Here a detailed formalism to achieve an analytical solution of a lossy high power Yb-doped silica fiber laser is introduced. The solutions for the lossless fiber laser is initially attained in detail. Next, the solution for the lossy fiber laser is obtained based on the lossless fiber laser solution. To examine the solutions for both lossless and lossy fiber laser two sets of values are compared with the exact numerical solutions and the results are in a good agreement. Furthermore, steps and procedures for achieving the final solutions are explained clearly and precisely.
A Core/Cladding Yb-doped fiber amplifier configuration is presented that relies on anti-Stokes fluorescence cooling for effective heat mitigation in high-power operation. In the proposed design, the inner cladding of the double clad fiber is doped with the same ion as in the core; therefore, the excess heat generated from the background absorption is removed by the anti-Stokes fluorescence in both core and inner cladding. We consider both silica and ZBLAN glasses for the host material in the Core/Cladding Yb-doped fiber amplifier. The model incorporates the spatial profiles of the signal and p…
We introduce a small-core air-guiding photonic crystal fiber whose cladding is made of improved air-silica photonic crystal with non-circular air holes placed in triangular lattice. The fiber achieves un-disturbed bandgap guidance over 350nm wavelength range.
Understanding cladding properties is crucial for designing microstructured optical fibers. This is particularly acute for Inhibited-Coupling guiding fibers because of the reliance of their core guidance on the core and cladding mode-field overlap integral. Consequently, careful planning of the fiber cladding parameters allows obtaining fibers with optimized characteristics such as low loss and broad transmission bandwidth. In this manuscript, we report on how one can tailor the modal properties of hollow-core photonic crystal fibers by adequately modifying the fiber cladding. We show that the …
The beam quality factor $M^2$ for the fundamental LP01 mode of a step-index fiber with a finite cladding diameter is calculated in the presence of gain, in a closed form, as a function of the complex generalized V-number. It is shown that the conventional infinite cladding diameter approximation cannot be used for index-antiguided gain-guided fibers, and the rigorous analysis presented in this paper is required for accurate prediction of the beam quality factor, as reported in recent experimental measurements.
In this paper we present a theoretical and numerical analysis of light localization in hollow core microstructured fibers (HCMFs) with a complicated shape of the core cladding boundary. The analysis is based on well established models (for example, the ARROW model) and also on the models proposed for the first time. In particular, we consider local and nonlocal mechanisms of light localization in the waveguide structures with a determined type of discrete rotational symmetry of the core cladding boundary. We interpret and analyze mechanisms of light localization in negative curvature hollow co…
Two highly birefringent polymer terahertz (THz) fibers were proposed in this paper, which were formed with honeycomb cladding and some elliptical air holes in the fiber core. The losses and mode birefringence for two different fibers are investigated by finite-different time-domain method. The results show that fiber 2 can achieve both high birefringence (larger than 0.022) and low confinement loss (0.01 dB/m) in a wide THz frequency range. Moreover, compared with a round solid-core fiber, guiding loss of the THz fiber caused by polymer material absorption can be reduced effectively as a part …
The analysis of substances outside the cladding has challenged the optical fiber sensors community for decades. A common solution relies on the propagation of light in cladding modes. However, the coupling of light to/from these modes is typically based on permanent gratings in specific locations, which restrict the sensors to point measurements only. In this work, we present dynamic, random-access coupling of light between core and cladding modes of standard fibers, in arbitrarily located short sections. Coupling is based on the stimulation of Brillouin dynamic gratings by two coded pump wave…
In this paper we consider an interaction between the air core modes of hollow core waveguide microstructures and core cladding boundary walls in various shapes. The analysis is based on well established models such as the anti-resonant reflecting optical waveguide model and on the models proposed for the first time. In particular, we consider the dynamics of light localization in the polygonalcore cladding boundary wall as dependant on the type of its discrete rotational symmetry. Based on our findings we analyze the mechanisms of light localization in the core cladding boundary walls of negat…
