Q-switched Mode-locked Pulses Research Articles

In-fiber waveguide-based mode-locker for generating diverse ultrafast pulses

The pursuit of an optimal mode-locker in nonlinear photonics is crucial for advancing high-performance laser technologies. Addressing the market demands and technical complexities in creating highly integrated and robust saturable absorbers, we present a femtosecond laser-inscribed in-fiber straight waveguide, seamlessly integrating a few-mode fiber segment into a single-mode fiber. This design reduces costs, simplifies fabrication, and enhances system integration and stability. As a saturable absorber, it enables nonlinear polarization rotation and multimode interference, which are essential for ultrafast pulse generation. It exhibits slight polarization-dependent loss and significant modulation depth, effectively inducing mode-locking. Based on the waveguide, 1.36 ps soliton pulses with a 2.9 nm bandwidth at a central wavelength of 1573 nm are initially achieved in an anomalous dispersion regime. Transitioning to the normal dispersion regime, at 190 mW pump power, the system produces Q-switched mode-locked pulses at 1574 nm. Increasing the pump power to 295 mW results in 712 fs noise-like pulses at 1572 nm, featuring an 8 nm bandwidth and 4.57 MHz repetition rate. This advancement in fiber lasers, facilitated by hybrid nonlinear effects in the waveguide, represents a significant milestone, promising for nonlinear optics and photonics due to its simplicity, cost-effectiveness, compactness, robustness, and high damage threshold.

Ultrafast nonlinear optical response of layered violet phosphorus for femtosecond noise-like pulse generation

As a new member of two-dimensional (2D) phosphorene, 2D layered violet phosphorus (VP) has unique optoelectronic properties and good environmental stability, showing its huge advantages in optoelectronic applications. In this paper, the ultrafast nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of layered VP nanosheets at 1 µm band were explored, which exhibit an obvious saturable absorption response with a modulation depth of ∼1.97%. Meanwhile, the fast and slow carrier lifetimes of VP nanosheets at 1µm band were also determined as 295.9 fs and 2.36 ps, respectively, which are much shorter than that of most reported 2D materials. The excellent saturable absorption response combined with ultrashort carrier lifetimes indicate the prospect of layered VP nanosheets as a fast saturable absorber (SA) for ultrafast laser modulation. Then we demonstrated a Yb-doped fiber laser based on the VP-deposited taper-shaped fiber (TSF) SA, which delivers stable Q-switched mode-locked (QSML) pulses, dual-wavelength mode-locked pulses and 404-fs noise-like pulses. This work fully demonstrates the great potential of 2D VP materials for 1 µm ultrashort laser pulse generation.

Germanene: demonstration of the conversion from mode-locked to Q-switched mode-locked in Er-doped fiber laser

Some two-dimensional layered mono-elemental materials have been reported as saturable absorbers (SAs) for the generation of various soliton phenomena, and many excellent results have been achieved. In our experiment, we made thin films of germanene-polyvinyl alcohol (Ge-PVA) and applied them as SA in Er-doped fiber lasers, investigated Ge’s characteristics, and demonstrated the conversion from mode-locked to Q-switched mode-locked (QML). The conventional mode-locked operation with a repetition rate of 9.63 MHz and a central wavelength of 1559.7 nm was stably triggered when the pump power exceeded the threshold of 40 mW. QML pulse with a central wavelength of 1530.26 nm and the maximum pulse energy of 86 nJ can be obtained by changing the pump power and polarization state of the light in the cavity. This work reveals the excellent optical properties of Ge SA in ultrafast fiber lasers and provide a new approach for the generation of QML pulses.

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.

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.

All-fiber low threshold tunable multimode Q-switched mode locked fiber laser using a few mode Er-doped fiber

We report an all-fiber low threshold (70 mW) multimode Q-switched mode-locked (QML) fiber laser at 1.5 m. Nonlinear polarization rotation and a few mode Er-doped fiber (FM-EDF) were both adopted to achieve a low threshold QML operation initially, and the later experimental results showed and verified that the FM-EDF was the key factor of the QML pulses generation. A multimode QML state at 70 mW pump power was obtained with an 18 μs Q-switched pulse width and a 7.41 kHz repetition rate. The repetition rate and pulse width of the mode-locked pulses within the Q-switched envelope were 16.9 MHz and ∼910 ps respectively. The multimode QML fiber laser can be turned from 1561.8 nm to 1575.1 nm owing to the multimode interference and the fiber birefringence filtering effect. The QML pulses with dual-wavelength and three-wavelength were also observed by manipulating the polarization controllers and increasing the pump power. The experimental results showed that multimode QML pulses can be achieved with a short FM-EDF at a lower pump power in an all-fiber multimode cavity. The generated low threshold and tunable QML multimode fiber laser has potential application in measuring and mode-division multiplexed system.

