Laser Phase Research Articles

Multi-Level Phase Noise Model for CO-OFDM Spatial-Division Multiplexed Transmission

Spatial division multiplexed (SDM) transmission systems with coherence communication technology have become an important issue in meeting the demands for the capacity of fiber. However, research on the phase noise from lasers is mainly focused on single-channel systems or single-carrier SDM systems. In this paper, a phase noise model comprising common laser phase noise, in addition to the core phase drifts induced by the SDM, is introduced and analyzed for a coherence orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) spatial-division multiplexed transmission (SDM) system. Based on the phase noise model, the applicability of the blind phase search algorithm and the pilot-aided phase estimation algorithm is discussed and demonstrated via simulation. The results show that these two algorithms can work well when considering combined laser linewidths with core phase drifts for CO-OFDM 7-core multi-core fiber (MCF). The results mean that with the SDM phase noise model, phase noise estimation in other cores can be transferred from one core to lower the complexity with the help of the model. This research provides a proper application of the phase noise analysis of large-capacity optical communication based on a weak-coupled MCF.

Optical forces on neutral atoms in the presence of fluctuating laser fields: numerical analysis

Doppler cooling of 88Sr atoms is studied in the presence of off-resonant red-detuned fluctuating laser fields. Using a semi-classical approach, we show that the relevant physical quantities in the cooling process, such as optical forces, the damping coefficient, Doppler temperature, and atom number in the trap, are strongly affected by the laser amplitude and phase fluctuations. We find that the Doppler cooling limit is higher than the predicted Doppler theory for non-fluctuating lasers. This implies an additional heating mechanism exists due to the laser fluctuations. Furthermore, our numerical analysis shows that the effect of laser power stability on reducing the number of trapped atoms in a magneto-optical trap is more substantial than the effect of laser linewidth.

Analysis and experiments on C band 200G coherent PON based on Alamouti polarization-insensitive receivers.

Passive optical network (PON) based on coherent detection has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years as a future solution for 100+ Gbps per wavelength. Particularly for 200G-PON, one of the most attractive options would be to switch to QAM transmission and coherent detection, due to its well know advantages compared to the Direct-Detection approaches used so far in PON. However, coherent technology, extensively used in core networks, has costs that are still perceived as too high for the access ecosystem. In order to perform cost reduction, some groups have studied the option of coherent polarization-independent (PI) detection, since it halves the number of optoelectronic components in the receiver front end. In this paper, we thus present a detailed simulative and experimental investigation of polarization-independent receivers to achieve 200 Gbps transmission in C band using the Alamouti polarization time block coding (PTBC). Our goal is to show what would be the system requirements in terms of optoelectronic bandwidths, laser phase noise and ultimate power budget limitations. We study two different modulation formats: quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) and 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM). We also compare heterodyne and homodyne/intradyne solutions through simulations. As a summarizing result, we experimentally show that 200G PON based on 50 Gbaud-16QAM single-polarization Alamouti coded signals would be possible with today state-of-the-art coherent technologies, demonstrating an Optical Distribution Network loss above 33 dB with 25 km fiber length, a very promising result that is compliant with the PON power budget E1 class.

On the elemental segregation and melt flow behavior of pure copper laser cladding

Laser cladding of pure copper on the surface of low carbon steel remains a challenge originated in part from the differences between copper and steel in terms of melting point, thermal conductivity, solubility, etc., causing elemental segregation, formation of pores, and unfused defects. On the basis of previous studies that identified laser scanning speed as a possible cause to these defects, we report a new focused investigation using a coaxial powder-feeding laser cladding system to fabricate single-track pure copper cladding layers on a Q245R substrate by varying laser scanning speed. Under different laser scanning speeds, the morphology, elemental distribution, and phase constituents of coatings were examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Finite element analysis (FEA) numerical simulations were also carried out to investigate the relationship between the elemental segregation and the melt flow behavior in the molten pool. The results indicated that Fe gradually flew from the bottom to the topmost surface of the Cu cladding layer as the laser scanning speed increased. More specially, the numerical simulation revealed that the convection in the molten pool was more turbulent at a higher laser scanning speed, resulting in severe segregation of Fe covering the outer surface of the Cu cladding layer.

