Mode-locked Soliton Research Articles

Femtosecond Mode-Locking and Soliton Molecule Generation Based on GaAs Saturable Absorber

Abstract In the past few years, research on advanced ultrafast photonic devices has maintained great interest throughout the laser community. As a semiconductor material with excellent nonlinear saturation absorption characteristics, GaAs has been used in solid-state and fiber lasers as a mode-locker. However, pulse widths that have been reported in the searchable published literature are all longer and the shortest is also tens of picoseconds. Femtosecond pulse widths, desired for variety of applications, have not yet been reported in GaAs-based pulsed lasers. In this work, we further explore the nonlinear characteristics of GaAs that magnetron sputtered onto the surface of the tapered fiber and its application in the generation of femtosecond laser via effective dispersion optimization and nonlinearity management. With the enhanced interaction between evanescent wave and GaAs nanosheets, mode-locked soliton pulses as short as 830 fs are generated at 4.64 MHz repetition rates. As far as we know, this is the first time that femtosecond-level pulses are generated with a GaAs-based SA. In addition, soliton molecule, including dual-pulse state are also realized under stronger pumping. This work demonstrates that GaAs-based photonic device has good application prospects in effective polymorphous ultrashort pulsed laser generation.

224-fs soliton pulses generation at 1μm from ytterbium-doped fiber laser with CoTe2 nanosheets as an ultrafast modulator

Transition metal ditellurides (TMDTs) have numerous attractive properties, making them suitable for a wide range of applications. In this study, cobalt ditelluride (CoTe2) nanosheets, a promising TMDT for photonic applications, were prepared using an ultrasound-enhanced liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) method. A novel saturable absorber (SA) employing CoTe2 nanosheets was then fabricated by optically depositing them on microfiber. The nonlinear optical modulation properties of the CoTe2 SA were investigated. A high-performance 1 μm ultrafast fiber laser was demonstrated by incorporating newly developed CoTe2 nanosheets-based SA in a ring cavity ytterbium-doped fiber laser (YDFL). The dynamical behaviour of the proposed passively mode-locked YDFL in response to variations in pump optical power was investigated. The findings reveal that the device achieved a modulation depth of 2.5 %, and saturation light intensity of 30.6 MW/cm2. Moreover, a stable and robust mode-locked soliton optical pulse sequence with a fundamental repetition frequency of 3.089 MHz, and a pulse duration of 224 fs was generated at 1032 nm. The proposed YDFL, being all-fiber, compact, and cost-effective, is set to find extensive applications in various domains, including optical fiber communication, sensing, and biomedical imaging.

Figure-8 mode-locked Yb-doped fibre oscillator with a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror and power amplification

Abstract We report an all-polarization-maintaining Yb-doped fibre (YDF) femtosecond (fs) laser source at ∼1 µm comprising a figure-8 mode-locked oscillator and two YDF amplifier stages. By employing a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror, we could achieve dissipative soliton mode-locking with an output of 24.6 mW at a repetition rate of 6.2 MHz. In our experiments, a Raman signal of 16% in the pulse energy helps to obtain stable mode-locked operation in the figure-8 oscillator. The dissipative soliton pulse from the oscillator is stretched by a chirped fibre Bragg grating and is amplified by a two-stage YDF amplifier. After compression, the YDF master-oscillator power-amplifier system yields fs pulses with a pulse energy of 2.3 µJ and a pulse duration of 274.6 fs at a repetition rate of 0.52 MHz. The output pulse energy is limited by the third-order nonlinearity of the fibre amplifier chain. Prospects for further pulse energy scaling are discussed.

Preparation of amorphous silicon-doped Y2O3 aerogel enabling nonlinear optical features for ultrafast photonics

Abstract Amorphous aerogels with the microscopic nanoscale three-dimensional meshes provide superb platforms for investigating unique physicochemical properties. In order to enhance the physical, thermal and mechanical performances, one efficient and common approach is integrating diverse functional materials. Herein, we report a simple strategy to fabricate the amorphous silicon doped Y2O3 aerogels with the post-gelation method under the N2/EtOH supercritical atmosphere. The impact of Si concentration on the nonlinear optical properties is investigated for the first time. The maximum modulation depth is 1.65 % with a saturation intensity of 0.78 MW cm−2 with the 1-ps laser excitation at 1590 nm. Finally, we incorporated the silicon-doped Y2O3 aerogel based saturable absorber (SA) into an erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) and achieved various mode-locking operations at different wavelengths in the super C band, in terms of the conventional soliton, harmonic soliton molecules pulses, and dual-wavelength soliton mode-locking. Overall, this work confirms that amorphous silicon-doped Y2O3 aerogels are good nonlinear optical materials and pave a way for the ultrafast photonic and nonlinear optical applications with amorphous materials in near future.

