Single-wavelength Mode Research Articles

In situ one-pot synthesis of chitosan@ P,N-CPDs as a ratiometric scatter up-conversion sensor for α-lipoic acid

The rapid sensitive determination of α-lipoic acid (ALA) is essential for monitoring biological functions. Nevertheless, the lack of chromophore and its occurrence in complex biological matrices renders its determination challenging and requires additional treatment steps which lengthen assay procedure and affects method sensitivity. Herein, through the coordination of frequency doubling scatter (FDS) of polysaccharide strands with up-conversion of the embedded in situ formed P, N- carbonized polymer dots (CPDs), a novel ratiometric sensing platform was constructed. One-pot synthesis of chitosan decorated P, N-CPDs (chitosan@ P,N-CPDs) was attempted through microwave-assisted crosslinking-accelerated carbonization, using phosphoric acid as crosslinker and dopant. The constructed platform responded to the presence of α-lipoic acid (ALA) in concentration dependent manner (R2 = 0.995) between 1.65–100 μg/mL, with detection limit of 0.55 μg/mL, good accuracy (%E = 0.52 %) and precision (%RSD < 2 %). Consistent results with comparison method confirmed sensor reliability for determination of ALA in urine, Thiotacid® and Thiotacid compound® tablets, with no interference from the coexisting highly absorbing water-soluble vitamins, thiamine, and cyanocobalamin, or other potential interferents. Thus, the developed high performance sensing platform could be adopted for ALA determination as it is much less prone to spectral interferences and hence more discerning than those operated in single wavelength mode.

Near-infrared OLEDs with high radiance of ∼105 mW Sr−1 m−2 for single-wavelength oxygen saturation detection

Real-time in-home monitoring oxygen saturation (SpO2) is of great significance for early diagnosis and treatment of severe COVID-19, however, which should be based on multi-wavelength technology and complicated equipment. Herein, as a proof of concept, 740 nm is chosen as singlet light source for single-wavelength SpO2 detection, since absorbance differences between oxyhemoglobin (HbO2) and other interferences are the most rational. To controllably optimize excited-state characteristics of a near-infrared (NIR) thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters, an “extra conjugation” method is demonstrated by CNQP-TPA, whose 2,3-dicyanoquinoxaline phenanthroline (CNQP) acceptor forms strong intramolecular hydrogen bonds with two phenyls of triphenylamine (TPA) donors, which not only reduce excited-state relaxation-induced energy lose, but also provide more space for accurate modulation of intermolecular charge transfer (CT) interactions. As consequence, at the suitable doping concentration, CNQP-TPA endowed its device with a high radiance reaching ∼105 mW Sr−1 m−2 and desired electroluminescence peak at 744 nm. This device is further used as light source to detect SpO2 variation under single-wavelength mode. These results indicate the potential of NIR TADF materials and devices for in-home SpO2 monitoring and pre-diagnosis and prevention of severe COVID-19.

Wavelength-Switchable Single-Longitudinal- Mode Thulium-Doped Fiber Laser With Sampled Fiber Bragg Grating

A wavelength-switchable single-longitudinal-mode thulium-doped fiber laser using a sampled fiber Bragg grating is proposed in this study. The laser can be switched between three single-wavelength and three dual-wavelength modes of operation. For the single-wavelength mode of operation, the maximum power and wavelength fluctuations in 50 min were ±0.404 dB and ±0.01 nm, and the linewidths at three wavelengths were 0.39, 1.88, and 0.89 kHz, respectively. For the dual-wavelength mode of operation, the maximum power and wavelength fluctuations in 20 min were ±0.926 dB and ±0.03 nm, respectively. The proposed thulium-doped fiber laser will find useful application in optical communication and free-space optical detection and sensing.

