Q-switched Pulse Generation Research Articles

Black phosphorus flakes covered microfiber for Q-switched ytterbium-doped fiber laser

We demonstrate a passively Q-switched ytterbium-doped fiber laser based on black phosphorus (BP) flakes covered microfiber. The BP saturable absorber is fabricated by sandwiching a microfiber between two pieces of polydimethylsiloxane supported BP flakes film, which is prepared by the mechanical exfoliation method. In this case the BP flakes can be well protected from the action of air and moisture. By incorporating BP flakes covered microfiber into a ytterbium-doped ring fiber laser, stable and reliable Q-switched operation at 1064 nm can be realized via interaction between few-layers BP flakes and the evanescent field of the laser. The laser allows Q-switched pulse generation with a repetition rate in the range of 26-76 kHz and a pulse duration in the range of 5.5-2.0 μs, by varying the pump power from 38 mW to 100 mW.

Genetic algorithm-based control of birefringent filtering for self-tuning, self-pulsing fiber lasers.

Polarization-based filtering in fiber lasers is well-known to enable spectral tunability and a wide range of dynamical operating states. This effect is rarely exploited in practical systems, however, because optimization of cavity parameters is nontrivial and evolves due to environmental sensitivity. Here, we report a genetic algorithm-based approach, utilizing electronic control of the cavity transfer function, to autonomously achieve broad wavelength tuning and the generation of Q-switched pulses with variable repetition rate and duration. The practicalities and limitations of simultaneous spectral and temporal self-tuning from a simple fiber laser are discussed, paving the way to on-demand laser properties through algorithmic control and machine learning schemes.

Graphene Oxide saturable absorber for generating eye-safe Q-switched fiber laser

This paper reports the generation of Q-switched fiber laser using thulium doped fiber (TDF) as a gain medium and graphene oxide (GO) as a saturable absorber (SA). The GO powder is embedded into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to form an SA film based on a drop-casting technique. GO-SA film is sandwiched between two fiber connectors and tighten by FC adapter before it is incorporated into an TDF laser cavity for Q-switching pulse generation. At 344 mW pump level, a stable Q-switching regime presence at 1943 nm with a 3-dB spectral bandwidth of 9 nm. The maximum repetition rate, pulse width, and pulse energy are at 25 kHz, 4.2 µs, and 0.68 µJ, respectively. All finding results are comparable with other reported pulse fiber lasers.

Emerging Low-Dimensional Materials for Nonlinear Optics and Ultrafast Photonics.

Low-dimensional (LD) materials demonstrate intriguing optical properties, which lead to applications in diverse fields, such as photonics, biomedicine and energy. Due to modulation of electronic structure by the reduced structural dimensionality, LD versions of metal, semiconductor and topological insulators (TIs) at the same time bear distinct nonlinear optical (NLO) properties as compared with their bulk counterparts. Their interaction with short pulse laser excitation exhibits a strong nonlinear character manifested by NLO absorption, giving rise to optical limiting or saturated absorption associated with excited state absorption and Pauli blocking in different materials. In particular, the saturable absorption of these emerging LD materials including two-dimensional semiconductors as well as colloidal TI nanoparticles has recently been utilized for Q-switching and mode-locking ultra-short pulse generation across the visible, near infrared and middle infrared wavelength regions. Beside the large operation bandwidth, these ultrafast photonics applications are especially benefit from the high recovery rate as well as the facile processibility of these LD materials. The prominent NLO response of these LD materials have also provided new avenues for the development of novel NLO and photonics devices for all-optical control as well as optical circuits beyond ultrafast lasers.

All-fiber multi-wavelength passive Q-switched Er/Yb fiber laser based on a Tm-doped fiber saturable absorber

We report on a ring cavity, multi-wavelength, passive Q-switched erbium–ytterbium double cladding fiber laser based on the use of an unpumped segment of Tm-doped fiber acting as a saturable absorber for passive Q-switched pulse generation and a wavelength filter for multi-wavelength laser generation. By performing pump power variations from 1.6 to 9.8 W, stable Q-switched laser pulses are observed in a repetition rate from 135.8 to 27.5 kHz at room temperature. With a maximal repetition rate of 135.8 kHz, the minimum pulse duration of 430 ns is obtained. The maximal average output power of 2.2 W is reached with a pump power of 9.8 W. The maximum pulse energy was 16.4 µJ and the average output power slope efficiency is ~24.8%. The obtained results demonstrate a laser performance with extended range of high repetition rate and improved stability.

