Brillouin Fiber Ring Laser Research Articles

Sub-kilohertz Brillouin fiber laser with stabilized self-injection locked DFB pump laser

We report on experimental demonstration of a low-cost sub-kilohertz Brillouin fiber ring laser pumped from an actively stabilized self-injection locked distributed feedback (DFB) laser diode. Locking of the commercial DFB laser to a ~11-m-length high-Q-factor fiber-optic ring cavity leads to ~10,000-fold narrowing of the laser Lorentzian linewidth down to 400 Hz. Such pump laser operation inside the ring cavity forces the cavity to host Brillouin lasing enabling the laser threshold power as low as ~1.5 mW. The laser operation is perfectly stabilized by active optoelectronic feedback driven by a simple microcontroller. The laser delivers radiation at Stokes frequency with the Lorentzian linewidth reduced down to ~75 Hz and a phase noise less than –100 dBc/Hz (>30 kHz). The reported laser configuration is of great interest for many laser applications where a narrow sub-kHz linewidth, simple design and low cost are important.

Stable self-pulsing regime in a Brillouin ring fiber laser cavity

This study reports that when solving by full integration a set of coupled ordinary differential equations that describe the spatial evolution of the guided pump and Stokes powers caused by stimulated Brillouin scattering in the regime of pump depletion, a structure of regular pulses emerge from the output of a Brillouin laser cavity characterized as a stable self-pulsing regime. The dependence of this self-pulsing mechanism on the laser cavity length, the coupling factor, and the pump power is investigated revealing the existence of three regimes: no lasing, continuous, and self-pulsing. When compared to records in the scientific literature, this is the first time, to the best of the author’s knowledge, that a stable self-pulsing regime is reported theoretically. Furthermore, we also demonstrated the pumping depletion during the formation of the self-pulsing regime. These results provide not only a better understanding of the dynamics of self-pulsing regimes in a fiber laser cavity but also the possibility of unlocking the mechanisms responsible for the formation of stable pulse trains in a Brillouin fiber-ring laser.

Relative intensity noise in a multi-Stokes Brillouin laser.

We investigate the relative intensity noise (RIN) properties of a multi-Stokes Brillouin fiber ring laser. We experimentally analyse the intensity noise of each Stokes wave and study the noise dynamics of the cascaded Brillouin scattering process. We observe up to 20 dB/Hz intensity noise reduction compared to that of the RIN input pump laser. We examine the impact of the fiber ring quality factor on the laser RIN features such as amplitude reduction and relaxation frequency. We also investigate the influence of the Brillouin gain detuning on the RIN reduction. A numerical model based on a set of coupled-mode equations replicates the experimental observations. Our study enables us to determine the optimal parameter values to operate the multi-Stokes laserin the low noise regime.

Tunable single Stokes extraction from 20 GHz Brillouin fiber laser using ultranarrow bandwidth optical filter.

The individual extraction of a Brillouin Stokes line from a 20 GHz comb generated from the compact configuration of a multiwavelength Brillouin fiber ring laser configuration has been achieved using an ultranarrow bandwidth (UNB) optical filter. The narrowest bandwidth transmission of a UNB optical filter that is 50 pm is used in order to get particular Stokes. The Stokes filtered is in the wavelength range of 1549.768-1551.016 nm. High SNR within the range of 54.97-11.73 dB with almost nil peak power loss being obtained was monitored by a 0.16 pm optical spectrum analyzer, giving convincing results. Relatively, the proposed configuration could provide wide tunability and narrow selection of the Brillouin Stokes.

In-band optical signal-to-noise ratio monitoring technique based on Brillouin fiber ring laser

We propose an improved technique for in-band optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) monitoring based on a Brillouin fiber ring laser seeded by the optical channel to be monitored. This technique shows a reduction of the required input power into the monitor along with a large and tunable dynamic OSNR monitoring range. It is demonstrated experimentally and numerically for various bit rates and modulation formats.

Tunable microwave generation based on a Brillouin fiber ring laser and reflected pump

A simple approach for photonic generation of a tunable microwave signal is proposed and successfully demonstrated. By mixing the output from a single-longitudinal-mode Brillouin fiber ring laser with the reflected laser pump at photodetector, a microwave signal at the Brillouin shift can be obtained. Since the Brillouin shift can be changed by tuning the pump wavelength, tunable microwave can be generated. As a result a microwave signal tunable from 10.39 to 10.67 GHz has been achieved, with linewidth less than 600 KHz.

