We report on converting the multimode hopping oscillation (MHO) in long-wavelength semiconductor laser into single-mode oscillation (SMO) by applying external optical feedback (OFB). We characterize and compare the noise performance of the laser when supporting SMO and multimode oscillations. The study is based on a modified time-delay multimode rate-equation model of the laser that includes mechanisms of spectral gain suppression along with OFB induced due to multiple reflections by an external reflector. The study is applied to 1.55um-InGaAsP laser that exhibits multimode hopping in its solitary version and supports wide bandwidth. The noise is evaluated in terms of the relative intensity noise (RIN). We show that when OFB synchronizes with the asymmetric gain suppression (AGS), it enhances the gain of one longer wavelength mode and supports SMO. In this case OFB improves the noise performance of the laser. On the other hand, when OFB works against AGS, it sustains hopping multimode oscillation (HMMO) and deteriorates the side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) and the noise performance.
We characterized the DC transport response of a diode embedded in a THz quantum cascade laser as the laser current was changed. The overall response is described by parallel contributions from the rectification of the laser field due to the non-linearity of the diode I-V and from thermally activated transport. Sudden jumps in the diode response when the laser changes from single mode to multi-mode operation, with no corresponding jumps in output power, suggest that the coupling between the diode and laser field depends on the spatial distribution of internal fields. The results demonstrate con…
A Schottky diode integrated into a terahertz quantum cascade laser waveguide couples directly to the internal laser fields. In a multimode laser, the diode response is correlated with both the instantaneous power and the coupling strength to the diode of each lasing mode. Measurements of the rectified response of diodes integrated in two quantum cascade laser cavities at different locations indicate that the relative diode position strongly influences the laser-diode coupling.
We experimentally demonstrate spatial beam self-cleaning in an Yb-doped graded-index multimode fiber taper, both in passive and active configurations. The input laser beam at 1064 nm was injected for propagation from the small to the large core side of the taper, with laser diode pumping in a counterdirectional configuration. The Kerr effect permits to obtain high-beam quality amplification with no accompanying frequency conversions. As a result, our nonlinear taper amplifier may provide an important building block for multimode fiber lasers and amplifiers.
Optical nonreciprocity and routing using optocal microcavities draw much atttention in recent years. Here, we report the results of the study on the nonreciprocity and routing using optomechanical multimode interference in an optical microcavity. The optomechanical system used here possesses multi-optical modes and a mechanical mode. Optomechanical induced transparency and absorption, appear in the system due to the interference between different paths. The system can present significant nonreciprocity and routing properties when appropriate parameters of the system are set. We design quantum …
The holographic imaging of rigid objects with diode lasers emitting in many wavelengths in a sillenite Bi12TiO20 photorefractive crystal is both theoretically and experimentally investigated. It is shown that, due to the multi-wavelength emission and the typically large free spectral range of this light source, contour fringes appear on the holographic image corresponding to the surface relief, even in single-exposure recordings. The influence of the number of emitted modes on the fringe width is analysed, and the possible applications of the contour fringes in the field of optical metrology a…
We demonstrate a simple, compact, and cost-effective laser noise reduction method for stabilizing an extended cavity diode laser to a 3x105 finesse mirror Fabry-Pérot (F-P) cavity corresponding to resonance linewidth of 10 kHz using a crystalline MgF2 whispering gallery mode microresonator (WGMR). The laser linewidth is reduced to sub-kHz such that a stable Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) error signal is built up. The wavelength of the pre-stabilized laser is tunable within a large bandwidth covering the high reflection mirror coating of a F-P supercavity.
