Mode-locked Fiber Laser Pulses Research Articles

On the generation of high-quality Nyquist pulses in mode-locked fiber lasers

Nyquist pulses have wide applications in many areas, from electronics to optics. Mode-locked lasers are ideal platforms to generate such pulses. However, how to generate high-quality Nyquist pulses in mode-locked lasers remains elusive. We address this problem by managing different physical effects in mode-locked fiber lasers through extensive numerical simulations. We find that net dispersion, linear loss, gain and filter shaping can affect the quality of Nyquist pulses significantly. We also demonstrate that Nyquist pulses experience similariton shaping due to the nonlinear attractor effect in the gain medium. Our work may contribute to the design of Nyquist pulse sources and enrich the understanding of pulse shaping dynamics in mode-locked lasers.

High Power and Large-Energy Pulse Generation in an Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser by a Ferromagnetic Insulator-Cr2Si2Te6 Saturable Absorber.

Large-energy mode-locked fiber lasers are extensively studied due to their indispensable use in various fields and applications. Recently, ferromagnetic insulators have attracted tremendous research interest in ultra-fast photonics because of their unique ferromagnetic properties and typical layered structure. In our work, Cr2Si2Te6 nanosheets are prepared and utilized as a saturable absorber (SA) in a large-energy mode-locked erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser. With a total cavity length of 240 m, a stable mode-locked operation characterized by maximum pulse energy as high as 244.76 nJ with a repetition rate of 847.64 kHz is achieved. When the cavity length is extended to 390 m, the output maximum pulse energy is successfully scaled up to 325.50 nJ. To our knowledge, this is the largest pulse energy and highest output power level to be achieved in mode-locked fiber lasers by two-dimensional (2D) material saturable absorbers (SAs) so far. This work not only makes a forward step to the investigation of the generation of large-energy pulses in mode-locked fiber lasers but also fully proves that the ferromagnetic insulator-Cr2Si2Te6 possesses an excellent nonlinear absorption property, antioxidant capacity in ambient conditions, as well as outstanding thermal stability, which enriches our insight into 2D materials.

Phase-matching-induced near-chirp-free solitons in normal-dispersion fiber lasers

Direct generation of chirp-free solitons without external compression in normal-dispersion fiber lasers is a long-term challenge in ultrafast optics. We demonstrate near-chirp-free solitons with distinct spectral sidebands in normal-dispersion hybrid-structure fiber lasers containing a few meters of polarization-maintaining fiber. The bandwidth and duration of the typical mode-locked pulse are 0.74 nm and 1.95 ps, respectively, giving the time-bandwidth product of 0.41 and confirming the near-chirp-free property. Numerical results and theoretical analyses fully reproduce and interpret the experimental observations, and show that the fiber birefringence, normal-dispersion, and nonlinear effect follow a phase-matching principle, enabling the formation of the near-chirp-free soliton. Specifically, the phase-matching effect confines the spectrum broadened by self-phase modulation and the saturable absorption effect slims the pulse stretched by normal dispersion. Such pulse is termed as birefringence-managed soliton because its two orthogonal-polarized components propagate in an unsymmetrical “X” manner inside the polarization-maintaining fiber, partially compensating the group delay difference induced by the chromatic dispersion and resulting in the self-consistent evolution. The property and formation mechanism of birefringence-managed soliton fundamentally differ from other types of pulses in mode-locked fiber lasers, which will open new research branches in laser physics, soliton mathematics, and their related applications.

Temporal Imaging for Ultrafast Spectral-Temporal Optical Signal Processing and Characterization

Temporal imaging is one of the most promising all-optical signal processing techniques that enable single-shot ultrafast signal characterization in both spectral and temporal domains. However, conventional temporal imaging systems have inherent constraints such as limited record length, narrow spectral observation range and complex system configuration, which prevent their potential to be fully unleashed. In this article, we review the recent efforts in developing advanced temporal imaging systems with much enhanced performance. Their powerful applications are demonstrated by real-time single-shot characterization of Kerr soliton generation in microresonator, noise-like pulses in mode-locked fiber lasers, broadband frequency combs and the dynamic waveform in ultrafast optical tomography. In addition, potential future developments of this technique in several important directions are discussed.

