Maximum Average Output Power Research Articles

InAs/GaSb superlattice SESAM mode-locked fluoride fiber laser at 2.8 µm.

We demonstrate a mode-locked fluoride fiber laser operating at 2.8 µm using an InAs/GaSb superlattice (SL) semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). Z-scan measurements show that the SL saturable absorber layer possesses off-bandgap nonlinearity near 2.8 µm, with a saturation fluence of 15.9 µJ/cm2, a single-pass modulation depth of 2.4%, and a damage threshold of 10.4 mJ/cm2. Using this high-damage-threshold SESAM, we achieved a maximum average output power of 1.16 W from the 2.8 µm mode-locked Er:ZBLAN fiber laser, with a pulse duration of 28.1 ps. Continuous mode-locking operation at an average power of 224 mW was sustained for 36 h without interruption, demonstrating the reliability of the InAs/GaSb SL SESAM for the development of mid-infrared mode-locked fluoride fiber lasers.

Dissipative soliton resonance in a normal dispersion all-polarization-maintaining thulium-doped fiber laser

We report a first demonstration of dissipative soliton resonance (DSR) in a normal dispersion thulium-doped fiber laser (TDFL) constructed entirely of polarization-maintaining fibers. A nonlinear fiber loop mirror with a combination of normal and anomalous dispersion fibers inside the loop ensures a self-starting mode-locking operation in the DSR regime. The oscillator generated linearly polarized optical pulses with a fundamental repetition frequency of 5.735 MHz and a nearly constant peak power clamped at ∼ 4.35 W. The pulse duration extends from 217 ps to 6 ns, when the pump power increases from 417 mW to 1.86 W. The maximum average output power of the DSR pulses was 151 mW, corresponding to the single pulse energy of 26 nJ.

Crystal growth, spectra and laser properties of Tm3+ and Ho3+ co-doped GdScO3 crystal

Tm,Ho:GdScO3 single crystal was grown by the Czochralski method. Its quality and effective segregation coefficient of crystal were characterized, and spectral properties of crystal (100) plane were studied. The absorption cross-section of Tm,Ho:GdScO3 at 793 nm is 1.61 × 10−20 cm2 and emission cross-section at 2020 nm is 1.39 × 10−20 cm2. The laser performance of the crystal by 793 nm LD end-pumped was investigated. The maximum output power of 240 mW was obtained with a slope efficiency of 9.1 % in CW(continuous wave) pump mode. In pulse mode, the maximum average output power of 507 mW was achieved. The maximum slope efficiency of 13.7 % was obtained with 100 Hz and 400 μs. The laser wavelength was 2096 nm. The beam quality factors Mx2/My2 were fitted to be 1.81/1.80. These results indicate that Tm,Ho:GdScO3 crystal is a promising candidate medium for near-infrared laser application.

Zn-MOF as a saturable absorber for thulium/holmium-doped fiber laser

Metal–organic framework (MOF) is a class of material that is highly porous and modular. Due to their unique properties, MOFs have found applications in gas storage, gas separation, sensing, and supercapacitors. [Zn2(H2L)2(1,2-Bis(4-pyridyl)ethene)4]n, zinc (Zn)-based MOF was used in this work to achieve mode-locked operation in a thulium/holmium-doped fiber laser due to its excellent optical absorption at a wavelength of 1925 nm. The saturable absorber (SA) was fabricated by drop-casting a mixture of Zn-MOF and isopropanol on an arc-shaped fiber. The center wavelength of the mode-locked laser is 1906.75 nm, with a maximum average output power of 3.251 mW. The fundamental repetition rate and the pulse width were 12.89 MHz and 1.772 ps. At the same time, the pulse energy and peak power were 252 pJ and 142 W, respectively. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time an MOF has been used for mode-locked pulse generation in a thulium/holmium-doped all-fiber laser. This work extends the use of MOF material as a saturable absorber for mode-locking applications in near-infrared fiber lasers.

