Cylindrical vector beam generation from a passively mode-locked Raman fiber laser

Abstract

We experimentally investigate cylindrical vector beam (CVB) generation from a passively mode-locked Raman fiber laser. The mode-locked Raman fiber lasers based on nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR), utilize the Raman gain resulted from the stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) effect in passive fibers, instead of stimulated emission amplification of active fibers in conventional mode-locked fiber lasers. With a mode-selective coupler (MSC) incorporated into the mode-locked Raman fiber laser, the generation of CVBs has been realized. In experiment, using a Raman pump source of 1454 nm, mode-locked CVB output with central wavelength of 1562 nm was obtained. The output polarization state can be switched between the radial and azimuthal polarization states, and the beam purity is above 90%. Due to the broadband Raman gain in optical fiber, the CVB output with the desired wavelength is available in principle by selecting a suitable pump source. This kind of flexible wavelength CVB Raman fiber laser may have potential applications in optical communications and fiber optics.