Thulium fiber laser lithotripsy:Is it living up to the hype?

Objective:The holmium:yttrium-aluminium-garnet laser(Ho:YAG)has been the gold standard for laser lithotripsy over the last three decades.After demonstrating good in vitro efficacy,the thulium fiber laser(TFL)has been recently released in the market and the initial clinical results are encouraging.This article aims to review the main technology differences between the Ho:YAG laser and the TFL,discuss the initial clinical results with the TFL as well as the optimal settings for TFL lithotripsy.Methods:We reviewed the literature focusing on the technological aspects of the Ho:YAG laser and TFL as well as the results of in vitro and in vivo studies comparing both technologies.Results:In vitro studies show a technical superiority of TFL compared to the Ho:YAG laser and encouraging results have been demonstrated in clinical practice.However,as TFL is a new technology,limited studies are currently available,and the optimal settings for lithotripsy are not yet established.Conclusion:TFL has the potential to be an alternative to the Ho:YAG laser,but more reports are still needed to determine the optimal laser for lithotripsy of urinary tract stones when considering all parameters including effectiveness,safety,and costs.

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.

A theoretical and experimental investigation of an in-band pumped gain-switched thulium-doped fiber laser

In this paper, the theoretical rate equation model of an in-band pumped gain-switched thulium-doped fiber （TDF） laser is investigated. The analytical formulations of pump energy threshold, peak power extraction efficiency, and pulse extraction efficiency are derived through analyzing the interaction process between the pump pulse and the laser pulse. They are useful for understanding, designing, and optimizing the in-band pumped TDF lasers in a 1.9 μm-2.1 μm wavelength region. The experiment with an all-fiber gain-switched TDF laser pumped by a 1.558-μm pulse amplifier is conducted, and our experimental results show good agreement with theoretical analysis.

Mode-Locked Thulium Ytterbium Co-Doped Fiber Laser with Graphene Oxide Paper Saturable Absorber

A mode-locked thulium ytterbium co-doped fiber laser （TYDFL） is proposed and demonstrated by using a commercial graphene oxide （GO） paper as saturable absorber （SA）. The GO paper is sandwiched between two fiber ferrules and incorporates a ring laser cavity to generate soliton pulse train operating at 1942.0nm at a threshold multimode pump power as low as 1.8 W. The mode-locked TYDFL has a repetition rate of 22.32 MHz and the calculated pulse width of 1.1 ns. Even though the SA has a low damage threshold, the easy fabrication of GO paper should promote its potentiM application in ultrafast photonics.

Analysis of gain distribution in cladding-pumped thulium-doped fiber laser and optical feedback inhibition problem in fiber-bulk laser system

The steady-state gain distribution in cladding pumped thulium-doped fiber laser（TDFL） is analytically and numerically solved based on the rate equations including loss coefficients and cross relaxation effect. With the gain curve, a problem, which is named optical feedback inhibition（OFI） and always occurs in tandem TDFL-Ho：YAG laser system, is analyzed quantitatively. The actual characteristics of output spectra and power basically prove the conclusion of theoretical analysis. Then a simple mirror-deflected L-shaped cavity is employed to restrain the external feedback and simplify the structure of fiber-bulk Ho：YAG laser. Finally, 25 W of 2097-nm laser power and 51.2% of optical-to-optical conversion efficiency are obtained, and the beam quality factor is less than 1.43 obtained by knife-edge method.

227-W output all-fiberized Tm-doped fiber laser at 1908 nm

In this paper, we report that a diode-pumped thulium-doped double clad silica fiber laser can provide powers of up to 227 W at 1908 nm, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 54.3%, and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 51.2%. The output power, to the best of our knowledge, is the highest output at 1908 nm. The beam quality M2 factor is about 1.56. Also discussed in this paper is the dependence of the laser performance on fiber length.

2 μm超窄线宽光纤激光实现1 kW近衍射极限输出

2 μm波段光纤激光广泛应用于生物医学、环境监测、非线性频率转换,以及激光雷达和激光通信领域,备受研究人员关注。然而,该波段的激光器功率提升面临着低量子效率、高热负载和部分非线性效应的限制。基于反转概率调谐序列的高阶相位调制技术以抑制SBS效应、多级链路自动反馈的信号激光时域稳定控制技术以提升SRS阈值,以及光纤基横模纯化技术以控制光束质量,采用两级主放大结构,在1 950 nm波长实现了1 kW窄线宽近衍射极限输出,光光转换效率达55.6%,线宽3.8 GHz,光束质量M~2约1.2,在最高功率时无横向模式不稳定效应。

2μm大能量掺铥脉冲光纤激光器研究进展

2μm波段掺铥脉冲光纤激光器目前可实现最高毫焦量级的能量输出,对医疗、材料、通信等领域有重要意义。本文主要介绍近年来大能量掺铥光纤激光器系统研究的主要进展,讨论大能量掺铥光纤激光器的技术类型和影响因素。在此基础上,对大能量掺铥光纤激光器的研究前景进行展望。