Output characteristics of an actively Q-switched Tm:GdScO3 slab laser at 2 μm band

An acousto-optic Q-switched Tm:GdScO3 slab laser at different pulse repetition frequencies was successfully demonstrated for the first time. The size of a slab crystal doped with a 2 at% Tm3+ is 2 mm × 4 mm × 20 mm. With the pump power of 33 W, a maximum average output power of 3.03 W was obtained with center wavelength of 1980 nm at pulse repetition frequency of 20 kHz. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency and slope efficiency were 9.18% and 16.66%, respectively. The maximum pulse energy was 0.60 mJ with pulse width of 160 ns at 1 kHz, corresponding to the peak power of 3.75 kW. In addition, at the pump power of 33 W, the beam quality factors M 2 for horizontal and vertical directions were 1.33 and 1.08, respectively.

Whole-process analysis and implementation of a self-powered wireless health monitoring system for railway bridges: Theory, simulation and experiment

In this work, a self-powered wireless health monitoring system (SP-WHMS) combined with the Internet-of-Things (IoT) is proposed and implemented for a long-term and long-distance health monitoring of railway bridges. This system frees the wireless sensor nodes (WSNs) from their dependence on chemical batteries by using the piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) to harvest the vibration energy from bridges to power the WSNs. The whole-process of the SP-WHMS including energy conversion, energy storage, energy management and application is analyzed at the first time through theory, simulation and experiment. For the energy conversion, a reported PEH model with high energy conversion efficiency (called D-M PEH) is refabricated, which can achieve a maximum average output power of 0.9 W under unit harmonic acceleration excitation. For the energy storage, a high-precision iteration analysis procedure (IAP) is proposed to predict the charging process of the strong-coupled PEHs and the charging process under non-harmonic excitations. The comparison results show that the IAP’s prediction deviates less than 3% from the experiment result and even less than 1% from the simulation result. For the energy management, an AP64500 chip with two adjustable input voltage thresholds and a stable output voltage ensures the normal operation of the SP-WHMS and makes the SP-WHMS suitable for different types of WSNs. For the application, the synergies between energy conversion, storage and management are considered, and the effectiveness of the SP-WHMS used on railway bridges is tested through an activation experiment. This work provides a technical guidance and framework for the implementation of the self-powered wireless monitoring on railway bridges.

Short-length nanosecond pulsed 1.653-μm DBR fiber Raman laser oscillator fabricated by femtosecond laser direct-writing

We demonstrate a nanosecond pulsed 1.653-μm fiber Raman laser (FRL) oscillator in a short-length distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) cavity made by femtosecond laser direct-writing technique. The DBR FRL cavity is composed of commercial ultrahigh NA germanium-doped silica fiber with a short length of 10 m and a pair of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The FBGs were directly inscribed on the ends of the Raman gain fiber, using femtosecond-laser point-by-point (PbP) writing method. A home-made 1.55-μm nanosecond fiber laser source was used as the pump of the FRL. 1.653-μm nanosecond pulsed laser oscillation with maximum average output power of 125 mW (corresponding to peak power of 6.6 W), 3 dB linewidth of ≤ 0.15 nm, and slope efficiency of 48 % was obtained under 1.55-μm pump with optimized repetition rate of 10 MHz. The optical signal-to-noise-ratio (OSNR) of the 1.653-μm narrow-linewidth Raman lasing is above 70 dB. The short-length DBR FRL output exhibits decently high degree of polarization (DOP) and high degree of linear polarization (DOLP) above 80 % in 3-hour period, benefitted from the birefringent FBGs made by femtosecond laser direct-writing method. It is expected that by further reducing the cavity length to < 1 m, the 1.653-μm DBR FRL oscillator made by femtosecond laser direct-writing method is promising as single-frequency narrow-linewidth, highly linearly polarized, high-OSNR laser sources for high-sensitivity CH4 gas detection.