Submicrosecond Q-Switching Er-Doped All-Fiber Ring Laser Based on Black Phosphorus

Black phosphorus (BP), a new two-dimensional (2D) material, has been deeply developed for extensive applications in electronics and optoelectronics due to its similar physical structure to graphene and thickness dependent direct band gap. Here, we demonstrated a submicrosecond passive Q-switching Er-doped fiber laser with BP as saturable absorber (SA). The BP saturable absorber was fabricated by mechanical exfoliation method. By taking full advantage of the ultrafast relaxation time of BP-SA and careful design of compact ring cavity, we obtained stable Q-switching pulses output with a shortest duration as narrow as 742 ns. With increasing the pump power, the pulse repetition rate accreted gradually almost linearly from 9.78 to 61.25 kHz, and the pulse duration declined rapidly at lower pump power regime and retained approximate stationary at higher pump power regime from 3.05 to 0.742 μs. The experimental results indicate that BP-SA can be an effective SA for nanosecond Q-switching pulse generation.

Diode-pumped Alexandrite lasers in Q-switched and cavity-dumped Q-switched operation.

We present the first study of Q-switched Alexandrite lasers under continuous-wave diode-pumping with operation up to 10 kHz repetition rates in TEM00, with spatial quality M2 1.15. With a pulsed-diode dual-end-pumped design, pulse energy is scaled to a record level of 3 mJ. We also demonstrate, for the first time, cavity-dumped Q-switching of diode-pumped Alexandrite lasers under continuous-wave and pulsed diode-pumping, up to 10 kHz. Pulse energy of 510 μJ is demonstrated with 3 ns pulse duration and 170 kW peak power, in TEM00 with M2 < 1.2. Second harmonic generation of the cavity-dumped Q-switched pulses was used to generate UV wavelength 379 nm with conversion efficiency of 47%.

All-polarization-maintaining-fiber laser Q-switched by evanescent field interaction with Sb2Te3saturable absorber

We report on the generation of 152-nJ Q-switched pulses in all-polarization-maintaining Er-doped fiber laser. The laser is passively modulated by the antimony telluride (Sb2Te3) layer sputtered on a surface of the side-polished fiber in order to exploit the evanescent field interaction in optically nonlinear material. The laser cavity is designed in an extremely simple way comprising, in addition to fibers, only one component and the saturable absorber, forming a robust, compact, and stable source of short pulses. The repetition rate might be tuned from 42 kHz up to 132 kHz. The shortest recorded pulse duration was the 857 ns.

PMMA-doped CdSe quantum dots as saturable absorber in a Q-switched all-fiber laser

We demonstrate the generation of Q-switched pulses from an ytterbium-doped fiber laser (YDFL) using quantum dot (QD) CdSe as a passive saturable absorber (SA). The CdSe QD is fabricated by the synthesis of CdO, Se, and manganese acetate and paraffin oil and oleic acid as the solvent and surfactant, respectively. The CdSe QD is then doped into poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) via an emulsion polymerization process. A PMMA-hosted CdSe QD thin flake with a homogeneous end surface is then formed and placed between two ferrules and assembled in a YDFL cavity to achieve the Q-switching operation with a repetition rate of 24.45 to 40.50 kHz while varying the pump power from 975 to 1196 mW. The pulse width changes from 6.78 to 3.65 μs with a maximum calculated pulse energy at 0.77 μJ at a pump power of 1101 mW. This work may be the first demonstration of CdSe QD-based Q-switching in an all-fiber configuration that should give proportional insight into semiconductor QD materials in photonics applications.

Broadband and enhanced nonlinear optical response of MoS2/graphene nanocomposites for ultrafast photonics applications.

Due to their relatively high compatibility with specific photonic structures, strong light-matter interactions and unique nonlinear optical response, two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides, are attractive for ultrafast photonics applications. Here, we fabricate MoS2/graphene nanocomposites by a typical hydrothermal method. In addition, we systematically investigate their nonlinear optical responses. Our experiments indicate that the combined advantages of ultrafast relaxation, a broadband response from graphene, and the strong light-matter interaction from MoS2, can be integrated together by composition. The optical properties in terms of carrier relaxation dynamics, saturation intensity and modulation depth suggest great potential for the MoS2/graphene nanocomposites in photonics applications. We have further fabricated 2D nanocomposites based optical saturable absorbers and integrated them into a 1.5 μm Erbium-doped fiber laser to demonstrate Q-switched and mode-locked pulse generation. The fabrication of 2D nanocomposites assembled from different types of 2D materials, via this simple and scalable growth approach, paves the way for the formation and tuning of new 2D materials with desirable photonic properties and applications.

Polarization and Thickness Dependent Absorption Properties of Black Phosphorus: New Saturable Absorber for Ultrafast Pulse Generation.