Temperature sensing in multiple zones based on Brillouin fiber ring laser

A simple system for sensing temperature in multiple zones based on a multi-wavelength Brillouin fiber laser ring is presented. Optical fiber reels are serially concatenated and divided in zones (one per sensing area). Setting the Brillouin lasing in each spool of fiber generates a characteristic wavelength that depends on the fiber properties and the temperature in the zone. Thus, it is possible to measure temperature independently and accurately through heterodyne detection between two narrow laser signals. The proposed sensor integrates the temperature along the whole spool of fiber in each zone. These real time measurements were successfully checked in our laboratory.

高效布里渊光纤环形激光器

A high-efficiency Brillouin fiber ring laser is demonstrated using the standard single-mode fiber. The laser exhibits a 3.6-mW threshold. The output power is 22 mW with 40-mW pump power, and the maximum optical-to-optical efficiency is 55%. The output is single wavelength with a 3-dB linewidth of 5 MHz, and the interval of center frequency between the laser and the pump light is 11 GHz (0.088 nm). It is shown that the stimulated Brillouin scattering threshold of ring resonator is lower and the energy transfer efficiency is higher than those in fiber.

Experimental investigation of relative intensity noise in Brillouin fiber ring lasers for microwave photonics applications

Intensity noise characteristics of a single-mode Brillouin fiber ring laser are experimentally analyzed from 100 kHz up to 18 GHz. The Stokes wave is shown to be shot-noise limited to -155 dB/Hz for a 1 mA detected photocurrent over the whole spectral range 100 MHz-18 GHz. The pump-to-Stokes noise filtering efficiency is evaluated by artificially increasing the pump intensity noise. It evidences that a shot-noise-limited Brillouin laser could be realized by using a narrow-linewidth semiconductor laser pump, for stringent microwave photonics applications.

Highly stable low-noise Brillouin fiber laser with ultranarrow spectral linewidth

We demonstrate an all-fiber high-power single-frequency Brillouin fiber ring laser with maximum power of 100 mW at 1.55 mum, which is actively stabilized by using the Pound-Drever-Hall frequency-locking scheme. Significant reduction (~20dB) of both relative intensity noise and frequency noise was observed in the Brillouin Stokes radiation as compared with those noises of its pump source, a narrow-linewidth Er-doped fiber laser. Ultranarrow spectral linewidth of the Brillouin fiber lasers was investigated by both delayed self-heterodyne technique and heterodyne beat technique between two independent Brillouin fiber lasers

CW-pumped polarization-maintaining Brillouin fiber ring laser: II. Active mode-locking by phase modulation

Stimulated Brillouin backscattering in a cw-pumped long optical polarization-maintaining fiber ring cavity excites spontaneous stable mode-locking. But the shortest pulses allowed by the Brillouin gain bandwidth imply an active mode-locking, which we have achieved by using a phase modulator inside the ring. The experiment is carried out in the infrared at 1.319μm, and in narrow frequency domains, close to N integer multiples of the ring FSR, we observe two type of mode-locking: either a maximum compression of the Brillouin solitons, or a stable splitting into N equally spaced pulses. Case N=3 is more detailed. Experiment implies a slight polarization modulation by the phase modulation. Simulations carried out through the coherent three-wave model are in very good agreement for both mode-locking mechanisms. Introduction of a small amplitude modulation together with the intra-cavity phase modulation satisfactorily explains the stable splitting domain as well as the compression domain.

CW-pumped polarization-maintaining Brillouin fiber ring laser: I. Self-structuration of Brillouin solitons

Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) of a cw-pump in a long optical fiber ring cavity generates for a given gain G, below a critical feedback Rcrit, a backward soliton Stokes pulse at the roundtrip repetition rate, through resonant three-wave interaction between the optical pump wave and backward Stokes wave, and a high frequency (GHz) axial acoustic wave. In Part I, we perform a systematic experimental and numerical exploration of the whole soliton localisation domain for a large set of (G,R) parameters, in a polarization-maintaining Brillouin fiber ring laser in the best conditions of stability and coherence, and we confirm the excellent quantitative agreement of the coherent three-wave model and the experiments.

Brillouin fiber laser pumped by a DFB laser diode

In this paper, we present a novel Brillouin fiber-ring laser utilizing an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer (UMZI) as coupling device. The laser is pumped by a distributed-feedback laser diode and shows continuous-wave and single-frequency operation. Frequency-dependent transmission characteristics of the UMZI make it possible for the pump wave to pass through the laser-ring cavity with no resonance effect for stable pump operation, while the Brillouin laser signal still resonates in a high-finesse cavity. Single and multiple longitudinal mode operations are observed according to the relative location between longitudinal modes and Brillouin gain-curve center. A stable single-frequency operation is achieved using a simple stabilizing feedback loop based on dithering and autotracking techniques. Using this simple stabilizing feedback loop, the laser-intensity fluctuation is highly suppressed and remains below 4%. The Brillouin output converted from the pump power of 26.4 mW is about 3.18 mW, and the linewidth is measured to be below 1 kHz.