Wavelength tunable noise-like pulses in a hybrid mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser

The study demonstrates a new type of laser that generates wavelength-tunable h-shaped noise-like pulses (NLPs). We incorporated the nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) mechanism into a figure-eight erbium-doped hybrid mode-locked fiber laser based on the nonlinear amplifier loop mirror (NALM). Under an intra-cavity net dispersion of −5.535 ps2, the system produced NLPs with a maximum pulse duration of 24.54 ns, a maximum single energy of 19.96 nJ and a maximum output average power of 14.46 mW when the pump power was set to 543 mW. By adjusting the pump power and fine-tuning the polarization controller, the laser can output NLPs with tunable wavelengths ranging from 1560 to 1601 nm. The flexibility of wavelength-tunable techniques has potential applications in laser detection, high-energy physics experiments, and other fields, enriching the research framework of noise-like applications.

Deep ultraviolet laser at 223.8 nm with adjustable repetition rate and narrow pulse width.

We presented the first, to our knowledge, demonstration of an ultraviolet (UV) laser at 223.8 nm by six-harmonic generation of an electro-optic Q-switched cavity dumping 1342 nm Nd:YVO4 laser. It offers high power, constant short pulse duration, and adjustable pulse repetition rate. The pulse duration is independent of the pump power and repetition rate compared to classical Q-switched oscillators. The output efficiency of the UV laser is optimized by adjusting the focusing lens. With the incident pump power of 30 W, an maximum average output power of 249 mW was obtained at 13 kHz. The pulse width maintained 3.4-3.5 ns from 5 to 20 kHz. The maximum pulse energy of 28.1 µJ was obtained at 5 kHz, and the corresponding peak power was up to 8.1 kW.

Study on narrow linewidth 2.1 μm self-optical parametric oscillator based on Nd:MgO:PPLN

We report a 2.1 µm miniaturized narrow linewidth self-optical parametric oscillator (SOPO) based on Nd:MgO:PPLN crystal. We attained 2.1 µm narrow linewidth laser output by incorporating an Fabry-Perot (F-P) etalon into the SOPO. By controlling the crystal temperature uniformly, a stable 2.1 µm degenerate light output is obtained at 71 °C. Finally, when inserting the F-P etalon with a thickness of 2.5 mm, a maximum average output power of 0.65 W is obtained, corresponding pulse repetition rate is 60 kHz, the pulse width is 7.77 ns, the degenerate light beam quality M2 < 2. And the linewidth of 2168 nm laser is narrowed from 67.53 nm to 2.23 nm. It is proved by experiments that adding F-P etalon to the SOPO can narrow the linewidth of the 2.1 μm laser and optimize the beam quality. These findings provide technical support for the realization and application of narrow linewidth 2.1 µm laser, which is great significance for the further development of related fields.

Self-mode-locked Ho:GdVO4 laser with optical bistability behavior

A watt-level 2061.3 nm self-mode-locked Ho:GdVO4 laser with optical bistability behavior was demonstrated. The bistable region was as wide as 1.66 W and the up-jump power at the on-threshold of 8.34 W was as high as 0.64 W. Meanwhile, the stable continuous wave self-mode-locking with self-start was achieved when the Ho:GdVO4 laser reached the on-threshold. The maximum average output power of 1.48 W was obtained at the incident pump power of 12.8 W, corresponding to the slope efficiency and optical-to-optical efficiency of 18.9 % and 11.6 %. At the maximum average output power, the pulse width of 124 ps was obtained at a pulse repetition frequency of 444 MHz. To the best of our knowledge, for the first time, a self-mode-locked laser with optical bistability behavior in the 2 µm spectral region has been reported.

Highly efficient solid-state vortex laser in a robust and simple configuration.

Vortex beams, known as a typical form of structured light, possess numerous applications in various fields. Their widespread application prospects have then sparked an in-depth analysis of the generation and manipulation of vortex modes in an active cavity, as well as the development of high-performance vortex lasers. In this paper, we report on a new class of highly efficient and high-power Nd:YAG vortex lasers in a robust and compact configuration, which allows direct generation of vortex beams with an easily controllable topological charge both in the continuous-wave and pulsed operation regimes. The on-demand generation of intracavity vortex modes is realized based on a Q-plate by controlling the geometric phase inside the laser resonator. The maximum output power in the continuous-wave regime is 4.11 W with a slope efficiency of 37.9%. Besides, the vortex pulses are also achieved by including a Cr:YAG crystal in the cavity as a saturable absorber. The shortest pulse width is 142.8 ns at a pulse repetition rate of 232.6 kHz, with a maximum average output power of 1.05 W. Vortex modes with other topological charges can be obtained by simply changing the corresponding Q-plate without sacrificing the lasing efficiency. The experimental results can shed some light on the design and building of highly efficient and high-power vortex lasers together with a well-defined controllable topological charge, aiming at some specific applications.

