Intracavity Polarization Controller Research Articles

976-nm pulse-type switchable all-fiber mode-locked laser based upon nonlinear multimode interference

A 976-nm pulse-type switchable mode-locked fiber laser is experimentally demonstrated, for the first time to our knowledge, with a single mode fiber-graded index multimode fiber-single mode fiber (SMF-GIMF-SMF) structure-based saturable absorber (SA). The GIMF is bent into a given state to strengthen its effect on establishing mode-locking. By adjusting the intra-cavity polarization controller, the switching between dissipative solitons (DSs) and noise-like pulses (NLPs) can be achieved. Meanwhile, we also realize a second harmonic mode-locking (HML) in the same laser cavity. The laser provides a solution to realize 976 nm mode-locking operation with a simple and low-cost configuration and can serve as a potential tool for various applications.

Real-time evolution dynamics during transitions between different dissipative soliton states in a single fiber laser.

Various dissipative soliton solutions exist in the parameter space of mode-locked fiber lasers, including both coherent and incoherent pulses. Novel ultrafast laser designs can lead to distinctive dissipative soliton solutions formed by unique pulse shaping dynamics in the same cavity. However, transitionary states in between steady-state mode-locked regimes remain largely unexplored. Here, we investigate the intermediate transition dynamics in a versatile Tm-doped fiber laser capable of emitting both dissipative solitons with anomalous-dispersion and normal-dispersion pulse-shaping mechanisms by adjusting an intracavity polarization controller. Real-time pulse dynamics during mode-locking transitions are analyzed with a modified dispersive Fourier transform setup, illustrating characteristic pulse shaping mechanisms typically reserved for different dispersion regimes. Combined with a spectral intensity correlation analysis, the coherence evolution between two distinct mode-locked states is fully resolved for the first time.

Multi-pulse dynamic patterns in a mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser based on an Sb2S3-PVA saturable absorber

Multi-pulse dynamic patterns have been experimentally documented in a passively mode-locked (PML) erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser using an Sb2S3-PVA saturable absorber (SA). The fundamental mode-locking operation, with a repetition rate of ∼3.22 MHz, a pulse width of ∼2.5 ps, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of ∼50 dB and a peak power over 200 W, was achieved under a pump power from 280 to 360 mW with appropriate polarization states introduced by the polarization controllers (PCs). By rotating the orientation of the intra-cavity PCs carefully and slowly at a pump power of 350 mW, it was found that a multi-pulse bunch was transformed gradually from a single-pulse to a twelve-pulse bunch, with several intermediate transition states of multi-pulse bunches being observed. In addition, other characteristic modes including disordered multi-pulses and soliton rains have been experimentally observed by meticulously adjusting the polarization states of PCs at a pump power of 350 mW. Our systematic study clearly demonstrates that Sb2S3 has potential as an effective SA for generating different operation states of multi-pulses in PML anomalous-dispersion EDF lasers.

Dispersion Management Nonlinear Multimode Interference Mode-Locked Ytterbium Fiber Laser.

Dispersion management plays an important role in improving the output performance of a mode-locked fiber laser. Therefore, dispersion management is carried out by introducing the grating pair in our experiment. Through adjusting the distance between the grating pair, mode-locked pulses corresponding to different dispersion regimes can be realized, which typically range from soliton state in the anomalous dispersion regime to the dissipative soliton format in the normal dispersion regime. Furthermore, tunable spectrum distribution can be achieved by adjusting two intra-cavity polarization controllers. The proposed dispersion management method complements mode-locking techniques based on nonlinear multimode interference (NL-MMI). The laser can operate with self-start mode locking stably and is useful for practice applications.