The spectral characteristics of a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with a transversely inhomogeneous refractive index profile, differs con- siderably from that of a transversely uniform one. Transmission spectra of inhomogeneous and asymmetric FBGs that have been inscribed with focused ultrashort pulses with the so-called point-by-point technique are investigated. The cladding mode resonances of such FBGs can span a full octave in the spectrum and are very pronounced (deeper than 20dB). Using a coupled-mode approach, we compute the strength of resonant coupling and find that coupling into cladding mo…
Space-division multiplexing (SDM), whereby multiple spatial channels in multimode and multicore optical fibers are used to increase the total transmission capacity per fiber, is being investigated to avert a data capacity crunch and reduce the cost per transmitted bit. With the number of channels employed in SDM transmission experiments continuing to rise, there is a requirement for integrated SDM components that are scalable. Here, we demonstrate a cladding-pumped SDM erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) that consists of six uncoupled multimode erbium-doped cores. Each core supports three spat…
We report on the writing of chirped volume Bragg gratings using 400 nm femtosecond pulses and the phase-mask inscription technique in the pure silica inner cladding of the gain fiber. The usefulness of such fiber component is demonstrated as a pump reflector in a cladding-pumped all-fiber laser. A reflectivity of 53% for the residual pump power guided in the cladding of the highly multimode 125 microns fiber is achieved, allowing for significant pump recycling in the fiber laser cavity which therefore optimizes the overall laser performances. As proof of concept, adding this pump reflector at …
Motivated by recent experimental work by Folkenberg et al. we consider the effect of weak disorder in the air-hole lattice of small-core photonic crystal fibers. We find that the broken symmetry leads to higher-order modes which have generic intensity distributions resembling those found in standard fibers with elliptical cores. This explains why recently reported experimental higher-order mode profiles appear very different from those calculated numerically for ideal photonic crystal fibers with inversion and six-fold rotational symmetry. The splitting of the four higher-order modes into two …
We consider an air-silica honeycomb lattice and demonstrate a new approach to the formation of a core defect. Typically, a high or low-index core is formed by adding a high-index region or an additional air-hole (or other low-index material) to the lattice, but here we discuss how a core defect can be formed by manipulating the cladding region rather than the core region itself. Germanium-doping of the honeycomb lattice has recently been suggested for the formation of a photonic band-gap guiding silica-core and here we experimentally demonstrate how an index-guiding silica-core can be formed b…
The temperature distribution inside a double-cladding optical fiber laser or amplifier is examined in detail. Traditionally, the quantum defect in the core is taken to be the main source of heating in an active optical fiber. However, contributions from the parasitic absorption of the signal and the pump may also play an important role, especially for low quantum defect or radiation-balanced lasers and amplifiers. The contributions to the heating in both the core and the inner-cladding are considered and analyzed in general terms in this paper. In particular, it is shown that if the maximum to…
The advent of photonic bandgap (PBG) guiding hollow- core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF) sparked the hope of guiding light with attenuation below the fundamental silica Rayleigh scattering limit (SRSL) of conventional step-index fibers. Unfortunately, the combination of the strong core-cladding optical-overlap, the surface roughness at the silica cladding struts and the presence of interface-modes limited the lowest reported transmission-loss to 1.2 dB/km at 1550 nm. This hope is recently revived by the introduction of hypocycloid core- contour (i.e. negative curvature) in inhibited-coupling …
Understanding the impact of the cladding tube structure on the overall guiding performance is crucial for designing single-mode, wide-band, and ultra low-loss nested hollow-core anti-resonant fiber (HC-ARF). Here we thoroughly investigate on how the propagation loss is affected by the nested elements when their geometry is realistic (i.e., non-ideal). Interestingly, it was found that the size rather than the shape of the nested elements, have a dominant role in the final loss performance of the HC-ARFs. We identify a unique 'V-shape' pattern for suppression of higher-order modes loss by optimi…
Cladding structures of photonic band-gap fibers often have air-holes of non-circular shape and, typically, close-to-hexagonal air holes with curved corners are observed. We study photonic band-gaps in such structures by aid of a two-parameter representation of the size and curvature. For the fundamental band-gap we find that the band-gap edges (the intersections with the air line) shift toward shorter wavelengths when the air-filling fraction f is increased. The band-gap also broadens and the relative band-width increases exponentially with f^2. Comparing to recent experiments [Nature 424, 657…