2μm激光消融技术在生物组织中的应用

激光因其能量集中、稳定性好、易于使用等优点,越来越多地被应用于生物医疗领域。近年来,2μm激光凭借着高水分子吸收系数的优势成为生物组织消融和碎石手术的理想选择,具有极大的应用前景。简要阐述了激光消融生物组织的光分布与光传热机制,介绍了2μm激光在体外组织、体内组织和碎石手术中的应用,总结了激光功率、工作模式、脉冲频率等对不同生物组织目标的影响,得出掺铥光纤激光器具有在激光消融领域替代掺钬钇铝石榴石(Ho:YAG)激光器潜力的结论。最后,讨论了掺铥光纤激光器在生物医疗领域发展的主要问题和趋势。

掺铥光纤激光器设计与仿真

掺铥光纤激光器工作波段在人眼安全波段,凭借其结构紧凑、灵活性高、散热性强、光束质量好、量子效率高等优势得到了越来越多的关注。本研究设计1700~1800 nm波段的光纤激光器,将以泵浦光中心波长786 nm,去激发光纤激光器中心波长1740 nm。其中光纤长度设置为5 m。实验结果表明:泵浦光功率大于5 W时会产生激光,小于5 W时不会产生激光。通过实验可知,泵浦光功率会随光纤长度增长而减小,信号光功率会随光纤长度增大而增大。

掺铥镧铝硅酸盐玻璃光子晶体光纤制备及光学特性

镧铝硅酸盐玻璃具有稀土离子溶解度高、热稳定性好等优异的光学性能和优良的物理化学性质,其部分物理化学性质与石英相近,易与石英玻璃结合进行特种光纤制备,被认为是一种理想的激光玻璃基质材料.本文采用传统高温熔融法成功研制出一系列不同浓度Tm^(3+)掺杂镧铝硅酸盐玻璃,以掺铥镧铝硅酸盐玻璃为纤芯,采用管棒堆叠法制备出掺铥双包层光子晶体光纤.实验研究了掺铥镧铝硅酸盐玻璃及其光纤的吸收、荧光、激光等光学特性,研究结果表明,掺铥镧铝硅酸盐玻璃及其光子晶体光纤适于2μm波段激光输出,为2μm波段高功率光纤激光器的研究提供了一种新的途径.

2-μm MOPA结构全光纤激光器输出特性研究

为改善高功率掺铥光纤激光器(TDFL)的输出性能,提高系统的光-光转化效率,研制了一种全光纤主振荡功率放大结构(MOPA)的高功率TDFL,可在连续(CW)和准连续(QCW)两种模式下工作。首先,搭建了激光振荡器,对种子源激光器的输出特性进行研究。接着,搭建掺铥光纤放大器,并将其与激光振荡器连接,研究MOPA结构光纤激光器的输出特性。最后,在QCW调制模式下,分析MOPA结构光纤激光器的脉冲特性。结果表明:激光振荡器实现了中心波长为1 940 nm连续稳定的激光输出,最高平均输出功率为18.56 W,斜率效率为54.84%,且光谱无拉曼成分。利用该低功率连续激光作为种子源经过自制的掺铥光纤放大器后,平均输出功率可达66.9 W,斜率效率为48.48%。当系统在QCW模式下工作时,可以实现对频率和占空比的调节,且当频率为75 Hz,占空比为10%时,经计算其峰值功率为80.3 W。该研究方案对研制2μm波段更高功率的MOPA激光器具有参考意义。

高功率连续掺铥光纤激光器研究进展及展望

2μm高功率掺铥光纤激光器(thulium doped fiber lasers, TDFL)在激光测距、激光雷达及医疗检测等领域有重要应用。本文主要梳理了高功率连续TDFL的国内外最新研究进展,介绍了连续TDFL的发展现状,总结了高功率TDFL功率提升的主要限制因素,并从热效应、非线性效应及模式不稳定性3个方面进行了分析。最后,提出采用新型泵浦结构、优化增益光纤的结构设计、研制高品质光纤耦合器和高亮度泵浦源等方法可进一步提高2μm高功率TDFL掺铥光纤激光器的综合输出性能。

基于无源双环复合子腔滤波器的可调谐单纵模掺铥光纤激光器

提出并实现了一种基于均匀光纤布拉格光栅(Uniform fiber Bragg grating,UFBG)和双环复合子腔滤波器的可调谐单纵模掺铥光纤激光器。3 dB带宽为0.18 nm的UFBG作为波长选择器件,与可进行模式选择的双环复合子腔滤波器相结合,实现了单纵模激光输出。测得激光器的输出波长为2048.69 nm,光信噪比为71.82 dB。60 min内的最大波长和功率波动分别为0.03 nm和0.76 dB。此外,激光器的相对强度噪声在>0.5 MHz时,低于-127.81 dB/Hz;采用基于3×3耦合器的非平衡迈克尔逊干涉仪装置测得0.001 s时激光线宽为7.7196 kHz。通过调整微位移平台改变作用在均匀光栅上的应力,单纵模激光实现了5.1 nm范围可调谐输出。