Black phosphorus (BP) has recently been rediscovered as a new and interesting two-dimensional material due to its unique electronic and optical properties. Here, we study the linear and nonlinear optical properties of BP flakes. We observe that both the linear and nonlinear optical properties are anisotropic and can be tuned by the film thickness in BP, completely different from other typical two-dimensional layered materials (e.g., graphene and the most studied transition metal dichalcogenides). We then use the nonlinear optical properties of BP for ultrafast (pulse duration down to ~786 fs in mode-locking) and large-energy (pulse energy up to >18 nJ in Q-switching) pulse generation in fiber lasers at the near-infrared telecommunication band ~1.5 μm. We observe that the output of our BP based pulsed lasers is linearly polarized (with a degree-of-polarization ~98% in mode-locking, >99% in Q-switching, respectively) due to the anisotropic optical property of BP. Our results underscore the relatively large optical nonlinearity of BP with unique polarization and thickness dependence, and its potential for polarized optical pulse generation, paving the way to BP based nonlinear and ultrafast photonic applications (e.g., ultrafast all-optical polarization switches/modulators, frequency converters etc.).

Gold nanoparticles as a saturable absorber for visible 635 nm Q-switched pulse generation

Gold nanoparticle (GNP) possesses saturable absorption bands in the visible region induced by surface plasmon resonance (SPR). We firstly applied the GNP as a visible saturable absorber (SA) for the red Q-switched pulse generation. The GNPs were embedded in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) for film-forming and inserted into a praseodymium (Pr(3+))-doped fiber laser cavity to achieve 635 nm passive Q-switching. The visible 635 nm Q-switched fiber laser has a wide range of pulse-repetition-rate from 285.7 to 546.4 kHz, and a narrow pulse width of 235 ns as well as the maximum output power of 11.1 mW. The results indicate that the GNPs-based SA is available for pulsed operation in the visible spectral range.

Passively Q-switched fiber lasers using a multi-walled carbon nanotube polymer composite based saturable absorber

We demonstrate a simple, compact and low cost Q-switched fiber lasers based on Erbium-doped fiber (EDF) and Thulium-doped fiber (TDF) to operate at 1534.5nm and 1846.4nm, respectively by exploiting a multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) polymer composite film based saturable absorber (SA). The composite is prepared by mixing the MWCNTs homogeneous solution into a dilute polyvinyl alcohol polymer solution before it is left to dry at room temperature to produce thin film. Then the film is sandwiched between two FC/PC fiber connectors and integrated into the laser cavity for Q-switching pulse generation. The EDF laser generates a stable pulse train with repetition rates ranging from 38.11kHz to 48.22kHz by varying the 980nm pump power from 39.0mW to 65.3mW. At the 65.3mW pump power, the pulse width and pulse energy were 5.3μs and 99.75nJ, respectively. The TDF laser generates a stable pulse train with 10.38kHz repetition rate, 17.52μs pulse width and 11.34nJ pulse energy at 121.1mW 800nm pump power. A higher performance Q switching is expected to be achieved in both fiber lasers with the optimization of the SA and laser cavity.

Q-SWITCHED THULIUM-DOPED FIBER LASER AT 2 MICRON REGION BY 802 NM PUMPING

An 1892.4 nm ultrafast passive Q-switched fiber laser is demonstrated by using Thulium-doped fiber (TDF) in conjunction with a multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as a saturable absorber (SA). The MWCNTs film is sandwiched between two FC/PC fiber connectors and integrated into the laser cavity with 802 nm pump for Q-switching pulse generation. The pulse repetition rate can be tuned from 3.8 to 4.6 kHz while the corresponding pulse width reduces from 22.1 to 18.4 μs as the pump power is increased from 187.3 to 194.2 mW. A higher performance Q-switched Thulium-doped fiber laser (TDFL) is expected to be achieved with the optimization of the MWCNT-SA saturable absorber and laser cavity.

Q‐switched thulium–ytterbium co‐doped fibre laser using newly developed octagonal shaped inner cladding double‐clad active fibre and multi‐walled carbon nanotubes passive saturable absorber

Simple and low cost passive Q-switched thulium–ytterbium co-doped fibre lasers (TYFL) operating at 1977.5 nm is demonstrated using 905 nm multimode pumping, in conjunction with a multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) saturable absorber. It uses a new octagonal shaped double-clad thulium ytterbium co-doped fibre, manufactured using a modified chemical vapour deposition process and a solution doping. The Tm3+ and Yb3+ cladding absorptions of the fibre are 0.325 and 3.3 dB/m at 790 nm and 976 nm, respectively. The MWCNTs composite is prepared by mixing the MWCNTs homogeneous solution with a diluted polyvinyl alcohol polymer solution before it is left to dry at room temperature to produce thin film. The film is sandwiched between two fibre connectors and integrated into the laser cavity for Q-switching pulse generation. The repetition rate of the Q-switching pulse can be tuned from 18.8 to 50.6 kHz while the pulse width reduces from 8.6 to 1.0 µs as the pump power increases from 1.6 to 2.3 W. At the pump power of 2.1 W, the TYFL produces the maximum pulse energy of 5.7 nJ.