Generation and vector features of pulsating dissipative-soliton-resonance pulses in a figure-of-eight fiber laser

Pulsation, as one of the most distinctive nonlinear phenomena, exists in versatile fields. Pulsating solitons in dissipative optical systems have received considerable research interest due to their wealthy nonlinear dynamics and potential applications. Here, we demonstrate the generation of pulsating vector dissipative-soliton-resonance (DSR) pulses in an ytterbium-doped fiber laser based on a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror, for the first time. By decreasing the pump power, the stationary DSR pulse in the cavity could evolve into the pulsating DSR one, which undergoes periodic variations in its width and energy. In contrast to the conventional pulsating behavior with pulse peak power modulation, the pulsating DSR pulse maintains its peak power unchanged due to the strong peak-power-clamping effect. By utilizing a high-speed oscilloscope, the single-shot polarization-resolved temporal evolution of pulsating vector DSR pulses is monitored. By appropriately adjusting the net cavity birefringence through the intra-cavity polarization controllers, two types of pulsating vector DSR pulses, including the pulsating group-velocity-locked DSR (GVL-DSR) and pulsating polarization-locked DSR (PL-DSR) states, are achieved in the laser cavity. It is found that the two orthogonally polarized components have synchronized pulsating behaviors, but their central wavelengths can be the same or different. Our results would shed new light on the dynamics of DSR pulses.

Polarization domains and self-mode-locked pulses in an erbium-doped fiber laser

We have observed various polarization domains and a giant self-mode-locked pulse in a 130 m long erbium-doped fiber laser without any mode-locking devices. By adjusting the intracavity polarization controller, we investigated the evolution process of the polarization domain with the varying cavity birefringence. When the birefringence was close to zero, the polarization domains split into multidomains, and finally a giant self-mode-locked pulse formed for the first time. We analyzed that the generation of the self-mode-locked pulse was related to the multiple subdomains ascribed to the strong coherent cross coupling between the orthogonal polarization light components in the long fiber cavity.

CoS nanosheets for generation of vector soliton and bound solitons in nonlinear optical fiber system

Transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) with two-dimensional (2D) structures are of great interest for their extraordinary electrical, optical, magnetic, and mechanical properties. In this work, a novel cobalt sulfide (CoS) nanosheets (NSs) based saturable absorber (SA) with a modulation depth of 6.4 % is fabricated through liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) method, and successfully applied to a passive mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser (PML-EDFL) for the first time as far as we know. By adjusting the pump power and optimizing the orientation of the intra-cavity polarization controller, a stable conventional solitons (CS) pulse with a duration of 905 fs and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 58.5 dB at fundamental repetition frequency of 4.03 MHz, a pair of bound solitons with time interval of 4.9 ps between two 1.8 ps pulses are generated in proposed PML-EDFL. Meanwhile, the vector characteristics of generated soliton pulse are investigated, and polarization-locked vector solitons are observed. The results reveal that the CoS NSs have superior polarization insensitive nonlinear optical modulation properties and will find extensive application potential in the ultrafast photonics.

Generation of different mode-locked states in a Yb-doped fiber laser based on nonlinear multimode interference.

We demonstrated an ultrafast Yb-doped fiber laser with a single mode fiber-graded index multimode fiber-single mode fiber (SMF-GIMF-SMF) structure based saturable absorber. The GIMF was placed in the groove of an in-line fiber polarization controller to adjust its birefringence, enabling the SMF-GIMF-SMF structure to realize efficient saturable absorption based on nonlinear multimode interference without strict length restriction. By adjusting two intra-cavity polarization controllers, stable dissipation solitons and noise-like pulses were achieved in the 1030 nm waveband with pulse durations of 10.67 ps and 276 fs, respectively. We also realized Q-switched mode-locked pulses in the same fiber laser cavity. By the dispersive Fourier transform method, the real-time spectral evolution in the buildup process of the Q-switched mode-locked state was captured, which showed that the continuous-wave in this laser could gradually evolved into the stable Q-switched mode-locked pulses through unstable self-pulsation, relaxation oscillation and rogue Q-switching stage. To the best of our knowledge, our work reveals the buildup dynamics of the Q-switched mode-locked operation in a fiber laser for the first time. And we also studied the real-time spectral evolution of the stable Q-switched mode-locked pulses, which exhibited periodic breathing property.