System design for coherent combined massive fiber laser array based on cascaded internal phase control.

Coherent beam combining (CBC) of a fiber laser can scale the output power while maintaining high beam quality. However, phase detection and control remain a challenge for a high-power CBC system with a massive laser array. This paper provides a novel, to the best of our knowledge, cascaded phase-control technique based on internal phase detection and control, called the cascaded internal phase-control technique. The principle of the technique was introduced in detail, and the numerical simulations were carried out based on the stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) algorithm. The results indicated that the cascaded internal phase-control technique was compatible with the massive laser array. Compared with the traditional CBC based on the SPGD algorithm, the control bandwidth could be improved effectively about seven times (120steps) than the traditional SPGD algorithm (830steps). Furthermore, the average root mean square of residual phase error was decreased to 0.03rad (∼λ/209) with a laser array of 259 channels (7∗37), which was 0.36rad (∼λ/17) in the traditional SPGD algorithm. In addition, the element expanding capacity was analyzed. Since there is no large-aperture optical device in the phase-detection system, this technique has the advantage of freely designing the caliber of the laser emitting system. This paper could offer a reference for the high-power massive laser array system design and phase control.

Arm locking in conjunction with time-delay interferometry

A crucial challenge to the ongoing endeavor of spaceborne gravitational wave (GW) detection resides in the laser phase noise, typically 7 to 8 orders of magnitude above the inevitable noise. The arm locking technique was proposed to suppress the noise in pre-stabilized laser beams. Based on the feedback control theory, it is implemented by appropriate design of the signal routing architecture, particularly the controllers' transfer functions. Theoretically and experimentally, the technique has been demonstrated to be capable of suppressing the laser phase noise by approximately 2-4 orders of magnitude while taking into account various aspects such as the gain and distribution of nulls in the Bode plot and the laser frequency pulling associated with the Doppler frequency subtraction. Consequently, the resultant noise floor is composed of the sources attributed to the clock jitter, optical bench motion, test mass fluctuations, shot-noise phase fluctuations at the photodetectors, whereas the magnitudes of these noises largely remain unchanged during the process. Besides, the original GW signals are deformed through the arm-locking control loop and therefore bear specific features governed by the associated arm-locking scheme. Nonetheless, the remaining laser phase noise from the arm-locking feedback routing settles within the capability threshold of the time-delay interferometry (TDI). In this regard, it is generally understood that the output of arm locking furnishes the input of TDI, through which the residual noise is further reduced to the desired level at a post-processing stage. In this work, we investigate the specific schemes regarding how the arm locking output is processed further by the TDI algorithm. Specific forms of the TDI combinations are derived in accordance with suppressed laser phase noise and deformed signals of GW.

Self-reference shot-noise-limited phase demodulator with 1530 nm acetylene absorption line

We report results on characterization of the self-reference interferometric configuration based on quantum memory of the acetylene (12C2H2) molecules at the wavelength of 1530.37 nm of the vibrational–rotational P9 absorption line. The demodulator under consideration is robust, simple, operates at room temperature with the wavefronts of high etendue of the sub-mW power scale, and needs neither phase, no frequency locking loops. Proposed original balance detection schemes enable effective suppression of the semiconductor laser phase noise, and the shot-noise-limited demodulation resolution at frequencies higher than the high-pass configuration cut-off frequency ≈0.25 GHz.

Hologram imaging quality improvement by ionization controlling based on the self-trapped excitons with double-pulse femtosecond laser

Abstract Holograms hidden inside transparent materials are important for information encryption storage because of their advantages of secrecy, and could completely avoid information loss caused by surface wear. Inside the transparent material, the modified filaments array was need for hologram fabrication to change the optical phase or amplitude of incident laser, which is sensitive to the change of refractive index. Then the uniformity of modified filaments inside transparent materials is highly required. In this study, by tuning the interval time of the double-pulse processing, holograms with improved imaging quality were fabricated by double-pulse femtosecond laser and the effect and mechanism of self-trapped excitons (STEs) on the ablation have been systematically studied. The imaging quality of the hologram fabricated with double-pulse laser was superior to that of the one fabricated with the single-pulse laser and 350 fs was verified to be the best time interval for double-pulse processing. The evolution of the electrons dynamics was investigated by using the pump-probe technology. With the double-pulse time interval increasing, the residual electrons, excitons, STEs, and defects caused by the first sub-pulse would become dominated sequentially. The results demonstrated the controllability of STEs and quality improvement of final structures by double-pulse femtosecond laser processing.

