Er-doped Waveguide Lasers Research Articles

Automatic feedback control of an Er-doped fiber laser with an intracavity loss modulator

Suppression of Q-switching instabilities with an actively controlled intracavity loss modulator is demonstrated in an Er-doped waveguide laser that is mode locked with a slow saturable absorber at repetition rates of as much as 100 MHz. By automatic gain control in the feedback loop, stable mode locking is achieved over the entire parameter range of the laser. This approach renders laser stabilization independent of the characteristics of the gain medium and intracavity power. The pulse-shaping dynamics is not affected by the presence of the intracavity loss modulator.

Introduction To The Feature Issue On Recent Advances In Lithium Niobate Optical Technology

HE functionality of waveguide and bulk LiNbO optical devices has increased dramatically over the past few years. Recent advances in the technologies of rare-earth doping and domain engineering in this material have demonstrated the potential for commercially attractive lasers and nonlinear optical sources which are compact, efficient, inexpensive, and manufacturable. These devices could find use in a wide range of applications including telecommunications, range finding, military counter measures, optical data storage, remote sensing, and reproduction graphics. Although there have been many excellent papers highlighting research into these various applications, the aim of the invited collection given here is to present work which illustrates the transition from research to potential commercialization. Readers are encouraged to explore the many references to related work cited in these papers. Highlights of the invited collection include the following. • Diffusion-doped Er:LiNbO waveguide laser sources that are packaged, pigtailed, and compatible with fiber sysPublisher Item Identifier S 0018-9197(97)07561-1. tems. This includes tunable lasers for WDM applications and pulsed lasers for soliton sources. • Bulk-doped Nd: and Er:LiNbO waveguide lasers illustrating active mode-locking and -switching. • Numerical modeling of -switched Er-doped waveguide lasers which may assist in the design of eye-safe rangefinding systems • Domain-engineered second harmonic generating sources in bulk and waveguide geometries for visible light generation with emphasis on stability of pump sources and packaging. • Domain-engineered optical parametric oscillators fabricated in bulk LiNbO that operate in the 3‐4- m range with greater than 3 W of CW output power.

Theoretical modeling of relaxation oscillations in Er-doped waveguide lasers

An analysis of relaxation oscillations (/spl lambda//sub s//spl sim/1.5 /spl mu/m) in locally Er-doped optically pumped (/spl lambda//sub p//spl sim/1.48 /spl mu/m) waveguide lasers is reported. The theoretical model is based on time dependent rate equations for a quasi-two-level-system and on the equation of continuity for a gain medium. For the first time a numerically reliable simulation of the elementary properties of the laser oscillations was possible: the build-up time and decay of the relaxation oscillations, the time-dependent repetition period, the steady state signal output power and the evolution of the pump power versus time. Mathematically the problem can be characterized as a large boundary value problem, which can approximately be replaced by a stiff initial value problem of ordinary differential equations. In this report, pump- and signal evolution versus time are presented for planar Er-diffused Ti:LiNbO/sub 3/ waveguide lasers. The numerically obtained results show a good quantitatively agreement with experimental investigations.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Special Issue on Nonlinear-Optic Waveguide Materials and Devices. Waveguide Laser and Amplifier.

Nd-and Er-doped waveguide lasers and amplifiers have recieved growing attention in recent years. This papar reviews on their lasing and amplification characteristics around 1.05, 1.35 and 1.55 μm. Their applications and future prospects are also reviewed briefly