Three-dimensional isotropic microfabrication in glass using spatiotemporal focusing of high-repetition-rate femtosecond laser pulses

To improve the processing efficiency and extend the tuning range of 3D isotropic fabrication,we apply the simultaneous spatiotemporal focusing(SSTF)technique to a high-repetition-rate femtosecond(fs)fiber laser system.In the SSTF scheme,we propose a pulse compensation scheme for the fiber laser with a narrow spectral bandwidth by building an extra-cavity pulse stretcher.We further demonstrate truly 3D isotropic microfabrication in photosensitive glass with a tunable resolution ranging from 8μm to 22μm using the SSTF of fs laser pulses.Moreover,we systematically investigate the influences of pulse energy,writing speed,processing depth,and spherical aberration on the fabrication resolution.As a proof-of-concept demonstration,the SSTF scheme was further employed for the fs laser-assisted etching of complicated glass microfluidic structures with 3D uniform sizes.The developed technique can be extended to many applications such as advanced photonics,3D biomimetic printing,micro-electromechanical systems,and lab-on-a-chips.

Pulse reference-based compensation technique for intensity-modulated optical fiber sensors

We propose a compensation technique based on pulse reference for intensity-modulated optical fiber sensors that can compensate the power fluctuation of the light source, the change of optical components transmission loss, and the coupler splitting ratio. The theoretical principle of this compensation technique is analyzed and a temperature sensor based on fiber coating-covered optical microfiber is carried out to demonstrate the compensation effect. The system noise is measured to be 0.0005 dB with the temperature sensitivity reaching -0.063 dB/℃, and the output drift is 0.006 dB in 2 h at room temperature. The output shows a slight variation （0.0061 dB） when the light source and the common liKht path suffer a 3 dB attenuation fluctuation.

Short pulse propagation in dense dispersion compensated systems

The short Hermite-Gaussian optical pulse transmission over 1440 km in a dense dispersion compensated system is investigated based on numerical simulation. In the simulation, compensation is made not only for the group-velocity dispersion but also for the third order dispersion. It is demonstrated that the pulse with reasonably lower power can propagate steadily in net zero, positive and negative dispersion system.

Combination of differential discrimination and direct discrimination in pulsed laser timeof-flight systems

The output amplitude of the differential circuit is studied for differential discrimination in pulsed laser time-offlight systems. Based on the studies of the probability of detection and the probability of false alarms, the minimum detectable input signal of differential discrimination can be calculated. The results indicate that the differential discrimination detectability of the small signal will be reduced. A combined discrimination is proposed in this Letter to improve the time resolution of the large signal and ensure the probability of detection of the small signal at the same time. A proper value of the circuit parameter is found to balance the time resolutions of the small and large signals.