We proposed a narrow spectral bandwidth Erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser Q-switched by a homemade saturable dynamic induced grating (SDIG) which is introduced via reforming the structure of a fiber saturable absorbers FSA with a piece of EDF and a fiber Bragg grating. The SDIG integrates both saturable absorption and spectral filtering effect simultaneously, which was confirmed through theoretical analysis and experimental results for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. Further study verified that the spectral width of the Q-switched emissions is decided by the length of the SDIG and the input power of the pump source. The Q-switched pulse with the narrowest spectral width of about 29.1 pm achieved in this work is the narrowest bandwidth pulse in the domain of the FSA Q-switched fiber lasers when the length of SDIG and pump power are 20 cm and 250 mW, respectively. Our method provides a simple way to obtain the Q-switched pulses with narrow bandwidths, which have promising applications for nonlinear frequency conversion, Doppler LIDAR and coherent beam combinations.
We experimentally demonstrate a passively Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) operation by using a saturable absorber based on Fe3O4 nanoparticles (FONP) in magnetic fluid (MF). As a kind of transition metal oxide, the FONP has a large nonlinear optical response with a fast response time for saturable absorber. By depositing MF at the end of optical fiber ferrule, we fabricated a FONP-based saturable absorber, which enables a strong light-matter interaction owing to the confined transmitted optical field within the single mode fiber. Because of large third-order optical nonlinearities o…
We demonstrate a ytterbium (Yb) and an erbium (Er)-doped fiber laser Q-switched by a solution processed, optically uniform, few-layer tungsten disulfide saturable absorber (WS2-SA). Nonlinear optical absorption of the WS2-SA in the sub-bandgap region, attributed to the edge-induced states, is characterized by 3.1% and 4.9% modulation depths with 1.38 and 3.83 MW/cm2 saturation intensities at 1030 and 1558 nm, respectively. By integrating the optically uniform WS2-SA in the Yb- and Er-doped laser cavities, we obtain self-starting Q-switched pulses with microsecond duration and kilohertz repetit…
Black phosphorus, a newly emerged two-dimensional material, has attracted wide attention as novel photonic material. Here, multi-layer black phosphorus is successfully fabricated by liquid phase exfoliation method. By employing black phosphorus as saturable absorber, we demonstrate a passively Q-switched Er-doped ZBLAN fiber laser at the wavelength of 2.8 μm. The modulation depth and saturation fluence of the black phosphorus saturable absorber are measured to be 15% and 9 μJ/cm2, respectively. The Q-switched fiber laser delivers a maximum average power of 485 mW with corresponding pulse energ…
Black phosphorus (BP) with its enticing electric and optical properties is intensely researched in the field of optoelectronics. In this paper, Q-switched pulses at 1550 nm and 2 um wavelengths are obtained by inserting bulk-structured BP based saturable absorber (SA) into an erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) and an thulium/holmium-doped fiber laser (THDFL), respectively. The BP-SA was prepared by depositing powered BP material on to the flat side of a side-polished single mode fiber. Q-switched 1550 nm pulses with width tuned from 9.35 to 31 us were obtained for the EDFL. For the THDFL, over 10…
Passive Q-switching of an ytterbium-doped fiber (YDF) laser with few-layer topological insulator (TI) is, to the best of our knowledge, experimentally demonstrated for the first time. The few-layer TI: Bi2Se3 (2-4 layer thickness) is fabricated by the liquid-phase exfoliation method, and has a low saturable optical intensity of 53 MW/cm2 measured by the Z-scan technique. The optical deposition technique is used to induce the few-layer TI in the solution onto a fiber ferrule for successfully constructing the fiber-integrated TI-based saturable absorber (SA). By inserting this SA into the YDF la…
We demonstrate generation of linearly polarized pulses from a passively Q-switched Erbium-doped fiber laser. The cavity was designed using only polarization maintaining (PM) fibers and components, resulting in linearly polarized output beam with degree of polarization (DOP) at the level of 97.6%. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was used as a saturable absorber for Q-switched operation. The laser was capable of delivering 1.85us pulses with 125nJ pulse energy at 115kHz repetition rate.
After advent of graphene as a saturable absorber many experiments have been conducted to produce short pulse duration pulses. Here, we have measured the properties of flake-graphene saturable absorber mirrors of various flake sizes dependent on fabrication technique. These mirrors enabled us to obtain a large mode-locking bandwidth of 16nm in an erbium-doped fiber laser. Mirrors with large flake size and multi-layered thickness induce strong pulse shaping and reflect mode-locked train of pulses with very large bandwidths.