Internal motion within ultrafast asynchronous dual wavelength mode-locked lasers.

Realtime spectroscopy access to ultrafast fiber lasers provides new opportunities for exploring complex soliton interaction dynamics. In this study, we employ a time-stretch technique that enables real-time access to both spectral and temporal dynamics, revealing rich nonlinear processes in asynchronous dual wavelength mode-locked pulses in an ultrafast fiber laser. Due to the different group velocities of the two wavelengths, the mode-locked solitons centered at different wavelengths periodically collide with each other. We recorded the entire process of soliton establishment, stabilization, and disappearance, shedding light on the mystery of stable transmission of dual-wavelength mode-locked pulses. These processes were observed for the first time in an ultrafast fiber laser, and the experimental evidence provides important insights into the understanding of nonlinear dynamics in fiber lasers, as well as the potential for improving laser performance for application in dual-comb spectroscopy.

Bidirectional mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser based on an all-fiber gold nanofilm saturable absorber.

We demonstrate a bidirectional mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser by incorporating gold nanofilm as a saturable absorber (SA). The gold nanofilm SA has the advantages of high stability and high optical damage threshold. Besides, the SA exhibits a large modulation depth of 26% and a low saturation intensity of 1.22 MW/cm2 at 1.56 μm wavelength band, facilitating the mode-locking of bidirectional propagating solitons within a single laser cavity. Bidirectional mode-locked solitons are achieved, with the clockwise pulse centered at 1568.35 nm and the counter-clockwise one at 1568.6 nm, resulting in a slight repetition rate difference of 19 Hz. Moreover, numerical simulations are performed to reveal the counter-propagating dynamics of the two solitons, showing good agreement with the experimental results. The asymmetric cavity configuration gives rise to distinct buildup and evolution dynamics of the two counter-propagating pulses. These findings highlight the advantage of the gold nanofilm SA in constructing bidirectional mode-locked fiber lasers and provide insights for understanding the bidirectional pulse propagation dynamics.

Dual-loss-modulated QML erbium-doped fiber laser with microfiber and NPR technique

We demonstrated a dual-loss-modulated Q-switched mode-locked (QML) erbium-doped fiber laser based on the nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) technique with a microfiber. The microfiber served as both a highly nonlinear medium and a saturable absorber, which together with the NPR technique enables stable QML operation under significant pump power fluctuations. We evaluated the nonlinear properties of microfibers with different waist diameters. A maximum QML envelope energy of 467.15 nJ is achieved, corresponding to an average single-pulse energy of 4.06 nJ beneath the Q-switched envelope, which is 2.35 times higher than the maximum pulse energy attained with dissipative soliton mode-locking under similar pump power. In addition, the QML laser was verified by numerical simulation based on the coupled Ginzburg-Landau equation. The microfiber's customizable size enables significant variations in non-linear and saturable absorption characteristics, creating the potential for QML pulse regulation. This research provides novel insights for designing QML lasers.

Neodymium oxide saturable absorber for generating Q-switched and mode-locked pulses in 1.55-micron region

Exploring new saturable absorber (SA) materials is important for the advancement fibre laser technology especially in the improving the performance of Q-switched and mode-locked fiber lasers, which have tremendous applications in areas such as material processing, telecommunications, biomedical imaging, and scientific research. Here, we prepared a layer of Neodymium Oxide (Nd2O3) film as a nonlinear optical device to obtain the Q-switched and mode-locked pulses in the Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) cavity. The developed Nd2O3 film recorded excellent optical properties with the saturable absorption of 2.8%, saturation intensity of 0.8 MW /cm2 and non-saturable loss of 59.0%. By integrating the Nd2O3 film into a simple ring EDFL’s cavity, a stable and robust Q-switched laser operating at 1558 nm was realized as the pump power is set between 45 and 92 mW. The average output power improved from 4.70 to 9.57 mW as the strength of the pumping was raised from 45 to 92 mW. The repetition rate and pulse width are tunable from 71 to 89 kHz and 3.48–2.56 µs, respectively as the pump power is escalated within the same range. The fundamental frequency of electrical signal exhibits signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 62 dB and this signifies the excellent stability of the Q-switching operation. In an extended EDFL cavity, the Nd2O3SA can produce a mode-locked soliton pulse operating at 1559.29 nm. The laser run at repetition rate of 1.89 MHz and pulse duration of 3.73 ps while recorded the highest peak power of 1.7 kW at pump power of 97.62 mW.