A theoretical model for laser cooled continuous-wave fiber amplifier is presented. The amplification process takes place in the Tm3+-doped core of the fluoride ZBLAN (ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF) glass fiber. The cooling process takes place in the Yb3+:ZBLAN fiber cladding. It is shown that for each value of the pump power and the amplified signal there is a distribution of the concentration of the Tm3+ along the length of the fiber amplifier, which provides its athermal operation. The influence of a small deviation in the value of the amplified signal on the temperature of the fiber with the fixe…
A novel plasmonic THz fiber is described that features two metallic wires that are held in place by the porous dielectric cladding functioning as a mechanical support. This design is more convenient for practical applications than a classic two metal wire THz waveguide as it allows direct manipulations of the fiber without the risk of perturbing its core-guided mode. Not surprisingly, optical properties of such fibers are inferior to those of a classic two-wire waveguide due to the presence of lossy dielectric near an inter-wire gap. At the same time, composite fibers outperform porous fibers …
In this work we report two designs of subwavelength fibers packaged for practical terahertz wave guiding. We describe fabrication, modeling and characterization of microstructured polymer fibers featuring a subwavelength-size core suspended in the middle of a large porous outer cladding. This design allows convenient handling of the subwavelength fibers without distorting their modal profile. Additionally, the air-tight porous cladding serves as a natural enclosure for the fiber core, thus avoiding the need for a bulky external enclosure for humidity-purged atmosphere. Fibers of 5 mm and 3 mm …
Optical fiber with high numerical aperture (NA) can efficiently relieve the degeneracy of higher order linearly polarized modes. The degeneracy relief is investigated in two types of high NA fibers, i.e., low index cladding fiber and high-index-core fiber. A naked core fiber, as with low index cladding, can be used theoretically to generate the orbital angular momentum mode (OAMM) HE21 and the cylindrically symmetric modes (CSMs) TM01 and TE01. A high index core fiber incorporated with high contrast index structure can be used similarly to obtain OAMM HE31. The generation of both CSMs and OAMM…
Wave chaos is a concept which has already proved its practical usefulness in design of double-clad fibers for cladding-pumped fiber lasers and fiber amplifiers. In general, classically chaotic geometries will favor strong pump absorption and we address the extent of chaotic wave dynamics in typical air-clad geometries. While air-clad structures supporting sup-wavelength convex air-glass interfaces (viewed from the high-index side) will promote chaotic dynamics we find guidance of regular whispering-gallery modes in air-clad structures resembling an overall cylindrical symmetry. Highly symmetri…
Optical fibers containing multiple cores are being developed towards capacity enhancement in space-division multiplexed optical communication networks. In many cases, the fibers are designed for negligible direct coupling of optical power among the cores. The cores remain, however, embedded in a single, mechanically-unified cladding. Elastic (or acoustic) modes supported by the fiber cladding geometry are in overlap with multiple cores. Acoustic waves may be stimulated by light in any core through electrostriction. Once excited, the acoustic waves may induce photo-elastic perturbations to opti…
We report on detailed in-situ distributed temperature measurements inside a high power fiber amplifier. The deducted thermal load and the TMI-threshold of a commercial LMA fiber with 25 micron core and 400 micron cladding was measured at various seed wavelengths. By matching these results with detailed simulations we show that photodarkening has a negligible impact on the thermal load and, therefore, on the TMI threshold in this fiber.
Erbium doped integrated waveguide amplifier and laser prevail in power consumption, footprint, stability and scalability over the counterparts in bulk materials, underpinning the lightwave communication and large-scale sensing. Subject to the highly confined mode and moderate propagation loss, gain and power scaling in such integrated micro-to-nanoscale devices prove to be more challenging compared to their bulk counterparts. In this work, stimulated by the prevalent success of double-cladding optical fiber in high-gain/power operation, a Ta2O5 cladding is employed in the erbium doped lithium …
Leakage channel fibers, designed to suppress higher-order modes, demonstrate resonant power loss at certain critical radii of curvature. Outside the resonance, the power recovers to the levels offset by the usual mechanism of bend-induced loss. Using C$^2$-imaging, we experimentally characterize this anomaly and identify the corresponding physical mechanism as the radiative decay of the fundamental mode mediated by the resonant coupling to a cladding mode.