Saturable absorbers are a key component for mode-locking femtosecond lasers. Polymer films containing graphene flakes have recently been used in transmission as laser mode-lockers, but suffer from high nonsaturable loss, limiting their application in low-gain lasers. Here we present a saturable absorber mirror based on a film of pure graphene flakes. The device is used to mode lock an erbium-doped fiber laser, generating pulses with state-of-the-art, sub-200-fs duration. The laser characteristic indicate that the film exhibits low nonsaturable loss (13% per pass) and large absorption modulatio…
We fabricate a free-standing molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2) saturable absorber by embedding liquid-phase exfoliated few-layer MoSe2 flakes into a polymer film. The MoSe2-polymer composite is used to Q-switch fiber lasers based on ytterbium (Yb), erbium (Er) and thulium (Tm) gain fiber, producing trains of microsecond-duration pulses with kilohertz repetition rates at 1060 nm, 1566 nm and 1924 nm, respectively. Such operating wavelengths correspond to sub-bandgap saturable absorption in MoSe2, which is explained in the context of edge-states, building upon studies of other semiconducting transit…
Quantitative analysis of slow light experiments utilising coherent population oscillation (CPO) in a range of saturably absorbing media, including ruby and alexandrite, Er3+:Y2SiO5, bacteriorhodopsin, semi-conductor quantum devices and erbium doped optical fibres, shows that the observations may be more simply interpreted as saturable absorption phenomena. A basic two-level model of a saturable absorber displays all the effects normally associated with slow light, namely phase shift and modulation gain of the transmitted signal, hole burning in the modulation frequency spectrum and power broad…
With the proposal of dual-wavelength pumping (DWP) scheme, DWP Er:ZBLAN fiber lasers at 3.5 um have become a fascinating area of research. However, limited by the absence of suitable saturable absorber, passively Q-switched and mode-locked fiber lasers have not been realized in this spectral region. Based on the layer-dependent bandgap and excellent photoelectric characteristics of black phosphorus (BP), BP is a promising candidate for saturable absorber near 3.5 um. Here, we fabricated a 3.5-um saturable absorber mirror (SAM) by transferring liquid-phase exfoliated BP flakes onto a gold-coate…
We report on large energy pulse generation in an erbium-doped fiber laser passively mode-locked with atomic layer graphene. Stable mode locked pulses with single pulse energy up to 7.3 nJ and pulse width of 415 fs have been directly generated from the laser. Our results show that atomic layer graphene could be a promising saturable absorber for large energy mode locking.
A chromium-doped saturable absorber fibre stabilizes an otherwise spontaneously chaotic ytterbium- doped fibre laser. This original passively Q-switched all-fibre laser produces sustained and stable trains of smooth pulses at high repetition rate.
The dynamics of dissipative solitons (DSs) are explored in a high repetition rate normal-dispersion erbium-doped fiber laser for the first time. Despite of the high fundamental repetition rate of 129 MHz and thus the low pulse energy, a DS train with a dechirped pulse width of 418 fs, period-doubling of single and dual DSs, as well as 258 MHz 2nd-order harmonic mode-locking of DSs can be observed in the fiber laser with increasing pump power and appropriate settings. A transmitted semiconductor saturable absorber and a wavelength division multiplexer/isolator/tap hybrid module are employed to …
We report on the generation of multi-wavelength dissipative soliton (DS) in an all normal dispersion fiber laser passively mode-locked with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). We show that depending on the strength of the cavity birefringence, stable single-, dual- and triple-wavelength DSs can be formed in the laser. The multi-wavelength soliton operation of the laser was experimentally investigated, and the formation mechanisms of the multi-wavelength DSs are discussed.
We demonstrate the broadband supercontinuum (SC) generation in photonic crystal fiber (PCF), highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) and ZBLAN (ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF) fiber with a passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL). The passively mode-locked EDFL incorporates a CNT-based saturable absorber and has achieved a pulse width of 620 fs with a pulse repetition rate of 18 MHz. The spectral broadening phenomena inside each fiber has been observed with respect to the variation in seed pulse power. The SC spectrum bandwidth of 1050 nm, 1400 nm, and 2000 nm has been achieved using PCF, HNLF, an…
Atomic layer graphene possesses wavelength-insensitive ultrafast saturable absorption, which can be exploited as a full-band mode locker. Taking advantage of the wide band saturable absorption of the graphene, we demonstrate experimentally that wide range (1570 nm - 1600nm) continuous wavelength tunable dissipative solitons could be formed in an erbium doped fiber laser mode locked with few layer graphene.
the realization of high repetition rate passively Q-switched monolithic microlaser is a challenge since a decade. To achieve this goal, we report here on the first passively Q-switched diode-pumped microchip laser based on the association of a Nd:GdVO4 crystal and a Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber. The monolithic design consists of 1 mm long 1% doped Nd:GdVO4 optically contacted on a 0.4 mm long Cr4+:YAG leading to a plano-plano cavity. A repetition rate as high as 85 kHz is achieved. The average output power is approximately 400 mW for 2.2 W of absorbed pump power and the pulse length is 1.1 ns.