Mechanisms to control laser-plasma coupling in laser wakefield electron acceleration

Experimental results, supported by precise modeling, demonstrate optimization of a plasma-based injector with intermediate laser pulse energy ($<1\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{J}$), corresponding to a normalized vector potential ${a}_{0}=2.15$, using ionization injection in a tailored plasma density profile. An increase in electron bunch quality and energy is achieved experimentally with the extension of the density downramp at the plasma exit. Optimization of the focal position of the laser pulse in the tailored plasma density profile is shown to efficiently reduce electron bunch angular deviation, leading to a better alignment of the electron bunch with the laser axis. Single peak electron spectra are produced in a previously unexplored regime by combining an early focal position and adaptive optic control of the laser wavefront by optimizing the symmetry of the prefocal laser energy distribution. Experimental results have been validated through particle-in-cell simulations using realistic laser energy, phase distribution, and temporal envelope, allowing for accurate predictions of difficult to model parameters, such as total charge and spatial properties of the electron bunches, opening the way for more accurate modeling for the design of plasma-based accelerators.

Estimation of channel distortion in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system using pilot technique

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is resistant to frequency selective fading due to the longer symbol duration. However, mobile applications channel timing fluctuations in one OFDM signal cause intercarrier-interference (ICI), which reduces performance. This research presented the support vector regression (SVR) model-based channel estimation technique for coherent optical communication systems. Due to the coherent optical orthogonal frequency-division-multiplexed (COOFDM) system, a channel model is developed that includes linear fibre dispersion effects, noise from optical amplifiers, and inter-carrier interference generated by laser phase noise. As a result, for such a system, an accurate channel estimate is essential. Based on this concept, derivation of channel estimation and phase estimation for the system of CO-OFDM. The proposed method is tested and evaluated using MATLAB software. Computer simulation results for several standard methods such as extreme learning machines (ELM) and artificial neural networks (ANN) validate the feasibility of the suggested methodology. The CO-OFDM system’s transmission experiments and computer simulations prove that the support vector machine-based model following pilot-assisted phase estimation gives the optimal performance. Therefore, results depicted that the channel estimation utilizing the SVR model gives good performance than the other methods, thus the proposed model gives an accurate CE process, respectively.

Spectral Purity Improvement in Flickering Self-Injection Locked Lasers

We study improvements of the Self-Injection Locked (SIL) distributed feedback (DFB) semiconductor laser phase noise as well as integral linewidth on the amount of the SIL feedback and show that SIL reduces the laser noise nearly equally in a broad frequency range, spanning from 1 Hz to 10 MHz. In our experiment SIL operation is supported by a tunable resonant reflector consisting of a high quality factor (high-Q) monolithic whispering gallery mode resonator (WGMR) supplied with a controllable attenuator. Using the experimental setup we validated theoretical formula describing the SIL spectral purity and identified practical parameters of the system allowing reaching the phase noise limit resulting from the fundamental thermodynamic noise of the resonator. We show that the linewidth improvement due to SIL effect is drastically impacted by the frequency spectral dependence of the phase noise of the laser and that it drops significantly in a flickering laser. We also confirmed that the thermorefractive coefficient as well as mode volume of the WGMR imposes the major limitations on the SIL performance. Low intracavity absorption is needed to suppress the attenuation-related thermal effects in the cavity.

Portable cavity ring-down spectrometer for an HO2 radical measurement: instrument's performance and potential improvement using a narrow linewidth laser.