We present detailed experimental study on noise-seeded intermodal modulation instability (IM-MI) in normal dispersion region of a conventional step-index fiber. The sharp refractive index contrast between core and cladding leads to large group velocity mismatch between the spatial modes, coaxing to efficient IM-MI and generation of multiple spectral peaks along with Raman peaks. Evolution of the spectrum with pump powers and fiber lengths are observed. Experimental findings are well supported with the theoretical framework based on bimodal-MI model considering the distinct dispersion parameter…
Silica-based thulium-doped fiber devices operating around 810 nm would extend the spectral range covered by high- power fiber devices. Using a comprehensive numerical model of the fiber we have shown that efficient lasing at 810 nm can be achieved for specific ranges of the laser cavity parameters in silica-based thulium-doped fibers with enhanced 3H4 lifetime up to 58 \mus as measured in our highly alumina-codoped fibers. We present optimization of the thulium-doped fiber and laser cavity parameters and also potential applications of the developed host material in amplifiers and broadband sou…
This paper presents the progress in the fields of the modelling and design of lanthanide ion doped chalcogenide glass fiber lasers. It presents the laser cavity designs that have been developed in order to optimize the performance of lanthanide ion doped chalcogenide glass fiber lasers. Also various numerical algorithms that have been applied for the optimization of chalcogenide glass lasers are reviewed and compared. The comparison shows that a combination of less accurate but more robust algorithms with more accurate ones gives the most promising performance.
An efficient method to fabricate transparent glass ceramic fibers containing in-situ grown Er3+-doped oxide nanoparticles is presented. Characterization of the drawn fibers exhibits low loss (0.4 dB/m) and broadened Er3+ emission spectrum. This attractive method offers new scopes for fiber amplifiers.
We analyse the influence of heat generation by non radiative transitions in high power 1.55$μ$m double cladding Erbium-Ytterbium fiber laser. At strong pumping rates, 1$μ$m lasing can start due to parasitic reflections. We present a model including heat generation and its effect on the Stark level population using the MacCumber relation. Heat generation plays then a significant role and improves the 1.5$μ$m laser efficiency by increasing the 1$μ$m threshold.
We propose a Watt-level, all-fiber, ultrafast Er/Yb-codoped double-clad fiber laser passively mode-locked by reduced graphene oxide (rGO) interacting with a weak evanescent field of photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The rGO solution is filled into the cladding holes of the PCF based on total reflection, and after evaporation, the rGO flakes bear only 1/107 of the total energy in laser system, which enhances the thermal damage threshold and decreases the accumulated nonlinearity. By incorporating the saturable absorber into an Er/Yb-codoped fiber ring cavity, stable conventional soliton with a dura…
We use a detailed numerical model of stimulated thermal Rayleigh scattering to compute mode instability thresholds in Tm$^{3+}$-doped fiber amplifiers. The fiber amplifies 2040 nm light using a 790 nm pump. The cross-relaxation process is strong, permitting power efficiencies of 60%. The predicted instability thresholds are compared with those in similar Yb$^{3+}$-doped fiber amplifiers with 976 nm pump and 1060 nm signal, and are found to be higher, even though the heat load is much higher in Tm-doped amplifiers. The higher threshold in the Tm-doped fiber is attributed to its longer signal wa…
Generally speaking, the self-sweeping effect relies on the dynamical grating formed in a gain fiber. Here, the normal self-sweeping was generated in a pump-free ytterbium-doped fiber which serves as a fiber saturable absorber and is introduced to the laser cavity by a circulator in this experiment. The sweeping rate and the sweeping range alter as usual, both of which can be controlled by the pump power. Further, a new self-pulse signal is observed and discussed in this work, which shows the difference of the self-sweeping effects between active fiber and fiber saturable absorber.