Splitting and Motions of Dissipative Soliton Resonance Pulses in Mode-Locked Fiber Lasers

We numerically investigated the splitting and motions of dissipative soliton resonance (DSR) pulses in an all-normal-dispersion Yb-doped fiber laser mode-locked by a nonlinear optical loop mirror. At certain values of the system parameters, the initial single Gaussian pulse can evolve into an unstable DSR pulse with several dark solitons inside. After collisions of dark solitons, a big intensity dip occurs at the center of the DSR pulse, leading to the splitting of the DSR pulse. After splitting, the peak-to-peak separation between two DSR pulses increases at first and finally reaches a fixed value of 193 ps, indicating a steady-state multipulse operation. The relative motions of separated DSR pulse originate from the phase shift.

Vector Nature of Dissipative-Soliton-Resonance Pulses in Fiber Lasers Mode-Locked by Nonlinear Polarization Rotation Technique

The vector nature of dissipative-soliton-resonance (DSR) pulses is numerically investigated in an all-normal-dispersion Yb-doped fiber laser mode-locked by the nonlinear polarization rotation technique. We calculate the polarization ellipses of the DSR pulse throughout the cavity, which shows that the polarization state varies during the propagation. The features of pulse polarization are also displayed on the Poincare sphere. The impact of nonlinear birefringence on the polarization evolution is analyzed. Furthermore, we find that the polarization state is not uniform across a DSR pulse at a fixed intra-cavity position. The flat-top part of the pulse has a nearly fixed polarization, while its leading and trailing edges feature polarization states that vary with time. The peak power ratio of the two orthogonal polarization components in the pulse is limited in the range from 4 to 31. Our simulation results offer insight into the polarization properties of DSR pulses in mode-locked fiber lasers containing polarization discrimination devices.

Optical sampling system using periodically-poled lithium niobate waveguide and nonlinear polarization rotation mode-locked fiber laser

A novel design of optical sampling system has been developed by using sum-frequency generation (SFG) in a periodically-poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide and using passive mode-locked fiber laser pulses as optical sampling pulses. The system achieved high temporal resolution and high sensitivity using a 30 mm length PPLN with quasi phase match period of 19.3 μm and 151 fs sampling pulses which were generated by passive modelock fiber laser based on nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR). Clear eye-diagram of 10 Gbit/s non-return-to-zeros (NRZ) pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS) optical signal were successfully reconstructed by this system.

WALK-OFF LENGTH LIMITED SPECTRAL BROADENING IN SUPERCONTINUUM GENERATION

Detailed spectrum broadening mechanisms in supercontinuum (SC) generation are studied with an all-fiber pulsed laser source and a highly nonlinear dispersion-shifted fiber (HN-DSF). Mode-locked fiber laser pulses are stretched to four different pulse widths, and SC spectra are measured with different propagation distances with these pulses. By observing the development of spectral width with distance, we have observed that self-phase modulation (SPM) rather than soliton fission is the dominant process at the beginning of SC generation in our case. We have also confirmed that four-wave mixing (FWM) and its walk-off problem associated with different spectral components are the major limiting factors in efficient wide-band SC generation.

Complete characterization of optical pulses by real-time spectral interferometry

We demonstrate a simple method for complete characterization (of amplitudes and phases) of short optical pulses, using only a dispersive delay line and an oscilloscope. The technique is based on using a dispersive delay line to stretch the pulses and recording the temporal interference of two delayed replicas of the pulse train. Then, by transforming the time domain interference measurements to spectral interferometry, the spectral intensity and phase of the input pulses are reconstructed, using a Fourier-transform algorithm. In the experimental demonstration, mode-locked fiber laser pulses with durations of approximately 1 ps were characterized with a conventional fast photodetector and an oscilloscope.