In this work, we introduce a method for stabilizing spatiotemporal solitons. These solitons correspond to light bullets in multimode optical fiber lasers, energy-scalable waveguide oscillators and amplifiers, localized coherent patterns in Bose-Einstein condensates, etc. We show that a three-dimensional confinement potential, formed by a spatial transverse (radial) parabolic graded refractive index and dissipation profile, combined with quadratic temporal phase modulation, may permit the generation of stable spatiotemporal dissipative solitons. This corresponds to combining phase mode-locking …
A proposal for an all-optical memory based on a bistability of single-mode states in a dual-mode diode laser with time-delayed optical feedback is presented. The system is modeled using a multimode extension of the Lang-Kobayashi equations with injected optical pulses. We uncover the bifurcation structure by deriving analytical expressions for the boundaries of the bistable region and demonstrate how the delay time in the external cavity determines an optimal pulse duration for efficient switching of the memory element. We also show the relevant role played by gain saturation and by the dual-m…
A phase modulated RF current source is applied to an injection locked diode laser operating at $780\unit{nm}$. This produces tunable phase modulated sidebands of the laser suitable for stabilizing the length of an optical transfer cavity using the Pound-Drever-Hall technique. The Pound-Drever-Hall signal is anti-symmetric about the lock point, despite the presence of significant diode laser amplitude modulation. The stabilized optical transfer cavity is used to frequency stabilize a 776 nm external cavity diode laser. The stability and tunability of this transfer cavity locked laser is establi…
We present a painless, almost-free upgrade to present extended cavity diode lasers (ECDLs), which improves the long term mode-hop free performance by stabilizing the resonance of the internal cavity to the external cavity. This stabilization is based on the observation that the frequency or amplitude noise of the ECDL is lowest at the optimum laser diode temperature or injection current. Thus, keeping the diode current at the level where the noise is lowest ensures mode-hop free operation within one of the stable regions of the mode chart, even if these should drift due to external influences.…
Stabilization and Destabilization of Multimode Solitons in Nonlinear Degenerate Multi-Pass Cavities
Fudan University（复旦大学）；State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Key Laboratory of Micro and Nano Photonic Structures (MOE), and Department of Physics, Fudan University（复旦大学表面物理国家重点实验室、微纳光子结构教育部重点实验室和物理系）；Shanghai Key Laboratory of Metasurfaces for Light Manipulation, Fudan University（复旦大学光操控超材料上海市重点实验室）
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…
The spatial coherence of laser sources has limited their application to parallel imaging and projection due to coherent artifacts, such as speckle. In contrast, traditional incoherent light sources, such as thermal sources or light emitting diodes (LEDs), provide relatively low power per independent spatial mode. Here, we present a chip-scale, electrically-pumped semiconductor laser based on a novel design, demonstrating high power per mode with much lower spatial coherence than conventional laser sources. The laser resonator was fabricated with a chaotic, D-shaped cavity optimized to achieve …
Self-heterodyne fiber interferometers have been shown to be capable of stabilizing lasers to ultra-narrow linewidths and present an excellent alternative to high finesse cavities for frequency stabilization. In addition to suppressing frequency noise, these devices are highly tunable, and can be manipulated to produce high speed frequency sweeps over the entire range of the laser. We present an analytic approach for choosing a delay-line length for both optimal noise suppression and highest in-loop frequency sweep rate. Using this model we have implemented a fiber-based active Michelson interf…
Quantum state transfer in optical microcavities plays an important role in quantum information processing, and is essential in many optical devices, such as optical frequency converter and diode. Existing schemes are effective and realized by tuning the coupling strengths between modes. However, such approaches are severely restricted due to the small amount of strength that can be tuned and the difficulty to perform the tuning in some situations, such as on-chip microcavity system. Here, we propose a novel approach that realizes the state transfer between different modes in optical microcavit…
Four-wave mixing (FWM) is an important nonlinear optical phenomenon that underlines many of the discoveries and device applications since the laser was invented. Examples include parametric amplification, mode-locked pulses and frequency combs, and in the quantum optics regime, entangled-photon generation, squeezed-state production and optical transduction from the visible to infrared wavelengths. For quantum dot systems, the basic understanding of FWM is limited by the conventional investigation method, which concentrates on the FWM susceptibility measured with optical amplifiers. This paper …