Research on Optimization Design of Heliostat Field Based on Ray Tracing

In tower-type solar thermal power generation systems, the optical efficiency of the mirror field is the primary factor determining the overall system's power generation efficiency. In order to meet the requirement of a rated power of 60MW with different heliostat sizes and installation heights, optimize the various parameters of the heliostat field, establish a tower-type solar thermal power generation system model, and evaluate the model. Taking the maximum annual average output power per unit mirror area as the optimization objective, through simulation, it is found that the heliostat with a side length of 6 meters, a gradient design of installation height, a regular triangular layout, and the use of ray tracing technology can efficiently capture solar energy. The average optical efficiency, average cosine efficiency, average shadow blocking efficiency, average truncation efficiency, and average thermal power factor per unit area mirror are analyzed. The research results show that there is an optimal combination of absorber northward movement, heliostat size, equilateral triangle arrangement, installation height gradient design, and solar trajectory, which enables the annual average output thermal power to reach or even exceed the rated power of 60MW.This model and algorithm compared and analyzed genetic, greedy, and simulated annealing algorithms on the same dataset. The runtime is approximately 8-10 minutes, with CPU utilization around 60%.

High average output power, dual-wavelength synchronously self-mode-locked Ho:LLF laser operating at 2068.5 and 2069.2 nm.

A dual-wavelength synchronously self-mode-locked Ho:LLF laser operating at 2068.5 and 2069.2 nm was demonstrated. The maximum average output power was as high as 2.6 W with a pulse repetition frequency of 3.03 GHz. Meanwhile, the output power ratio of the dual-wavelength lasers can be effectively controlled by varying the incident pump power. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first dual-wavelength synchronously self-mode-locked Ho-doped fluoride solid state laser; moreover, our current experimental results represent the highest average output power from a GHz self-mode-locked oscillator in the 2 µm wave band.

Spectroscopy and efficient dual-wavelength laser performances of a Nd:GYSAG crystal.

We reported on the spectral properties and dual-wavelength laser performances of a novel, to the best of our knowledge, Nd:Gd1.8Y1.2ScAl4O12 (Nd:GYSAG) crystal for the first time. The absorption spectra, emission spectra, and fluorescence lifetime were systematically investigated. Further, a continuous-wavelength (CW) laser output power up to 5.02 W was obtained under an absorbed pump power of 9.45 W with slope and optical-to-optical efficiencies of 59.4% and 53.1%, respectively, at 1061.2 and 1063.2 nm. A stable passively Q-switched (PQS) laser employing Cr:YAG as a saturable absorber (SA) was realized. The maximum average output power of 0.756 W with a slope of near 34.4% was obtained with the pulse width, pulse energy, and peak power of 14.0 ns, 128.1 µJ, and 9.15 kW, respectively. The results indicate that the Nd:GYSAG crystal is an excellent laser medium for generating a high-efficiency dual-wavelength laser and has potential in terahertz (THz) laser generation.

High-power and narrow-linewidth nanosecond pulsed intracavity crystalline Raman laser operating at 1.7 µm

We report on a high-power and narrow-linewidth nanosecond pulsed intracavity crystalline Raman laser at 1.7 µm. Driven by an acousto-optically Q-switched 1314 nm two-crystal Nd:YLF laser, the highly efficient cascaded YVO4 Raman laser at 1715nm was obtained within the well-designed L-shaped resonator. Thanks to the absence of spatial hole burning in the stimulated Raman scattering process, significant spectral purification of second-Stokes radiation was observed by incorporating a fused silica etalon in the high-Q fundamental cavity. Under the repetition rate of 4 kHz, the highest average output power for single longitudinal mode operation was up to 2.2 W with the aid of precision vibration isolation and precision temperature controlling, corresponding to the pulse duration of ∼2.8 ns and the spectral linewidth of ∼330 MHz. Further increasing the launched pump power, the second-Stokes laser tended toward be always multimode, and the maximum average output power amounted to 4.8 W with the peak power of ∼0.8 MW and the spectral linewidth of ∼0.08 nm. The second-Stokes emission was near diffraction limited with M2 &lt; 1.4 across the whole pump power range.