Magnetic Topological Insulator MnBi2Te4 Nanosheets for Femtosecond Pulse Generation.

The van der Waals layered material MnBi2Te4, as a magnetic topological insulator, has attracted tremendous interest for novel physics research in the fields of condensed matter physics and materials science. However, the nonlinear optical properties of MnBi2Te4 and its applications in ultrafast optics have rarely been explored. In this study, high-quality MnBi2Te4 nanosheets have been successfully synthesized by the self-flux method. The morphology, chemical composition, magnetic properties, and nonlinear optical characteristics were systematically investigated. The magnetic transition of MnBi2Te4 was confirmed by a low-temperature spatially resolved spectroscopic technique. The saturable absorption property of MnBi2Te4 was measured by a balanced twin-detector system with a modulation depth of 4.5% and a saturation optical intensity of 2.35 GW/cm2. Furthermore, by inserting the MnBi2Te4-based saturable absorber, a soliton mode-locking laser operating at 1558.8 nm was obtained with a pulse duration of 331 fs. This research will pave the way for applications of the magnetic TI MnBi2Te4 in nonlinear optics and photonics.

Passively synchronized dual-color soliton fiber laser based on single-walled carbon nanotubes

In this work, we propose a uniquely designed fiber laser to generate dual-color soliton molecules, which are stable bound states made up of solitons with different carrier frequencies, pulse widths and soliton energies. This fiber laser consists of two resonators, which are cascaded by a pair of wavelength division multiplexers (WDMs), and a single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorber (SWCNT-SA) is placed in the common branch shared by two sub-cavities to achieve optical soliton mode-locking. The optical solitons generated by this laser have central wavelengths of 1530.43 nm and 1547.62 nm with pulse widths of 0.832 ps and 1.198 ps, respectively. The synchronous mode-locked operation of the two sub-cavities can be easily achieved by adjusting the optical delay line (DL) in one of the resonant cavities. When the synchronized state is reached, two solitons with different central wavelengths operate synchronously and stably at a consistent repetition frequency of ∼8.1505 MHz and dual-color soliton molecules are generated. The fiber laser has the advantages of simple structure and controllable generation of soliton molecules, which provide a new idea for the design of soliton molecule ultrafast fiber laser.

Femtosecond mode-locked 1.5 μm fiber laser based on PEDOT: PSS as saturable absorber

We have successfully demonstrated the soliton mode-locked pulse generation in a 77 m long erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) cavity using Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS) as a saturable absorber (SA). The prepared PEDOT:PSS SA film exhibits excellent optical characteristics with large saturable absorption of 40% and low saturation intensity of 0.17 MW/cm2, appropriate for the soliton mode-locking generation. The fundamentally mode-locked EDFL operates at 1568.55 nm central wavelength, 2.465 MHz repetition frequency, a 3.06 nm 3-dB bandwidth and 4.46 nJ highest pulse energy.

Passively Q-switched mode-locking Er-doped fiber laser with tunable wavelength and pulsating soliton

A passively Q-switched mode-locking erbium-doped fiber laser with tunable wavelength and pulsating soliton is demonstrated. The polarization-maintaining erbium-doped fiber, working as the gain medium, combines with nonlinear polarization rotation to form a Lyot filter in the cavity. A tapered fiber is placed between two polarization controllers to cause a significant insertion loss in the optical path, which makes it easy to generate Q-switched mode-locking (QML) pulses. The wavelength tunable QML laser is implemented simply and easily, and the tunable wavelength ranged from 1528.05 nm to 1569.55 nm, as large as 41.5 nm. In addition, a new type of QML pulse involving pulsating soliton has been discovered in the laser, which was called Q-switched harmonic mode-locking pulsating soliton (QHML-PS). We find that the harmonic order and repetition frequency increases with the rising of the pump power. Our work has tremendous significance for expanding the research and application of emerging QML fiber lasers.

