Broadband Passively Mode-Locked Fiber Laser with DNA Aqueous Solution as Saturable Absorber

Mijin Kim,Kwanil Lee,Dal-Young Kim,Sang Bae Lee,Jeong Je Kim,Wonsuk Lee

doi:10.3390/app11219871

Abstract

We demonstrate a passively mode-locked fiber laser using aqueous DNA solution as a saturable absorber (SA), with broadband pulse laser emission from 1 to 1.5 µm. The mode-locked laser with erbium-doped fiber as the gain material has a center wavelength of 1563 nm, a 3 dB bandwidth of 3.9 nm, and a pulse width of 822 fs, whereas the laser with ytterbium-doped fiber as the gain material and an identical DNA aqueous SA has a center wavelength of 1037 nm, a 3 dB bandwidth of 5.04 nm, and a pulse width of 250 ps. The proposed laser, which is simple and cost effective to fabricate, exhibits excellent long-term stability as well as thermal stability during high-power operation. This mode-locked laser scheme with a liquid-phase DNA component has the potential to provide in-depth understanding of the optical nonlinearity and usefulness of DNA.

Highlights

Ultrafast pulse lasers are suitable for thermal damage- and particle-free micromachining/fabrication, as well as being precise enough for optical measurement and surgical treatment in the biomedical field [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Such pulses are frequently generated through passive mode locking using a passive nonlinear optical component, such as a saturable absorber (SA), in a fiber laser system [7,8,9,10]
Besides providing crucial genetic information, DNA is of great interest among researchers even outside the biomedical field because of its numerous interesting properties that can be exploited in various fields

Summary

Introduction

Ultrafast pulse lasers are suitable for thermal damage- and particle-free micromachining/fabrication, as well as being precise enough for optical measurement and surgical treatment in the biomedical field [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Such pulses are frequently generated through passive mode locking using a passive nonlinear optical component, such as a saturable absorber (SA), in a fiber laser system [7,8,9,10]. The high optical nonlinearity and lyotropic chirality of DNA have been discovered [23,24,25], and Khazaeinezhad et al reported an ultrafast laser pulse using a solid-state DNA SA [26]

Methods

Results

Conclusion