Real-Time Access to Collisions between a Two-Soliton Molecule and a Soliton Singlet in an Ultrafast Fiber Laser

Optical solitons in ultrafast fiber lasers, as a result of dual balances between dispersion and nonlinearity as well as gain and loss, enable various soliton interactions. Soliton collisions are among the most intriguing soliton interactions, which fuel the understanding for particle-like properties of solitons. Here, we experimentally investigate the transient dynamics of collisions between a two-soliton molecule and a soliton singlet in a mode-locked fiber laser. By means of the dispersive Fourier transform technique, the evolving spectral interferograms of different collision scenarios are measured in real time. In particular, the “quasi-elastic” collision is observed, which shows that the soliton-molecule state remains unaltered after the collision and the group-velocity difference between the soliton molecule and the singlet is changed. It is directly demonstrated that a bond exchange occurs between the colliding solitons. By tuning the intra-cavity polarization controller, the dynamic processes of other collision outcomes, including the annihilation of a soliton in the soliton molecule as well as the formation of a stable unequally spaced soliton triplet, are also revealed. Our work facilitates a deeper understanding of soliton collision dynamics in ultrafast fiber lasers.

Self-starting Q-switched pulse generation in EDFL ring cavity based on Ta2AlC MAX-phase saturable absorber

A passive Q-switched erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser is demonstrated using an MAX phase Ta2AlC saturable absorber (SA). By casting method, the Ta2AlC –PVA thin film is fabricated, and inserted into the laser cavity, which includes a 0.85 m segment of erbium doped fiber as the active medium pumped by a diode laser of 976 nm as the linear gain. The modulation depth, saturation intensity and non-saturable transmission of the MAX phase Ta2AlCSA are 7%, 15.2%, and 16.5 kW/cm2 respectively. The maximum pulse repetition rate (PRR) increase from 23.54 kHz to 111.4 kHz meanwhile, the pulse width gradually decreases from 8.175 μs to 1.589 µs at a range of a pump power from 30 mW to 150 mW and the highest pulse energy achieved is 68.2 nJ. Moreover, by adjusting the intra-cavity polarization controller state a tunable single–dual-triple-wavelength can be achieved with a tunable range of 5 nm. The experimental results demonstrated that the Ta2AlC MAX phase has a top placement as an artificial SA in Q-Switching fiber laser generation.

Spectral filtering effect-induced temporal rogue waves in a Tm-doped fiber laser.

We have experimentally and theoretically investigated optical rogue waves (ORWs) in a net negative dispersion Tm-doped fiber laser with a long cavity, adopting nonlinear polarization evolution as a mode-locker as well as a spectral filter. We obtained a state with numerous pulses bunched in a burst accompanied by perturbation within the burst, in which the spectrum was partially perturbed. After statistical analysis, we found that ORWs have existed in this bunching state. By adjusting the intra-cavity polarization controllers, the perturbed pulse bunching turned into a chaotic pulse bunching state, which gave rise to giant pulses with ultra-high amplitudes, and the giant pulses were a precursor of a broad-spectrum noise-like pulse. The probability of occurrence of ORWs was increased in the chaotic state, which is caused by multi-pulse instability induced by the spectral filtering effect. Simulation results confirm the experimental results and demonstrate that the spectral filter bandwidth (SFB) is directly related to the probability of the emergence of ORWs. When increasing the SFB across the range of multi-pulse instability at a fixed pump power, the frequency with which ORWs appear increases.

Realization of carrier envelope phase control in an erbium-doped all-fiber comb via an intracavity electrical polarization controller.

We present an erbium-doped all-fiber comb that is realized via intracavity piezoelectric mechanical responses by inserting an electrical polarization controller (EPC) for carrier envelope phase offset (fceo) control and sticking a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) for repetition rate (fr) stabilization. With only three components inside the oscillator, it facilitates an all-fiber comb system with high integration and robustness. Besides fceo control, smart, recoverable, and precise searching of mode-locked states can also be achieved by finely tuning the EPC driving voltages. The fceo signal can be tightly phase-locked due to the 20 kHz 3 dB bandwidth of the EPC device. Compared with the traditional pump feedback mode, the EPC approach exhibits a larger and flatter gain in the near-zero-dispersion zone of the fiber comb, corresponding to less EPC induced intracavity fluctuations. It is also a benefit for reducing cross regulation between fr and fceo in long-term stabilization of the comb.