We report the development of a portable cavity ring-down spectrometer (CRDS) for direct and absolute measurement of HO2 radical concentration using a distributed feedback (DFB) diode laser operating at 1506 nm. The spectrometer has a compact design with all optics in a 1000 × 400 × 140 mm3 box. At a pressure of 100 mbar and a ring-down time (τ0) of 136 µs, the detection limit of the CRDS spectrometer was ∼ 7.3 × 107 molecule/cm3 (1σ, 10s). The corresponding detection sensitivity was 1.5 × 10-11 cm-1, which was close to the state-of-the-art performance. By replacing the DFB diode laser with a narrow linewidth erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser, the amplitude fluctuation caused by the laser phase noise was reduced and the cavity mode injection efficiency was improved. The sensitivity was improved to 3.9 × 10-12 cm-1 with a short data-acquisition time of 0.2 s. Compared with the DFB laser, the improvement was nearly an order of magnitude. The use of the narrow linewidth laser is attractive. The instrument can achieve very high sensitivity without the need for a complex locking technique, ensuring simple and ease of use in future field applications.

Spectral shaped PAM4 signal based on nonlinear differential coding for AOWC system with Self-pumping structure

Spectral shaped 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM4) signal based on nonlinear different coding (NLDC) is proposed in an all-optical wavelength conversion (AOWC) system with self-pumping structure. Laser-driven Mach-Zehnder modulator generates multiple spectra and forms self-pumping structure by selecting signal and pump light, which can ignore the laser phase conversion noise. However, uniform PAM4 signal is severely distorted by nonlinear effects of the practical bandwidth-limited and power-limited AOWC systems. In order to effectively reduce nonlinear interference and fully evaluate the performance of the AOWC systems with self-pumping structure, the PAM4 signal based on NLDC is proposed and demonstrated in two AOWC systems based on parallel pump and vertical pump structures. Compared with the uniform PAM4 signal, the bit error rate (BER) of converted light with NLDC can be reduced by two orders of magnitude, two pump structures can reach 3.496 × 10−5 and 2.85 × 10−4, respectively. The two structures can obtain bandwidth tolerance gains of 3.45 GHz and 3.7 GHz, respectively. When the bandwidth is 18 GHz, this scheme can obtain more than 10Gbit/s data rate gain. In addition, NLDC can make PAM4 signal insensitive to the injection current of semiconductor optical amplifier, which proves that the proposed scheme has high tolerance to the nonlinear effect and is suitable for high-capacity AOWC system.

Efficient state-symmetric beamsplitters and mirrors for atom interferometers using optimized pulses

Atom interferometers that employ atoms in superpositions of different electronic states are sensitive to any noise that affects these superposed states differently. Resilience to such noise results from using superpositions where the atomic states differ in momentum only, but implementation of such ‘state-symmetric’ diffraction can lead to population loss into unwanted states and restricts the atomic velocity acceptance of the interferometer. In this paper, by varying the laser intensities and phases as functions of time, we present optimized pulses designed for use in state-symmetric interferometers that overcome these restrictions. We extend this optimization to multi-pulse sequences designed to increase the interferometer area and demonstrate significant improvements in the fringe visibility compared with sequences of π/2 and π pulses. We discuss the limits on the temperature of the atomic source required for efficient atomic diffraction and show how optimized pulse sequences enable efficient diffraction with considerably warmer clouds, hence reducing the need for velocity selection and increasing the measurement signal-to-noise ratio.

Phase noise elimination in frequency sweeping interferometry based on a common-path interferometer.

We propose a common-path interferometer (CPI) method to suppress the ambient and laser phase noise in frequency sweeping interferometry. The CPI realizes the multiplexing of the main and auxiliary interferometer to ensure the common-mode characteristic of the interference phase noise, which can be eliminated by signal mixing. In experiments, we obtain a dynamic range of up to 110 dB. Compared with the compensation method using a separated auxiliary interferometer, the CPI method improves the dynamic range by 10 dB and is immune to ambient noise. The proposed method enables high-precision distributed polarization measurements of optical fibers and devices.

Equations describing the direct relation between laser phase and Stokes light for SBS pumped by phase-modulated laser in optical fibers

Phase modulation is one of the most important methods to increase the threshold of the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in optical fibers. The mainstream theoretical model used to predict the SBS threshold is the transient three-wave coupling model. However, it is a general model and does not establish a straight relation between the laser phase and the Stokes light. In this paper, undepleted pump approximation is applied to the transient three-wave coupling model. Equations describing the evolution of the Stokes light in both time domain and frequency domain are derived. They establish a direct relation between the laser phase and Stokes light. All terms in the equations have clear physical interpretations. The equations are validated numerically by comparing with the original coupling model as well. It is found that the results match well when the Stokes average reflectivity is not greater than 1% which is usually used to define the SBS threshold.