A high-performance S-band single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) erbium-doped fiber (EDF) ring cavity laser based on a depressed cladding EDF is investigated and experimentally demonstrated. We combine a double-ring passive resonator (DR-PR) and a length of unpumped polarization maintaining (PM) EDF in the laser cavity to achieve the SLM lasing without mode hopping. The DR-PR, composed of two efficient dual-coupler fiber rings, is utilized to expand the free spectral range of the EDF ring cavity laser and to eliminate the dense longitudinal modes greatly. The PM EDF, insusceptible to random change ind…
Few-layer black phosphorus (BP), as the most alluring graphene analogue owing to its similar structure as graphene and thickness dependent direct band-gap, has now triggered a new wave of research on two-dimensional (2D) materials based photonics and optoelectronics. However, a major obstacle of practical applications for few-layer BPs comes from their instabilities of laser-induced optical damage. Herein, we demonstrate that, few-layer BPs, fabricated through the liquid exfoliation approach, can be developed as a new and practical saturable absorber (SA) by depositing few-layer BPs with micro…
A wavelength spacing tunable, multiwavelength Q-switched mode-locked (QML) fiber laser in an erbium-doped fiber cavity based on graphene oxide deposited on tapered fiber is proposed by choosing the diameter and length of the taper, graphene oxide thickness and cavity dispersion, in which the wavelength spacing could be tuned by pump power. The evolutions of temporal and spectral with different pump strengths are investigated. Results show that the tunability of the multiwavelength laser can be interpreted by the bound states of QML laser resulting from a mutual interaction of dispersion, nonli…
The newly-emergent two-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) have shown their unique electronic and optical properties, such as good thermal management, high nonlinear refraction index and ultrafast relaxation time. Their narrow energy band gaps predict their optical absorption ability further into the mid-infrared region and their possibility to be very broadband light modulators ranging from the visible to the mid-infrared region. In this paper, a mid-infrared mode-locked fluoride fiber laser with TI Bi2Te3 nano-sheets as the saturable absorber is presented. Continuous wave lasing, Q-swit…
We fabricate a saturable absorber mirror by coating a graphene film on an output coupler mirror. This is then used to obtain Q-switched mode-locking from a diode pumped linear cavity waveguide laser inscribed in Ytterbium-doped Bismuthate Glass, with high slope and optical conversion efficiencies. The laser produces mode-locked pulses at 1039nm, with 1.5GHz repetition rate at an average 202mW output power. This performance is due to the combination of the graphene saturable absorber with the high quality laser glass.
Dynamic cavity effect of a Topological Insulator Bi2Te3 based Passive Q-switched (QS) solid state laser was investigated. With a saturation intensity as low as a few kW, Bi2Te3 processed by hydrothermal exfoliation serves a sensitive saturable absorber to initiate Q-switching. Without material damage, a transition from QS state to CW state was observed when the pumping strength increases which was explained by the modulation instability spectrum of laser rate equation.
Dynamic population gratings (DPGs) in rare-earth doped fibers are prevalent devices in fiber lasers for the production of single-longitudinal-mode emission, Q-switched pulses, and wavelength self-sweeping regimes. This study presents a transition from Q-switched state to continuous wave (CW) state, accompanying irregular mode-hopping, in an erbium-doped fiber laser with a heavily-doped DPG centered at 1549.95 nm. Our results demonstrate that the transition between these two states can be achieved by adjusting the pump power. The repetition frequency of the Q-switched pulse increases monotonica…
Vector soliton operation of erbium-doped fiber lasers mode locked with atomic layer graphene was experimentally investigated. Either the polarization rotation or polarization locked vector dissipative solitons were experimentally obtained in a dispersion-managed cavity fiber laser with large net cavity dispersion, while in the anomalous dispersion cavity fiber laser, the phase locked NLSE solitons and induced NLSE soliton were experimentally observed. The vector soliton operation of the fiber lasers unambiguously confirms the polarization insensitive saturable absorption of the atomic layer gr…
A spontaneously chaotic, self-pulsing ytterbium-doped fibre laser is partially stabilized into the passively Q-switched mode of operation using a chromium-doped saturable absorber fibre. This original all-fibre laser produces sustained and stable trains of smooth pulses at high repetition rate.