Q-switched and noise-like mode-locked fiber laser based on ternary transition-metal carbide Nb2AlC saturable absorber

The saturable absorption of layered ternary transition-metal carbide (MAX) Nb2AlC is investigated in this work. Nb2AlC-based saturable absorber (SA) device is prepared and applied in an Er-doped fiber laser (EDFL). The EDFL can generate Q-switched and noise-like mode-locked pulses based on the excellent Nb2AlC SA. The EDFL operates in a Q-switched pulses mode state when the pump power is up to a threshold value of 50 mW. For the Q-switched pulse, the maximum single pulse energy is 66 nJ. The laser pulse generation mode switches to a noise-like mode-locked state when the pump power increases to 170 mW. The coherent spike duration is 2.8 ps and the corresponding maximum single pulse energy is 1.5 nJ at a pump power of 439 mW. A preliminary review of available literature indicates no reports of layered ternary carbide Nb2AlC as SA in an EDFL to generate switchable laser pulse modes. Results of this study suggest that ternary MAX Nb2AlC can be a remarkable nonlinear optical (NLO) device to explore switchable laser pulse generation modes and can encourage further studies on the ternary transition-metal carbides.

Generation of Q-switched pulses on a graphene-silica hybrid waveguide

The Q-switched laser sources on chip pave the way for the applications of laser processing, distance measurement and frequency conversion. In this work, using the monolayer graphene-silica hybrid waveguides with increased input optical power, Q-switched pulses with the pulse widths ranging from 1.57 μs to 5.06 μs and the repetition rates ranging from 47.23 kHz to 85.33 kHz are realized, which results in the maximum single pulse energy of 56.5 nJ. The interaction between graphene and propagation light in the waveguide is strengthened by coating the polymethyl methacrylate layer on the graphene-silica hybrid waveguide. The pump power threshold of Q-switching is reduced by a factor of 2.5, and the Q-switched pulses with pulse width of 1.21 μs is achieved. Besides, as the pump power increases, the Q-switched mode-locking pulses are also observed.

Revealing the Evolution from Q-Switching to Mode-Locking in an Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser Using Tungsten Trioxide Saturable Absorber

Passively Q-switching and mode-locking technologies can generate short pulses with durations that differ by several orders of magnitude widely used in different applications. Recently, Q-switching and mode-locking realized in an identical laser cavity with saturable absorbers was reported. The analysis of pulse conversion is helpful for us to further understand the pulse dynamics of a laser. In this paper, the pulse evolution from Q-switching, Q-switched mode-locking to mode-locking, is demonstrated by using a tungsten trioxide saturable absorber in a ring-cavity erbium-doped fiber laser. Firstly, self-started Q-switching at 1563 nm is observed, the repetition rate continuously increases, and the duration decreases when the pump power increased. Then, with an adjusting intra-cavity state of polarization under a high pump power level, stable Q-switched mode-locking pulses evolved from Q-switching, are observed. The amplitude of the emerged pulse sequence with a period of 36.8 ns, determined by cavity length, is modulated by the Q-switched envelope with the period of 10.3 μs. By optimizing the intracavity polarization carefully, stable continuous wave mode-locking operation is achieved eventually. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental demonstration of Q-switching and mode-locking, respectively, in an identical transition-metal-oxides-based pulsed fiber laser without modification of cavity structure.

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.

Passively Q-switched mode-locked laser based on a MoS2/MoSe2 heterostructure saturable absorber

We have achieved stable output of Q-switched mode-locked laser at 1.06 μm by using MoS2/MoSe2 heterostructure saturable absorber. The saturable absorption characteristics of MoS2/MoSe2 heterojunction is investigated. At a pump power of 10 W, Q-switched mode-locked pulses with a repetition rate of 26 MHz, a minimum envelope width of 30.9 ns, and a maximum single pulse energy of 23.07 nJ are obtained. Compared with the previous results obtained on Q-switched mode-locked lasers with two-dimensional materials, higher envelope repetition rate and shorter envelope duration can be obtained. The results demonstrate that the MoS2/MoSe2 heterojunction is a competitive saturable absorber for all-solid-state lasers.

Harmonic mode-locked noise-like pulses under a Q-switched envelope in an erbium doped all-fiber ring laser.