Spontaneous soliton mode-locking of a microcomb assisted by Raman scattering.

We successfully control the interaction dynamics between optical parametric oscillation (OPO) and stimulated Raman scattering, leading to the generation of distinct frequency comb states in a microresonator. Through Raman-scattered photons, a Raman comb with a sech2 envelope is demonstrated having a broad RF beat note linewidth of several hundred kHz. Moreover, under a specific coupling regime, we successfully generate self-locked Raman single-solitons which is confirmed by a narrow RF beat note of 25 Hz. Remarkably, this spontaneous Raman soliton is deterministically generated through adiabatic pump frequency detuning without the requirement of external locking mechanisms. Additionally, we identify a frequency comb with an unconventional envelope that can be fitted with a Lorentzian × sech2 function, generated via an anti-Stokes process with respect to the Raman comb.

Routing to mid-infrared microcomb via near-infrared direct pump.

Mid-infrared (MIR) microcomb provides a new way into the "molecular fingerprint" region. However, it remains rather a challenge to realize the broadband mode-locked soliton microcomb, which is often limited by the performance of available MIR pump sources and coupling devices. Here, we propose an effective approach towards broadband MIR soliton microcombs generation via a direct pump in the near-infrared (NIR) region, through full utilization of the second- and third-order nonlinearities in a thin-film lithium niobate microresonator. The optical parametric oscillation process contributes to conversion from the pump at 1550 nm to the signal around 3100 nm, and the four-wave mixing effect promotes spectrum expansion and mode-locking process. While the second-harmonic and sum-frequency generation effects facilitate simultaneous emission of the NIR comb teeth. Both the continuous wave and pulse pump sources with relatively low power can support a MIR soliton with a bandwidth over 600 nm and a concomitant NIR microcomb with a bandwidth of 100 nm. This work can provide a promising solution for broadband MIR microcombs by breaking through the limitation of available MIR pump sources, and can deepen the understanding of the physical mechanism of the quadratic soliton assisted by the Kerr effect.

Tunable optical nonlinearities and surface plasmon resonance in Fe3O4 nanoparticles-decorated Ti3C2 MXene composite for ultrafast fiber lasers

In this work, the Ti3C2 MXene was modified with Fe3O4 nanoparticles to obtain a composite with in-plane optical anisotropy and surface plasmon properties. Based on a side-polished D-shaped fiber (DSF), this Fe3O4/Ti3C2 MXene (F/M) composite exhibits a tunable nonlinear optical (NLO) absorption response under 1.5 μm laser excitation with different polarization states. The modulation depths can be obtained from 0.9% to 12.1%. As an application, the ultrafast erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) with multiple pulsed laser operations was demonstrated using the F/M-DSF device as a saturable absorber (SA). Both stable Q-switching and mode-locking operations were demonstrated in the same all-fiber laser cavity, which generated pulsed laser with microsecond and sub-picosecond durations respectively. In addition, the bound state (BS) of solitons in harmonic mode-locked lasers with the pulse time interval of 3 ps and the highest order of 30th was also realized. This versatile and simple-structured all-fiber laser has great potential in various applications, such as optical communication. With the numerical simulations, the dynamic of F/M composite-based soliton mode-locking was also explored, illustrating the mechanism of soliton formation and propagation. This work not only expands the advanced applications of F/M composite in ultrafast photonics but also provides a new perspective for designing and optimizing its ultrafast modulating performance.

Dumbbell-Shaped Ho-Doped Fiber Laser Mode-Locked by Polymer-Free Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Saturable Absorber.

We propose a simple dumbbell-shaped scheme of a Holmium-doped fiber laser incorporating a minimum number of optical elements. Mode-locking regimes were realized with the help of polymer-free single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) synthesized using an aerosol (floating catalyst) CVD method. We show that such a laser scheme is structurally simple and more efficient than a conventional one using a ring cavity and a similar set of optical elements. In addition, we investigated the effect of SWCNT film transmittance, defined by the number of 40 nm SWCNT layers on the laser's performance: operating regimes, stability, and self-starting. We found that three SWCNT layers with an initial transmittance of about 40% allow stable self-starting soliton mode-locking at a wavelength of 2076 nm with a single pulse energy of 0.6 nJ and a signal-to-noise ratio of more than 60 dB to be achieved.