We present a 2-\mum frequency comb based on a reliable mode-locked Er:fiber laser with 100 MHz repetition rate. After shifting the spectrum of the amplified Er:fiber comb to longer wavelengths, a single-clad Tm/Ho:fiber is used as a self-pumped pre-amplifier to generate a coherent and broadband spectrum centered at 1.93 \mum. Subsequently, a cladding-pumped Tm:fiber amplifier boosts the system to a maximum output power of 4.8 W at 1.96 \mum. After compression in a compact grating compressor, our amplified Er:fiber/Tm:fiber hybrid system delivers as much as 2.9 W with a pulse duration of 141 fs…
We investigate various methods for extending the simple analytical capillary model to describe the dispersion and loss of anti-resonant hollow-core fibers without the need of detailed finite-element simulations across the desired wavelength range. This poor-man's model can with a single fitting parameter quite accurately mimic dispersion and loss resonances and anti-resonances from full finite-element simulations. Due to the analytical basis of the model it is easy to explore variations in core size and cladding wall thickness, and should therefore provide a valuable tool for numerical simulat…
We demonstrate a 7-core erbium doped fiber amplifier employing side pumping using tapered multimode fiber. The amplifier has multicore inputs and outputs which can be readily spliced to multicore transmission fiber for amplifying space division multiplexed signals. Gain over 25dB was obtained in each of the cores over a 40-nm bandwidth covering C-band.
A non-destructive method for measuring the resonant absorption coefficient of rare-earth-doped optical fibers is introduced. It can be applied to a broad range of fiber designs and host materials. The method compares the side-collected spontaneous emission at two arbitrary locations along the fiber as a function of the pump wavelength to extract the absorption coefficient. It provides an attractive and accurate alternative to other available techniques. In particular, the proposed method is superior to the cut-back method, which destroys the sample and is prone to inaccuracies due to the cladd…
We experimentally analyze the average-power-scaling capabilities of ultrafast, thulium-doped fiber amplifiers. It has been theoretically predicted that thulium-doped fiber laser systems, with an emission wavelength around 2 um, should be able to withstand much higher heat-loads than their Yb-doped counterparts before the onset of transverse mode instability (TMI) is observed. In this work we experimentally verify this theoretical prediction by operating thulium doped fibers at very high heat-load. In separate experiments we analyze the performance of two different large-core, thulium-doped fib…
Soliton operation and soliton wavelength tuning of erbium-doped fiber lasers mode locked with atomic layer graphene was experimentally investigated under various cavity dispersion conditions. It was shown that not only wide range soliton wavelength tuning but also soltion pulse width variation could be obtained in the fiber lasers. Our results show that the graphene mode locked erbium-doped fiber lasers provide a compact, user friendly and low cost wavelength tunable ultrahsort pulse source.
Thulium-doped fibers suitable for core-pumped single-frequency lasers were fabricated by the modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) method. Refractive index profile, doping profile and spectral absorption was measured. High doping concentration of thulium ions should be achieved to allow for high absorption of light at a pump wavelength while the thulium ions clustering should be avoided to prevent the cooperative upconversion and quenching processes. The fabricated fibers featured pump absorption up to 70dB/m at a pump wavelength of 1611nm. The single-frequency master oscillator with a res…
We report on an ytterbium-free erbium-doped aluminophosphosilicate all-fiber laser, producing an output power of 25 W at a wavelength of 1584 nm with a slope efficiency of 30% with respect to the 976 nm absorbed pump power. The simple cavity design proposed takes advantage of fiber Bragg gratings written directly in the gain fiber. The single-mode erbium-doped aluminophosphosilicate fiber was fabricated in-house and was doped with 0.06 mol.% of Er2O3, 1.77 mol.% of Al2O3 and 1.04 mol.% of P2O5. The incorporation of aluminium and phosphorus into the fiber core allowed for an increased concentra…
Blue-enhanced, broadband supercontinuum generation in a 50 um core fluorine-doped graded-index multimode fiber is demonstrated by pumping with a 1064 nm picosecond source. Multi-octave supercontinuum spectrum extending from ~400 nm to 2,400 nm is achieved in a relatively short fiber. The measured spectrum and multimode nonlinear properties are compared to those of a germanium-doped graded-index multimode fiber. It is shown that engineering the glass composition and thus its chromatic dispersion and absorption characteristics, provides a novel and effective approach to further controlling the n…
Using a numerical model we study the frequency dependence of mode coupling gain due to stimulated thermal Rayleigh scattering in step index, Yb doped, fiber amplifiers. The frequency at the gain peak is shown to vary with core size, doping size, population saturation, thermal lensing, fiber coiling, direction of pumping, photodarkening, and pump noise spectra. The predicted frequencies are compared with measured values whenever possible.
