as a promising mode locker for the generation of ultrashort pulses.

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.

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.

Wideband All-Polarization-Maintaining Yb-Doped Mode-Locked Fiber Laser Using a Nonlinear Optical Loop Mirror

We report on a wide-band and stable mode-locked all-polarization-maintaining fiber laser configuration using a nonlinear optical loop mirror. The central wavelength of the laser is 1080.14nm and the 3dB bandwidth is 20.29nm. The repetition rate of the pulse is 3.28 MHz and the pulse width is 848ps. By tuning the pump power, which is centered at 980nrn, from 300mW to 380mW, we obtain a linearly changed output power from 6row to 7.12roW. The all-polarization-mMntaining fiber configuration is fundamental to the stability of the output power.

Yb-doped passively mode-locked fiber laser with Bi_2Te_3-deposited

In this study we present an all-normal-dispersion Yb-doped fiber laser passively mode-locked with topological insulator（Bi2Te3） saturable absorber. The saturable absorber device is fabricated by depositing Bi2Te3 on a tapered fiber through using pulsed laser deposition（PLD） technology, which can give rise to less non-saturable losses than most of the solution processing methods. Owing to the long interaction length, Bi2Te3 is not exposed to high optical power, which allows the saturable absorber device to work in a high power regime. The modulation depth of this kind of saturable absorber is measured to be 10%. By combining the saturable absorber device with Yb-doped fiber laser, a mode-locked pulse operating at a repetition rate of 19.8 MHz is achieved. The 3-d B spectral width and pulse duration are measured to be 1.245 nm and317 ps, respectively.

Fiber optical parametric oscillator based on photonic crystal fiber pumped with all-normal-dispersion mode-locked Yb:fiber laser

We demonstrate a cost effective, linearly tunable fiber optical parametric oscillator based on a home-made photonic crystal fiber pumped with a mode-locked ytterbium-doped fiber laser, providing linely tuning ranges from 1018 nm to 1038 nm for the idler wavelength and from 1097 nm to 1117 nm for the signal wavelength by tuning the pump wavelength and the cavity length. In order to obtain the desired fiber with a zero dispersion wavelength around 1060 rim, eight sam- ples of photonic crystal fibers with gradually changed structural parameters are fabricated for the reason that it is difficult to accurately customize the structural dimensions during fabrication. We verify the usability of the fabricated fiber experimen- tally via optical parametric generation and conclude a successful procedure of design, fabirication, and verification. A seed source of home-made all-normal-dispersion mode-locked ytterbium-doped fiber laser with 38.57 ps pulsewidth around the 1064 nm wavelength is used to pump the fiber optical parametric oscillator. The wide picosecond pulse pump laser enables a larger walk-off tolerance between the pump light and the oscillating light as well as a longer photonic crystal fiber of 20 m superior to the femtosecond pulse lasers, resulting in a larger parametric amplification and a lower threshold pump power of 15.8 dBm of the fiber optical parametric oscillator.

Flexible pulses from carbon nanotubes mode-locked fiber laser

We demonstrate a flexible erbium-doped pulsed fiber laser which achieves the wavelength and pulse width tuning by adjusting an intracavity filter. The intracavity filter is flexible to achieve any of the different wavelengths and bandwidths in the tuning range. The wavelength and width of pulse can be tuned in a range of - 20 nm and from - 0.8 ps to 87 ps, respectively. The flexible pulsed fiber laser can be accurately controlled, which is insensitive to environmental disturbance.

Systematical analysis of mode-locked fiber lasers using single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorbers

The output characteristics of the Er-doped mode-locked fiber laser using a single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorber are investigated theoretically with a nonlinear Schrtidinger equation and a saturable absorption equation using realistic parameters. Stable self-starting mode-locking pulses are achieved under net normal, net zero, and net anomalous cavity group velocity dispersion （GVD） respectively. A spectrum with a flat top is obtained from the net normal cavity GVD laser while a spectrum with Kelly side-bands is obtained from the net anomalous cavity GVD laser. The characteristics of the pulse duration changing with cavity GVD and modulation depth of the single-walled carbon nanotubes are discussed. The characteristics of the mode-locking pulses from net normal, net zero, and net anomalous cavity GVD mode-locked fiber lasers are compared. These systematical results are useful for designing mode-locked fiber lasers with saturable absorbers made by different kinds of carbon nano-materials.

Impacts of operational parameters on nonlinear polarization rotation-based passively mode-locked fiber laser

The operational parameters including the polarization controlling and the pump power in a nonlinear polarization rotation-based passively mode-locked fiber laser are studied in this paper.The carrier rate equations of the activated erbium-doped fiber are first employed together with the nonlinear Shro¨dinger equations to reveal the relation between the operational parameters and the output state of the passively mode-locked fiber laser.The numerical and experimental results demonstrate that the output state of the mode-locked laser varies with the polarization controlling and the pump power.The periodicity of the polarization controlling is observed.With given pump power,there exists a set of polarization controlling under which the ultra-short pulse can be generated.With given polarization controlling,the mode-locked state can be maintained generally except for some particular values of pump power.Three shapes of the output optical spectra from the fiber cavity can be identified when the pump power changes.The results in this paper provide a comprehensive insight into the operation of the nonlinear polarization rotation-based passively mode-locked fiber laser.