Tungsten trioxide nanocomposite for conventional soliton and noise-like pulse generation in anomalous dispersion laser cavity

Abstract This work demonstrates the employment of tungsten trioxide/polydimethylsiloxane nanocomposite saturable absorber (WO3/PDMS-SA) in realizing mode-locked conventional soliton (CS) and noise-like pulse (NLP) laser generation in net anomalous dispersion. The switching formation from CS regime of 970.0 fs pulse duration to NLP regime of 182.0 fs coherent spike with 65.3 ps pedestal was achieved by varying its pump power. The pulse laser exhibited good stability of 50.76 and 49.82 dB signal-to-noise ratio at 9.09 MHz fundamental repetition rate and trivial variation during stability test for CS and NLP regime, respectively. This work expresses the feasibility of WO3/PDMS-SA in attaining various types of mode-locked pulse phenomena using a fixed cavity configuration conceivably beneficial for compact dual-purpose laser systems.

Real-time transition dynamics of harmonic mode-locking states with spectral filtering effect in a hybrid mode-locked fiber laser

We experimentally investigated the transition dynamics between 2nd and 3rd harmonic mode-locking states using the dispersive Fourier transform technology in a hybrid mode-locked fiber laser. Keeping the pump power unchanged and adjusting polarization controller to change intracavity-loss-dependent gain profile and the spectral filtering effect, a set of soliton dynamics induced by soliton interaction are revealed before the soliton splitting. Solitons undergo similar oscillation behaviors during the reverse decay process of the harmonic mode-locking order until one of the solitons disappears. In these transient dynamics, a significant wavelength shift phenomenon could be observed in the transition process of harmonic orders. The numerical results further show that intracavity spectral filtering effects play key role in the harmonic order transition dynamics process, consistent with experimental results. It provides new insights into the evolution and dynamics behavior in harmonic mode-locked soliton order conversion and its potential applications.

56-fs diode-pumped SESAM mode-locked Yb:YAl3(BO3)4 laser.

We report on the first sub-60 fs pulse generated from a diode-pumped SESAM mode-locked Yb-laser based on a non-centrosymmetric Yb:YAl3(BO3)4 crystal as a gain medium. In the continuous-wave regime, pumping with a spatially single-mode, fiber-coupled 976 nm InGaAs laser diode, the Yb:YAl3(BO3)4 laser generated 391 mW at 1041.7 nm with a slope efficiency as high as 65.1%, and a wavelength tuning across 59 nm (1019 to 1078 nm) was achieved. By implementing a commercial SESAM to initiate and sustain the soliton type mode-locking, and using only a 1 mm-thick laser crystal, the Yb:YAl3(BO3)4 laser delivered pulses as short as 56 fs at a central wavelength of 1044.6 nm with an average output power of 76 mW at a pulse repetition rate of ∼67.55 MHz. To the best of our knowledge, this result represents the shortest pulses ever achieved from Yb:YAB crystal.

Few-Layered Violet Phosphorene Nanostructures as Saturable Absorbers for Stable Soliton Mode-Locking Operations in an Ultrafast Fiber Laser

Two-dimensional (2D) layered nanosheets of violet phosphorene (VP) have great potential in optoelectronic applications owing to their unique electronic, mechanical, and optical properties. Herein, the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of liquid-phase-exfoliated (LPE) VP nanosheets based on a side-polished D-shaped fiber (DSF) were experimentally investigated by a homemade dual-balance detection fiber system at the near-infrared band. A strong saturable absorption response was observed. The corresponding modulation depth and saturation intensity were determined as ∼1.57 and ∼68.1 MW/cm2, respectively. As an application, a VP-DSF saturable absorber mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser was realized for the first time, generating ultrashort pulses with a pulse width of 799 fs. Moreover, the stable soliton molecule mode-locking pulses with a pulse width and time interval of 816 fs and 20.5 ps, respectively, were obtained by adjusting the polarization state in the same laser cavity. The experimental results demonstrated the potential use of VP-based nanomaterials in ultrafast photonics applications.