Optical fiber tapers are used to collect photoluminescence emission at ~1.5 um from photonic crystal cavities fabricated in erbium doped silicon nitride on silicon. Photoluminescence collection via fiber taper is enhanced 2.5 times relative to free space, with a total taper collection efficiency of 53%. By varying the fiber taper offset from the cavity, a broad tuning range of coupling strength is obtained. This material system combined with fiber taper collection is promising for building on-chip optical amplifiers.
This paper describes a mode locking technique based on enhanced polarization dependent loss (PDL). The method utilizes a bent single mode fiber (SMF28) coil to induce sufficient PDL at 2 \(μ\)m wavelength region. Significant PDL in SMF28 coils is enabled since the light is much more weakly guided. A passively mode-locked thulium doped all-fiber laser is demonstrated using this simple device with polarization controllers as mode locker. The results indicate a moderate amount of 1 dB is sufficient to initiate and sustain stable mode-locking operation. We believe, to the best of our knowledge, th…
Optical emission from rare-earth-doped fluoride fibers has thus far been limited to less than 4 μm. We extend emission beyond this limit by employing an indium fluoride (InF3) glass fiber as the host, which exhibits an increased infrared transparency over commonly used zirconium fluoride (ZBLAN). Near-infrared pumping of a dysprosium-doped InF3 fiber results in broad emission centered around 4.3 μm, representing the longest emission yet achieved from a fluoride fiber. The first laser emission in an InF3 fiber is also demonstrated from the 3 μm dysprosium transition. Finally, a frequency domain…
The results of measurements of the emission and absorption cross section for the transition 2F5/2 -> 2F7/2 of Yb3+ ions in Al2O3 and P2O5 doped silica fibers are presented. Different techniques based on spectroscopic data, and more direct technique involving optical saturation of the transition are employed. The data obtained indicate an essential difference in cross section spectra of Yb3+ ions in alumosilicate and phosphosilicate fibers.
We present an analytical solution for a radiation balanced fiber laser, in which no net heat is generated during lasing operation due to cooling by anti-Stokes fluorescence. The results are in excellent agreement with the numerical solutions. Using realistic values for fiber laser parameters, the analytical solutions presented are proposed as an economically desirable alternative to time-consuming, direct numerical calculations.
Rare-earth-doped fiber lasers are promising contenders in the development of spectroscopy, free-space communications and countermeasure applications in the 3 - 5 μm spectral region. However, given the limited transparency of the commonly used fluorozirconate glass fiber, these systems have only achieved wavelength coverage up to 3.8 μm, hence fueling the development of more suitable fiber glass compositions. To this extent, we propose in this Letter a novel heavily holmium-doped fluoroindate fiber, providing extended transparency up to 5 μm, to demonstrate the longest wavelength room temperatu…
We theoretically and experimentally demonstrate a novel mode-locked ytterbium-doped fiber laser with a saturable absorber based on nonlinear Kerr beam cleanup effect. The saturable absorber was formed by a 2-m graded-index multimode fiber and a single-mode fiber segment served as a diaphragm. With an all-normal-dispersion-fiber configuration, the laser generated dissipative soliton pulses with pulse duration of 26.38 ps and pulse energy more than 0.25 nJ; output pulses could be compressed externally to 615.7 fs. Moreover, the self-starting mode-locking operation of this laser exhibited a high …
We propose a robust spectral beam combining scheme using wavelength dependent polarisation rotators and polarization beam combiners. We successfully demonstrated the concept for two Yb-doped fiber lasers at 1064nm and 1092nm up to a total input power of 90W. The results reveal a very good combining efficiency and the potential for scaling to high power operations in this method of beam combining.