Precoding-enabled OFDM-ROF transmission system with self-pumping structure

Precoding-enabled orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is proposed in radio-over-fiber (ROF) system based on a flexible self-pumping structure. Different from the use of two lasers, one laser-driven Mach-Zehnder modulator generates multiple spectra and forms self-pumping structures by selecting signal and pump light, which can effectively reduce the system cost and eliminate the laser phase conversion noise. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of OFDM-ROF fluctuates wildly induced by non-ideal frequency response of optical/electrical devices and channel fading effects, and the BER performance is severely deteriorated. Therefore, seven common channel-independent precoding techniques are used and evaluated for the OFDM-ROF systems. The analysis of the results shows that seven precoding techniques can equalize uneven SNR on data subcarriers. Meantime, constant amplitude zero autocorrelation sequence-based matrix transform (CAZACT), Zadoff-Chu matrix transform (ZCT), discrete Fourier transform (DFT) have significant advantages in reducing the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR). When the received optical power (ROP) is −3dBm, the BERs of the system under the seven precoding schemes are all lower than the hard decision - forward error correction threshold (HD-FEC). In addition, receiver sensitivity and comb flatness gain can also be achieved by the precoded OFDM compared to the conventional OFDM.

Detection of DC electric forces with zeptonewton sensitivity by single-ion phonon laser

Detecting extremely small forces helps exploring new physics quantitatively. Here we demonstrate that the phonon laser made of a single trapped 40Ca+ ion behaves as an exquisite sensor for small force measurement. We report our successful detection of small electric forces regarding the DC trapping potential with sensitivity of (2.41 ±0.49) \({\rm{zN}}/\sqrt {{\rm{Hz}}}\), with the ion only under Doppler cooling, based on the injection-locking of the oscillation phase of the phonon laser in addition to the classical squeezing applied to suppress the measurement uncertainty. We anticipate that such a single-ion sensor would reach a much better force detection sensitivity in the future once the trapping system is further improved and the fluorescence collection efficiency is further enhanced.

Global Estimation and Compensation of Linear Effects in Coherent Optical Systems Based on Nonlinear Least Squares

This article proposes a new estimation and compensation approach to mitigate several linear and widely linear effects in coherent optical systems using digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms. Compared to most of the available strategies that employ local estimation and/or compensation algorithms, this approach performs a global impairments estimation and compensation based on nonlinear least squares. The proposed method estimates and compensates for the chromatic dispersion (CD), carrier frequency offset (CFO), in-phase/quadrature (IQ) imbalance, and laser phase noise in two steps. First, it estimates the quasi-static parameters related to the CD, CFO, and both transmitter and receiver IQ imbalance. Second, it estimates both transmitter and receiver lasers’ phases and compensates for all the imperfections by using a zero-forcing equalizer. Simulations show the effectiveness of the approach in terms of statistical performance and computational time. The estimation performance is assessed by computing the Cramér–Rao lower bound, while the detection performance is compared to a modified clairvoyant equalizer.

Toffoli gate based on a three-body fine-structure-state-changing Förster resonance in Rydberg atoms

We have developed an improved scheme of a three-qubit Toffoli gate based on fine structure state changing three-body Stark-tuned Rydberg interaction. This scheme is a substantial improvement of our previous proposal [I.I.Beterov et al., Physical Review A 98, 042704 (2018)]. Due to the use of a different type of three-body F\"orster resonance we substantially simplified the scheme of laser excitation and phase dynamics of collective three-body states. This type of F\"orster resonance exists only in systems with more than two atoms, while the two-body resonance is absent. We reduced the sensitivity of the gate fidelity to fluctuations of external electric field and eliminated the necessity to use external magnetic field for fine tuning of the resonant electric field value, compared to the previous scheme of Toffoli gate based on Rydberg atoms. A gate fidelity of >99% was demonstrated in the calculations.