Tunable multidimensional multiplexed Q-switched pulse outputs from a linear fiber laser with a bidirectional loop

A simple all-fiber linear cavity to emit multidimensional multiplexed pulses is developed by combining fiber birefringence filter and bidirectional loop. Without unidirectional components, single polarization fiber and polarization maintaining fiber pigtails function as a bidirectional birefringence filter. Q-switched by a home-made single-wall carbon nanotube saturable absorber with the insertion loss of 16 dB, tunable wavelength/direction multiplexed Q-switched pulses were observed in the 1530-nm gain region of Er-doped fiber. When the pump power increased from 63 to 237 mW, the repetition rates of clockwise and counter-clockwise dual-wavelength Q-switched pulses respectively increased from 59 to 106 kHz and 60 to 106 kHz. Correspondingly, their output powers respectively increased from 139 to 579 μW and 107 to 512 μW. Meanwhile, by carefully adjusting the intracavity polarization controller under the same pump power of 237 mW, the switchable wavelength numbers and continuous spectral shift of wavelength multiplexed Q-switched microsecond pulses were observed. The feasibility of tunable wavelength/direction multiplexed Q-switched pulse generation is experimentally demonstrated for the first time to the best of our knowledge. Our results highlight a novel wavelength/direction multiplexed method for tunable multiple pulse emission using a simple linear fiber laser cavity, indicating high potential for continuously tunable microwave and THz generation and so on.

Stable evanescent wave mode-locked laser based on a photonic-crystal-fiber-induced Mach-Zehnder filter as a gain-tilt equalizer.

In this paper, a switchable multichannel ytterbium-doped fiber laser based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) has been experimentally demonstrated. The MZI is fabricated by splicing a short piece of nonlinear photonic-crystal fiber (NLPCF) between two segments of a single-mode fiber. MZI-based NLPCF gathering with the intracavity birefringence polarization controller offers functions as both the selective comb filter and the mode locker. The laser can emit a single, dual, triple, or quadruple channel that can be varied in the spectral span around1030-1050 nm by only adjusting the pump power or polarization state. A stable evanescent wave, picosecond mode-locking generation with variable repetition rate (24.5 to 18.23 MHz and 34.64 MHz) has been realized via only inserting the polarization controller and adjusting its state inside the cavity. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this the first demonstration of a passive filter based on a NLPCF-MZ interferometer to generate switchable mode-locked pulses delivered from a single laser oscillator.

(INVITED)Switchable multi-wavelength mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser using a polarization maintaining 45°-tilted fiber gratings based Lyot filter

We demonstrate a multi-wavelength mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser by incorporating a pair of polarization maintaining 45° tilted fiber gratings (PM-45°TFG) based Lyot filter. Thanks to the functions of the polarizer and the comb filtering introduced by the Lyot filter, dissipative soliton (DS) pulses centered at 1035.26 nm, 1044.93 nm, 1055.62 nm, 1066.11 nm and 1076.63 nm can be generated respectively by finely tuning the intracavity polarization controllers (PCs). Moreover, the laser also can operate in a multi-wavelength regime via appropriately adjusting the pump power and polarization orientation. The high nonlinearity induced by the long cavity length leads to the generation of h-shaped mode-locked pulse with a repetition rate of 566.27 kHz. In the absence of any disturbance, the laser can operate steadily, that can potentially be used in various fields including wavelength division multiplexing systems etc.

Mode-locked and Q-switched mode-locked fiber laser based on a ferroferric-oxide nanoparticles saturable absorber.

We demonstrated an ultrafast erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) based on ferroferric-oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles as a saturable absorber (SA). The investigated SA was based on magnetic fluid deposited on the end face of a fiber ferrule connector. When the SA was inserted into an EDFL cavity, a stable 2.93 ps mode-locked pulse can be achieved by adjusting the intra-cavity polarization controller. The pulse had a central wavelength of 1572.39 nm and a 3 dB bandwidth of 1.39 nm. We also obtained Q-switched mode-locked pulses at 1593.4 nm. The repetition frequency and the temporal width of the Q-switched pulse envelope varied with the pump power. When the pump power reached 225 mW, the maximum average output power and the pulse envelope energy were up to 4.51 mW and 235.5 nJ. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that mode-locked and Q-switched mode-locked pulses have been obtained in a fiber laser based on Fe3O4 nanoparticles.

Reconfigurable multiwavelength fiber laser based on multimode interference in highly germanium-doped fiber.