We report for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, harmonic mode-locked noise-like pulses under a Q-switched envelope in an all-fiber erbium doped ring laser cavity, mode locked using the nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) technique. For a cavity with a fundamental repetition rate of 1.33 MHz, stable mode-locked noise-like pulses, with few nanoseconds durations, single pulse energies around 30-40 nJ, and Q-switched repetition rates up to 31 kHz, were produced and characterized from the fundamental to the eighth harmonic. The formation and evolution of Q-switched harmonic mode-locked noise-like pulses were preceded by the formation of Q-switched mode-locked noise-like pulse bunches. This is also the first report on noise-like bunches under a Q-switched envelope, to our knowledge. Our studies also provide further insights into the interplay of different physical mechanisms involved in the production of such ultrashort pulses. Such sources should prove especially useful for efficient supercontinuum generation and laser micromachining.

Broad-spectrum noise-like pulse and Q-switched noise-like pulse in a Tm-doped fiber laser

We experimentally and numerically study the broad-spectrum noise-like pulse (NLP) in a Tm-doped fiber laser (TDFL). The 3-dB spectral width of the NLP is 126 nm, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the broadest spectrum that has been directly obtained from negative dispersion TDFLs. The NLP can transform into another dynamic pulse operation, a Q-switched noise-like pulse (QSNLP). Since the QSNLP showed a noise-like structure within a Q-switched envelope, compared to conventional Q-switched mode-locked pulse, it is break-free during amplification. It offers excellent potential for obtaining high-energy pulses. The numerical studies demonstrate the existence of the NLPs and the rationality of the existence of QSNLP based on the experiment condition. Our work also enriches the operation of bunching structure pulses in fiber lasers.

Q-switched mode locking noise-like pulse generation from a thulium-doped all-fiber laser based on nonlinear polarization rotation

Q-switched mode locking (QML) noise-like pulse (NLP) emission from an all-fiber thulium-doped laser based on the nonlinear polarization rotation effect is reported. The QML emission is obtained in a cavity with net anomalous dispersion in a pump power interval in between the CW laser threshold and the threshold of the NLP regime. Highest-energy QML pulses were observed with a repetition rate of 812 kHz with a pump power of 520 mW at the optical wavelength of 1881.09 nm. A maximum overall energy of 460 nJ at an average output power of 6.4 mW was reached, which corresponds to a burst of mode-locked noise-like sub-pulses with 8.7 ns of pulse duration within a QML envelope of 11 µs. These results demonstrate unconventional pulse operation regime of NLPs and provide insights into the dynamics of mode-locked fiber lasers.

Ultraflat Langmuir–Blodgett assembled graphene oxide saturable-absorber films for pulsed near-infrared laser generation

Large-scale production of ultraflat broadband saturable-absorber films is highly desired for passive mode-locked solid-state lasers. However, the current vapour deposition and spin coating routes for fabricating saturable absorbers (SAs) are suffering from the limited flexibility in substrate choice and complexity of mass production processes. Here, we demonstrate an ultraflat carboxyl-functionalized graphene oxide (GO-COOH) SA film via Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) assembly for solid state laser mode-locking. Hydrophilic carboxyl groups from GO sheets weaken the aggregation effect thus contribute to the uniform and stable dispersion of GO sheets in water. Such GO suspensions are made into an ultrathin large-area graphene-based SA film by a LB assembly process ensuring high surface uniformity. The room-temperature and highly repeated operation for GO LB films avoids the thermal damage of GO sheets and improves the membrane repeatability. Consequently, the ultrathin GO-COOH SA shows the modulation depth (2.3%) and low saturation intensity (24.7 KW cm−2) under 1064 nm laser irradiation. By inserting the GO SA into a Nd:GdVO4 laser, both passive Q-switched (QS) and passive Q-switched mode-locked (QML) operations are also attained. The slope efficiency of QS laser is up to 35.6% and the maximum single pulse energy is 1.48 μJ. In particular, the QML pulses can be achieved stably and repeatedly with an average output power of 1.33 W and a pulse energy of 13.2 nJ. Our strategy provides a new concept for improving the modulation stability of graphene-based SAs and promoting their industrial application in pulsed solid-state lasers.

Multimode oscillation Q-switched mode-locking fiber laser based on gain equalized few-mode Er-doped fiber

We propose and demonstrate experimentally multimode Q-switched mode-locking (QML) fiber laser signal generation based on a long few-mode Er-doped fiber (FM-EDF). The erbium-doped profile of the fiber has been optimized to equalize the modal gain. The fiber supporting six modes has a total length of 5.5 m, a part of the fiber is used as a gain medium, and the unpumped part of the fiber is used as a saturable absorber. Multimode oscillation lasers in the state of the continuous wave laser operation, Q-switching, and QML state pulse laser operation were observed and measured at different pump powers by adjusting the polarization controller. A 1570-nm multimode QML pulse train was obtained, when the pump power was about 2.4 W. The width of the Q-switched envelope was 19 μs, and the repetition rate was 17.4 kHz. The stable mode-locked pulses repetition rate in Q-switched envelopes was 13.18 MHz. These temporal pulses can also be observed under the case of partly blocking the beam profile, and the part of the spectral signal gradually disappeared. The mode number in the laser was checked by a homemade mode selection photonic lantern. The results showed that the fiber laser had multimode oscillation, and the modes in generated signal were ≥5. The multiple transverse modes of the generated lasers are all in QML state at the same time. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental demonstration of a multimode QML fiber laser using a long FM-EDF.