Superluminous three-wave solitary brillouin structures

Self-similar deformation of three-wave stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) dissipative structures ("Brillouin quasi-solitons") yields superluminous behaviors. The authors discuss the relevancy of the various velocities involved in the nonlinear propagation of such complex structures, both in the ideal semi-infinite case and in a real-world Brillouin fiber ring laser experiment. Optical and acoustical group velocities greater than c are shown to occur during pulse propagation in SBS soliton lasers.

Intensity noise in Brillouin fiber ring lasers

The intensity noise properties of Brillouin fiber ring lasers are investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The fluctuating parameters that have the dominant influence on laser intensity noise are the pump rate and the cavity reinjection rate. The transfer functions that relate the laser intensity noise to the fluctuations of these parameters are determined in a theoretical study that is performed within the framework of the usual three-wave model of stimulated Brillouin scattering. The theoretical predictions are confirmed by experiments performed in a Brillouin fiber ring laser operating in a low-finesse cavity. Finally, the ability of all-fiber Brillouin lasers to reduce intensity noise of pump sources is discussed.

Experimental and theoretical study of linewidth narrowing in Brillouin fiber ring lasers

In Brillouin fiber lasers, the phase fluctuations of the pump laser are transferred to the emitted Stokes field after being strongly reduced. The result is a linewidth narrowing that we study both experimentally and theoretically. We derive simple expressions to connect the linewidths of the waves interacting in the fiber, and we show that the magnitude of the narrowing effect depends only on the acoustic damping rate and the cavity loss rate. We successfully compare these theoretical predictions with experimental results obtained by recording the response of a Brillouin fiber ring laser to frequency modulation of the pump field.

20-km distributed temperature sensor based on spontaneous Brillouin scattering

We report on a novel experimental setup for distributed measurement of temperature, based on spontaneous Brillouin scattering in optical fiber. We have developed a mode-locked Brillouin fiber ring laser in order to generate the dual frequency source required for a heterodyne detection of the backscattered signal. This relatively simple system enables temperature measurements over 20 km with a spatial resolution of 7 m.

Linewidth narrowing in Brillouin lasers: Theoretical analysis

The linewidth narrowing observed in Brillouin fiber ring lasers is studied within the framework of the usual three-wave model of stimulated Brillouin scattering. We show that the phase noise of the pump laser is transferred to the emitted Stokes wave after being strongly reduced and smoothed under the combined influence of the acoustic damping and the cavity feedback. We then derive a simple analytical relation connecting the full width at half maximum of the Stokes linewidth to that of the pump laser.

Self-pulsing and dynamic bistability in cw-pumped Brillouin fiber ring lasers

The nonlinear dynamics of cw-pumped Brillouin long-fiber ring lasers that contain a large number of longitudinal modes N beneath the Brillouin gain curve is controlled by a single parameter, namely, the Stokes feedback R. Below Rcrit, a stable train of dissipative solitonic pulses is spontaneously structured at the round-trip frequency fr without any additional intracavity mode locking. Experimental observations in cw-pumped fiber ring cavities, supported by numerical simulation in a coherent space–time three-wave model that includes the optical Kerr effect, prove the universality of the self-pulsing mechanism. Stability analysis shows that below Rcrit the steady Brillouin mirror regime is destabilized through a Hopf bifurcation. For R<Rcrit<R0 the bifurcation is supercritical and exhibits an asymptotically monostable oscillatory regime at twice fr for high enough N or at fr for lower N, in a finite transition region. For R0<R<Rcrit, the bifurcation is subcritical and exhibits dynamic bistability between the steady and the pulsed regimes in a finite hysteresis region whose width is proportional to the Kerr parameter. For R small enough, the cavity longitudinal modes merge into a dissipative solitonic Brillouin pulse: the dynamic three-wave model yields self-structured asymptotically stable trains of pulses for any initial conditions, in fair quantitative agreement (for pulse width, intensity, shape, and period) with the experiments in the entire self-pulsing domain. Amplification of spontaneous emission breaks down the stable-pulse regime in long devices (i.e., high N), so the fiber noise amplitude is higher than the coherent amplitude that separates two consecutive pulses.

Polarization dynamics of a Brillouin fiber ring laser

The usual three-wave description of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in birefringent fibers is revised by considering that the pump beam is not necessarily linearly polarized parallel to one of the main axes. The equations obtained govern the dynamics of SBS in a polarization maintaining fiber whatever the state of polarization of the light. A model describing the polarization dynamics of a Brillouin fiber ring laser is then obtained by completing these equations by appropriate boundary conditions. For various orientations of the fiber axes and various polarizations of the incident pump beam, the behaviors of a short-length Brillouin laser are finally studied by numerical simulations that are systematically compared to experimental results.