We report high-energy mid-infrared pulse generation by Q-switching of dysprosium-doped fiber lasers for the first time. Two different modulation techniques are demonstrated. Firstly, using active acousto-optic modulation, pulses are produced with up to 12 μJ energy and durations as short as 270 ns, with variable repetition rates from 100 Hz to 20 kHz and central wavelengths tunable from 2.97 to 3.23 μm. Experiments are supported by numerical modeling, identifying routes for improved pulse energies and to avoid multi-pulsing by careful choice of modulator parameters. Secondly, we demonstrate pa…
The spatially-temporal model of an all-solid-state passively Q-switched oscillator with an active medium providing the stimulated Raman scattering is presented. The model does not presume a Gaussian shape of the cylindrically symmetric modes at both fundamental and Stokes wavelengths. It is found, that the highly-nontrivial spatially-temporal dynamics can be regularized by the optimal choice of the oscillator parameters, viz. initial transmission of a saturable absorber, curvature of a spherical mirror, and output mirror transmission at the fundamental and Stokes wavelengths. As a result, the …
We report a passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser with pulsewidths switchable from 473 fs to 76.8 ns, where the fundamental mode-locking, noise-like pulse, nanosecond mode-locking, and dual-width mode-locking are obtained by adjusting a polarization controller. Co-existence of femto- and nano-second pulses in dual-width mode-locking is attributed to the gain balancing. Analytic modeling of the fiber laser with cubic-quintic Ginzburg-Landau equation is presented, in which the pulsewidths are calculated as functions of dispersion, saturable absorption, and self-phase modulation. The gen…
The passively Q-switched, self-pulsing all-solid-state laser is a device of widespread use in many applications. Depending on the condition of saturation, which is easy to adjust, different dynamical phenomena are observed: continuous wave emission, stable oscillations, period doubling bifurcations, chaos and, in some chaotic regimes, extreme events in the form of pulses of extraordinary intensity. These pulses are also sometimes called "dissipative optical rogue waves". The mechanism of their formation is still unknown. Here, we report the direct observation of the pulse-to-pulse evolution of…
An all-polarization maintaining (PM) single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) with ultra-high optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR), ultra-narrow linewidth and extremely high stability is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A double-ring passive subring resonator (DR-PSR) composed of two single-coupler fiber rings and a length of unpumped EDF-based saturable absorber filter is designed and employed in the EDFL to serve as the efficient SLM selecting element to guarantee SLM lasing with excellent output performance. The all-PM structure enables the proposed EDFL to pr…
Niobium telluride (NbTe$_2$), an emerging transition metal dichalcogenide material, has been theoretically predicted to have nonlinear absorption properties and excellent optical response. However, only a few studies of the utilization of NbTe$_2$ in ultrafast photonics have been reported. In this work, a NbTe$_2$-based saturable absorber (SA) was applied in an erbium-doped fiber as a mode-locked device, and a vector soliton based on NbTe$_2$ was obtained for the first time. NbTe$_2$-PVA film SA was successfully prepared by the liquid-phase exfoliation and spin coating methods, with a modulati…
Mode-locked fiber laser technology to date has been limited to sub-3 μm wavelengths, despite significant application-driven demand for compact picosecond and femtosecond pulse sources at longer wavelengths. Erbium- and holmium-doped fluoride fiber lasers incorporating a saturable absorber are emerging as promising pulse sources for 2.7--2.9 μm, yet it remains a major challenge to extend this coverage. Here, we propose a new approach using dysprosium-doped fiber with frequency shifted feedback (FSF). Using a simple linear cavity with an acousto-optic tunable filter, we generate 33 ps pulses wit…
We experimentally demonstrate the realization of a half-polarization-maintaining (half-PM) fiber laser, in which mode-locking is provided by a reflective multimode-interference saturable absorber (SA). In the specially designed SA, linearly polarized light is coupled into a 15-cm-long graded-index multimode fiber (GIMF) through the PM fiber, and then reflected back to the PM structure through a mirror pigtailed with a single-mode fiber (SMF). The modulation depth and saturation peak power are measured to be 1.5% and 0.6 W, respectively. The proposed SA device is incorporated into a novel half-…
The chapter is situated in the fields of fiber materials sciences and technologies (particularly dealing with the fiber glass compositions and luminescent ion doping, and transparent glass ceramic optical fibers), and applications such as fiber lasers and amplifiers. We propose to present a review of research activities on rare-earth (RE) and transition metals (TM) doped silica-based optical fibers, aiming at understanding theier spectral properties, and particularly some of their optical transitions that will allow interesting and alternative applications. Silica, as opposed to alternative, l…
A fully integrated dispersion-managed femtosecond mode-locked laser
Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)（洛桑联邦理工学院物理研究所）；Institute of Electrical and Micro Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)（洛桑联邦理工学院电气与微工程学院）；EDWATEC SA（EDWATEC公司）；Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR)（德累斯顿-罗森多夫亥姆霍兹中心）