Gain-switched watt-level thulium-doped fiber laser and amplifier operating at 1.7μm

A 1.7μm gain-switched thulium-doped all-fiber laser with a master oscillator power amplifier(MOPA)configuration,utilizing a bandpass fiber filter and a 1550 nm erbium/ytterbium-codoped fiber MOPA,is demonstrated.The influences of pump pulse parameters(repetition rate and pulse duration)and laser cavity structures(ring and linear)on the laser performances were experimentally investigated.To the best of our knowledge,the power quenching and drop were observed in the 1.7μm gain-switched thulium-doped fiber lasers for the first time,resulting from the mode-locked-resembling operation and nonlinear effects.Moreover,the fiber ring-cavity laser was more stable than the linear-cavity laser in the time domain and power.Finally,a laser with a maximum average power of 1.687 W,a slope efficiency of 19.7%,a single-pulse energy of 16.87μJ,a pulse width of 425 ns,a repetition rate of 100 kHz and a peak power of 39.69 W was obtained.

掺铥光纤激光器的波长调谐特性研究

基于简化的二能级激光系统和均匀展宽理论模型,利用原子速率方程和功率传输方程建立了掺铥光纤激光器的理论模型,并以环形腔掺铥光纤激光器为例,通过Matlab编程数值模拟研究了其出射功率和波长调谐范围与腔内损耗、掺铥光纤长度、输出耦合比、泵浦波长和泵浦功率等激光器参量的关系。数值模拟结果表明,降低激光器腔内损耗、提高泵浦激光功率和优化掺铥光纤长度可以提高掺铥光纤激光器的出射功率和增加波长调谐范围,而增加输出耦合比虽能提高激光功率,却减小了波长调谐范围。经过参数优化,在腔内总损耗为3 dB、输出耦合比为10%的情况下,通过提高泵浦激光功率和优化掺铥光纤长度,掺铥光纤激光器的波长调谐范围可达528 nm(1 660~2 188 nm),高于目前已报道的实验结果。将部分模拟结果与文献报道的实验结果进行对比,较好地证实了模型的准确性。研究工作对于掺铥光纤激光器的设计和发展具有重要的理论参考价值和指导意义。

S/S+ Band Tunable Thulium Doped Fiber Laser Anchored on 50 GHz ITU-T Grid

We demonstrate a S/S+ band tunable thulium doped fiber laser (TTDFL) anchored on 50GHz ITU-T Grid. Over 57nm of tuning range (1454.9 ~ 1512.0 nm) covering most of the Thulium bandwidth and more than 8dBm output power has been obtained with the pigtailed solid etalon filter and dual wavelength (1.5μm and 1.4μm) pumping.

基于非线性偏振旋转效应的多波长掺铥锁模光纤激光器

运用非线性偏振旋转效应实现了一种掺铥锁模多波长光纤激光器.采用环形腔结构,以1 565nm半导体光源为泵浦源,3m长掺铥光纤为增益介质.利用非线性偏振旋转效应进行滤波.当泵浦功率在800mW时,通过调节光纤偏振控制器,激光器出现了被动锁模状态的脉冲输出,脉冲重复频率为3.178MHz,脉冲宽度为617ps.进一步增加泵浦功率,激光器进入多波长输出的工作状态.调节偏振控制器在室温下得到1~5个稳定的波长激光输出,边摸抑制比为40~60dB.

高能量全光纤2μm掺铥脉冲光纤激光器

基于增益开关技术获得了稳定的高能量全光纤结构2μm脉冲光纤激光器,脉冲重复频率在10～50kHz之间可调,输出激光中心波长为1958nm,输出脉冲宽度随着泵浦功率的增加不断减小,其变化范围为1.2～1.7μs。采用两级掺铥光纤放大器对种子激光进行放大,当脉冲重复频率为10kHz时,获得了5.18W的输出平均功率,输出脉冲宽度为1.6μs,单脉冲能量为0.518mJ。

国产掺铥双包层光纤光谱特性研究

对内包层截面为六边形的国产掺Tm3+双包层光纤的光谱特性进行了较全面的实验研究。在1064nm激光泵浦下,观察到掺铥光纤发出明亮的蓝光,对其上转换谱进行了测量,并分析了产生的机理。在785nmLD泵浦下,测量了光纤的荧光谱。选用3种不同透过率的输出镜,对长度分别为4.5m和2.2m的掺Tm3+光纤实现了2μm波段的激光输出;利用红外光谱仪测得了激光波长。实验获得最大输出功率达到5.1W,斜率效率41.9%,并对实验结果做了分析。