High power self-Q-switched Tm:YAP laser

To the best of our knowledge, the output performance of a self-Q-switched Tm:YAP laser has been controlled by adjusting the cavity length for the first time. By using a concise concave-flat cavity, a pulsed laser emitting at 1993 nm is produced without any additional modulation device. Under a stable self-Q-switched mode, the maximum average output power of 9.76 W is achieved from the laser when the incident pump power is 28.78 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 36.9% and an optical-to-optical conversion efficacy of 33.9%. Also, the narrowest pulse width of 485 ns at 48.97 kHz is obtained from the laser with a single pulse energy of 199.3 µJ. As far as we know, this laser has the highest average power and narrowest pulse width compared to other self-Q-switched Tm:YAP lasers.

Efficient continuous-wave and passively Q-switched Nd:GSAG laser operating at 1.3 μm

We report on the laser performance of neodymium-doped gadolinium scandium aluminum garnet (Nd:GSAG) crystals at 1.3 μm for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. An efficient continuous-wave (CW) laser at 1336 nm and on output power of up to 2.01 W was obtained under an absorbed pump power of 4.89 W with slope and optical-to-optical efficiencies of 43.4 % and 41.1 %, respectively. Furthermore, a passively Q-switched (PQS) laser with a Co:MgAl2O4 crystal serving as a saturable absorber in a compact plano-plano resonator cavity was examined. A maximum average output power of 0.2 W was obtained with a pulse width, pulse energy, and peak power of 34.4 ns, 22.2 µJ, and 645 W, respectively. Our results indicated that Nd:GSAG crystals are promising for producing high-efficiency CW lasers and effective PQS lasers at 1336 nm.

High-power, gigahertz repetition frequency self-mode-locked Ho:GdVO4 laser resonantly pumped by a Tm-doped fiber laser.

A self-mode-locked Ho:GdVO4 laser with the GHz pulse repetition frequency oscillation near 2.06 µm was demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge. The output performances of the self-mode-locked Ho:GdVO4 laser were investigated for a few output coupler transmittances at the pulse repetition frequency of 1.89 GHz. At the incident pump power of 8.12 W, the maximum average output power was as high as 2.28 W, corresponding to the slope efficiency and optical-to-optical efficiency of 36.3% and 28.1%, respectively. This is the maximum average output for the 2 µm self-mode-locked solid-state laser with a GHz pulse repetition frequency. This work provides a new way for generating an efficient and a high-power ultrafast pulse laser with a GHz repetition frequency in the 2 µm wave band.

Passively Q-switched Er-doped fiber laser based on carbon-doped silver nanoparticles saturable absorber prepared using laser ablation method

In this work, we investigate the effect of carbon-doped silver nanoparticles on the Q-switched performance of erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL). The carbon-doped silver nanoparticles were synthesized using a laser ablation method. The prepared nanoparticles were inserted between fiber ferrules using the adhesion process of the index-matched gel. Incorporating a saturable absorber inside the laser cavity initiates a stable Q-switched mechanism at 11.2 mW of threshold power. The measured results demonstrate that as the pump power of EDFL increases from 11.2 to 267 mW, the pulse repetition, and pulse width tuned from 21.33 to 95.2 kHz and 13.3–3.18 µs, respectively. At 267 mW of pump, the maximum average output power, pulse energy, and peak power were further measured to be 2.36 mW, 24.68 nJ, and 7.76 mW, respectively. Besides, the stability and threshold characteristics of EDFL based on carbon-doped silver nanoparticles were further explored. This study shows that the synthesis of metal nanoparticles using the laser ablation technique and their implementation as saturable absorber represents a promising avenue for advancing ultrafast laser technologies with improved stablility, efficiency, and tunability.