Real-time observation of Q-switched mode-locking in a tin selenide modulated ultrafast fiber laser

We build a compact ultrafast Er-doped fiber laser based on the tin selenide (SnSe) saturable absorber (SA). Stable continuous-wave and Q-switched mode-locking operation states are realized. By utilizing the time-stretch dispersive Fourier transform, we explore the distinct evolution process of the Q-switched mode-locking operation in a SnSe SA modulated ultrafast Er-doped fiber laser from a real-time horizon. The real-time spectrum displays an interesting breathing process. Inside a single Q-switching envelope, the real-time spectra exhibit entirely different profiles, intensities and bandwidths. Our results can facilitate the understanding of the intrinsic mechanism of the Q-switched mode-locking pulse dynamics in ultrafast fiber lasers.

Tunable Q-switched mode-locked Cr:LiSAF laser

We have achieved stable passively Q-switched mode-locked (QML) operation in a Cr: LiSAF laser. In the experiments, a 10 mm long, %1.5 Cr-doped LiSAF crystal was pumped by two 150 mW single-mode diodes at 660 nm. An AlGaAs based saturable Bragg reflector (SBR) with a central wavelength of 850 nm and a modulation depth of 0.8% was used for initiating and sustaining QML operation. The QML laser was self-starting and robust against environmental fluctuations. In QML operation, the system produced sub-5-ps long mode-locked pulses at 150–200 MHz, inside 2–2.5 μs long Q-switched envelopes with 30–70 kHz repetition rate. The modulation depth of mode-locking stayed around 50%. We have also observed variation of mode-locked pulse parameters within the Q-switched envelope and also from Q-switched pulse to pulse. At an absorbed pump power level of around 280 mW, the QML pulses had an average power of 50 mW, whereas the estimated peak power of the mode-locked pulses were around 0.5 kW. Simple rotation of an intracavity birefringent tuning plate (BRF) enabled tuning of the central wavelength of the pulses between 835 and 865 nm. To our knowledge, this study is the first work focusing on QML operation in Cr: LiSAF lasers. The findings in this initial study is an initial attempt to understand the dynamics of QML operation in Cr:LiSAF. Further work will focus on reducing the mode-locked pulsewidths to sub-1-ps level and also on increasing the modulation depth of mode-locking for further peak power scaling.

Q-switched mode-locked multimode fiber laser based on a graphene-deposited multimode microfiber

We report Q-switched mode-locked (QML) pulses generation in an Yb-doped multimode fiber (MMF) laser by using a graphene-deposited multimode microfiber (GMM) for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The single-wavelength QML operation with the central wavelength tunable from 1028.81 nm to 1039.20 nm and the dual-wavelength QML operation with the wavelength spacing tunable from 0.93 nm to 5.79 nm are achieved due to the multimode interference filtering effect induced by the few-mode fiber and MMF structure and the GMM in the cavity. Particularly, in the single-wavelength QML operation, the fifth harmonic is also realized owing to the high nonlinear effect of the GMM. The obtained results indicate that the QML pulses can be generated in the MMF laser, and such a flexible tunable laser has promising applications in optical sensing, measuring, and laser processing.

1.3 μm passively Q-switched mode-locked laser with Fe3O4 nanoparticle saturable absorber

Fe3O4 nanoparticles (FONP) are made into saturable absorbers and assembled into the resonant cavity, for the first time, and passively Q-switched mode-locked (QML) pulse output is realized in a 1.3 μm all-solid-state laser. When the pump power increases to 8 W, the repetition frequency of the Q-switched pulse increases from 47 kHz to 116 kHz, the pulse width changes from 1.137 μs to 767 ns, and the corresponding single pulse energy is 1.2 μJ. At the same time, the passively QML operation was observed on the oscilloscope, with a pulse repetition frequency of 154.5 MHz and a pulse width of 660 ps. Our experiments demonstrate that FONP exhibits good nonlinear optical characteristics in the 1.3 μm waveband, and has the potential to realize giant ultrashort and multiwavelength tunable pulse output in all-solid-state pulsed lasers.