A reconfigurable multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber laser based on an all-fiber multimode interferometer (MMI) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The interferometer is constructed by sandwiching a section of highly germanium-doped fiber (HGDF) between two sections of single-mode fiber. The insertion loss of the interferometer is as low as 2 dB. Due to the polarization-dependent spectral filtering effect formed by the MMI, by rotating the intracavity polarization controller, the laser output can be switched among single-, dual-, and triple-wavelength lasing states with optical signal-to-noise ratio up to 50 dB. In particular, the obtained dual-wavelength state shows high stability with wavelength shift within $ \pm {0.04}\;{\rm nm}$±0.04nm, wavelength spacing variation within $ \pm {0.03}\;{\rm nm}$±0.03nm, and power fluctuation within $ \pm {0.04}\;{\rm dB}$±0.04dB by monitoring the output spectra over 8 h at room temperature. By changing the length of the HGDF, the wavelength spacing can also be flexibly manipulated. Taking the advantages of reconfiguration, low cost, and easy fabrication, this fiber laser may have great potential in various optical applications.

Generation of multi-solitons and noise-like pulses in a high-powered thulium-doped all-fiber ring oscillator.

We report a study on the switching of the generation regimes in a high-powered thulium-doped all-fiber ring oscillator that is passively mode-locked with nonlinear polarization evolution technique with different pumping rates and cavity dispersion values. In one experimental setup, switching was observed between the noise-like pulse and the multi-soliton (in the forms of soliton bunches and soliton rain) regimes by the adjustment of the intracavity polarization controllers. We attributed this to the crucial influence of the nonlinear polarization evolution strength determined by such key parameters as saturation (over-rotation) power, linear phase bias, and nonlinear losses on the pulse evolution and stability. So the soliton collapse effect (leading to noise-like pulse generation) or the peak power clamping effect (generating a bunch of loosely-bound solitons) may determine pulse dynamics. Both the spectrum bandwidth and coherence time were studied for noise-like pulses by varying the cavity length and pump power, as well as the duration of solitons composing bunches. As a result, both noise-like pulses (with spectrum as broad as 32 nm bandwidth) and multi-soliton formations (with individual pulse-widths ranging from 748 to 1273 fs with a cavity length increase from 12 to 53 m) with up to 730 mW average power were generated at a wavelength of around 1.9 μm. The results are important for the realization of the broadband and smooth supercontinuum which can be used as a source for mid-IR vibrational spectroscopy of gas samples for breath analysis and environmental sensing.

NOLM-based mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser with wide-spectrum

In this paper, a mode-locked Ytterbium-doped fiber laser based on nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) is proposed. The laser generates a wide-spectrum dissipative soliton resonance mode-locked pulse with strong stimulated Raman scattering. The fiber laser is pumped forward, and the fiber ring cavity contains double-cladding Yb-doped fiber, output coupler, polarization controller, polarization independent isolator and other elements. NOLM is connected with the ring cavity by through a 3dB beam splitter and 25m single-mode fiber. The total length of the eight-shape cavity laser is about 60meters. By adjusting the intra-cavity polarization controller, a stable dissipative soliton resonance mode-locked spike pulse can be achieved. The repetition frequency of the pulse train is 3.44MHz, which is consistent with the cavity length. The 3dB bandwidth of the spectrum reaches 70.6nm, and the 10dB bandwidth is close to 147.11nm. In this experiment, dissipative soliton resonance mode-locked pulses with wide spectrum and high pulse energy are realized by a traditional mode-locking method, which has wide application in many fields such as laser spectral detection and terahertz wave generation.

Visible-Wavelength All-Fiber Vortex Laser

We report the first demonstration of a compact all-fiber visible-wavelength laser directly emitting cylindrical vector or vortex beams. The visible all-fiber cavity is constructed by a few-mode Pr/Yb-codoped ZBLAN fiber pumped by a 850 nm laser diode, a 634.6 nm few-mode fiber Bragg grating, and a visible-wavelength fiber mirror. Direct oscillation of high-order modes (LP <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">11</sub> modes) at 634.6 nm wavelength is achieved using core-shifted fiber coupling method. The visible cylindrical vector beams with the radially or azimuthally polarized state can be observed. Furthermore, by adjusting the rotation of the intracavity polarization controller appropriately, two orthogonal modes (i.e., LP <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">11</sub> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">even</sup> and LP <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">11</sub> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">odd</sup> ) can introduce a π/2 phase difference, and the 634.6 nm vortex beams with ±1-order orbital angular momentum modes are also obtained.