Passively Q-switched nanosecond erbium-doped fiber laser with MoS_2 saturable absorber

Passively Q-switched nanosecond pulsed erbium-doped fiber laser based on MoS(2) saturable absorber (SA) is experimentally demonstrated. The high quality MoS(2) SA deposited on the broadband high-reflectivity mirror with a large modulation depth of 9% was prepared by pulsed laser deposition method. By inserting the MoS(2) SA into an erbium-doped fiber laser, stable Q-switched operation can be achieved with the shortest pulse width of 660 ns, the maximum pulse energy up to 152 nJ and pulse repetition rates varying from 116 to 131 kHz. The experimental results further verify that MoS(2) possesses the potential advantage for stable Q-switched pulse generation at 1.5 μm.

Gold nanorod as saturable absorber for Q-switched Yb-doped fiber laser

We reported on the generation of Q-switched pulse in an Yb-doped fiber laser by using a filmy polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based gold nanorods (GNRs) saturable absorber (SA). The GNRs are synthesized through seed-mediated method whose longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption peak is located at 1038nm. The modulation depth of the GNRs SA is ∼4.06%. By gradually increasing the pump power from 62mW to 128mW, the repetition rate of Q-switched pulse increases from 8.78kHz to 20.78kHz and the pulse duration decreases from 9.43μs to 3.65μs. In addition, the dual-wavelength switchable Q-switched operation was also observed. The obtained results further expand the applications of GNRs SA to the field of Q-switched pulsed fiber lasers at 1.0μm waveband.

Experimental investigation on Q-switching and Q-switched mode-locking operation in gold nanorods-based erbium-doped fiber laser

We report on the generation of Q-switched and Q-switched mode-locked (QML) pulses in an erbium-doped fiber ring laser by using a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) -based gold nanorod (GNR) saturable absorber (SA). The PVA-based GNR SA has a modulation depth of ∼4.8% and a non-saturable loss of ∼26.9% at 1.5 μm. A Q-switched pulse train with a repetition rate varying from 18.70 to 39.85 kHz and a QML pulse train with an envelope repetition rate tuning from 20.31 to 31.50 kHz are obtained. Moreover, the lasing wavelengths of the Q-switched pulses can be flexibly tuned by introducing a narrow bandwidth, tunable filter into the laser cavity. The results demonstrate that the GNRs exhibit good optical performance and can find a wide range of applications in the field of laser technology.

Q-Switching Pulse Generation with Thulium-Doped Fiber Saturable Absorber

A simple Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) is proposed and demonstrated by using a 2-m-long thulium-doped fiber (TDF) as a passive saturable absorber (SA). The EDFL generates a Q-switching pulse operating at 1557.6 nm at a threshold pump power as low as 20.0 mW. The Q-switching operation is maintained before disappearance when the pump power is above 33.7 mW. This is due to the fact that the TDF SA could not fully recover in time after a pulse and less gain population is excited before the next pulsing. With the SA, the laser produces a stable pulse train with repetition rate ranging from 3.9 to 12.7 kHz and the pulse width reduces from 20.6 to 7.4 μs while varying the 1480 nm pump power from 20 mW to 33.7 mW. The maximum pulse energy of 22.8 nJ is obtained at a pump power of 20.0 mW. The laser is perspective for technology processes and medicine.

Stable high-energy Q-switched resonantly diode-pumped Er:YAG laser at 1645 nm

We demonstrate the generation of a stable high-energy Q-switched resonantly diode-pumped Er:YAG laser at 1645nm in passive and active operation modes. For the passively Q-switched Er:YAG laser, the bi-layer graphene saturable absorber (SA), which was transferred onto the highly reflective cavity mirror by an improved method, was applied to deliver a stable pulse train with per-pulse energy of about 0.1mJ. While in the active operation mode, the voltage-ON-type rubidium titanyl phosphate (RTP) Pockels cell as an electro-optic (EO) Q-switcher allows for the generation of a stable Q-switched pulse with per-pulse energy of up to 7.5mJ. Our work may provide a basis for the development of a high-energy Er:YAG laser at 1645nm to fulfill specific applications.