Switchable dual-wavelength mode-locked fiber laser using Saganc loop mirror

We report an all-fiber switchable dual-wavelength mode-locked laser using a Sagnac loop mirror. In this laser, the Sagnac loop mirror acts as a tunable periodic filter, in which the wavelength spacing is determined by the length of the polarization maintaining fiber. With appropriate pump power, the mode-locked fiber laser can operate in both the tunable single-wavelength mode locking regime and the dual-wavelength mode locking regime by properly setting the states of the polarization controllers. In the single-wavelength mode locking regime, the laser achieves continuously tunable wavelength range from ∼1551 nm to ∼1562 nm. In the dual-wavelength mode locking regime, the laser can emit two stable asynchronous pulse trains with the central wavelengths of 1561.4 nm and 1551.1 nm, respectively. Due to the net negative dispersion of the laser cavity, the mode-locked pulse trains with different central wavelengths have different group velocities leading to a repetition rate difference of ∼530 Hz.

Tunable and switchable all-fiber dual-wavelength mode locked laser based on Lyot filtering effect.

Mode-locked fiber lasers that generate two frequency combs with different frequency intervals could find very important applications in low-complexity dual-comb metrology. We report a partially polarization-maintaining all-fiber dual-wavelength dual-comb mode locked laser. The polarization dependent loss of the wavelength division multiplexer combined with the polarization-maintaining fibers leads to the periodic Lyot filtering effect. Traditional single wavelength mode locking can be realized with the tunable central wavelength and spectral shape. By properly setting the state of the polarization controller, stable dual-wavelength asynchronized mode locked pulse trains with the repetition rate difference of hundreds of Hertz can be achieved. In this dual-wavelength mode locked fiber laser, the dispersion of the laser cavity leads to group velocity difference of the two mode locked pulse trains with different central wavelengths, which results in the generation of dual-comb output with the frequency difference of hundreds of Hertz. The central wavelengths of the dual-wavelength mode locked fiber laser are demonstrated to be tunable in a certain range as well. Meanwhile, a novel dual-wavelength soliton molecule mode locking is also demonstrated. Such compact all-fiber dual-wavelength dual-comb mode locked laser could find various practical applications that in need of dual-comb fiber laser system.

Investigation of narrow band random fiber ring laser based on random phase-shift Bragg grating

A random fiber laser based on a 25 mm long random phase-shift fiber Bragg grating with a ring cavity is experimentally demonstrated in this paper. The random phase-shift grating is fabricated with the beam-scanning method in a single-mode fiber. The random feedback and light localization are achieved by introducing 20 phase-shift points with random amplitudes along the grating length. A narrow band single-wavelength random fiber laser with the 3 dB bandwidth of 0.44 pm is realized with a 980 nm laser pumping at 130 mW. The optical signal-to-noise ratio up to 55 dB is obtained at the same pump power. The pump threshold is only 21.8 mW. The number of emitted wavelengths is changeable by adjusting the pump power. The lasing wavelength near 1549.96 nm presents a maximum fluctuation range of only 1.1 pm over time. With the random grating exposed to water, the mode competition is suppressed and the laser can be operated at more stable single-wavelength mode.

On the plasmonic properties of a symmetry-breaking silver nanoring structure

This work reports on a study regarding the plasmonic properties of a symmetry-breaking silver nanoring structure, in the wavelength range of 0.6–4.5 µm. A broken silver ring with a certain angle, as well as a full ring composed of silver and other metallic/dielectric materials, are proposed. The extinction efficiencies of the nanostructure are numerically calculated with several parameters being varied, including the broken angle, the inner and outer radii, and the thickness of the broken ring, as well as the material in the composite full ring. Multiple plasmonic resonances are observed in the extinction efficiency curves, which are attributed to the quadrupolar, octupolar, and hexadecapolar resonance modes that are revealed by the electric field distributions. The results demonstrate that the high-order modes can be altered, by varying the value of the broken angle of the ring. It is also illustrated that the resonance wavelength and the full width at half maximum of certain high-order plasmonic resonance peaks can be tuned in the wavelength range studied, by adjusting the values of the geometrical parameters of the nanoring. The plasmonic characteristics of the symmetry-breaking nanoring structure revealed in this study, provide a great platform for the designs of plasmonic devices utilizing the high-order plasmonic resonances. Besides, it is also proposed a scheme to switch the device between the multi-wavelength and single-wavelength modes.

A fast dual wavelength laser beam fluid-less optical CT scanner for radiotherapy 3D gel dosimetry I: design and development

Three dimensional dosimetry by optical CT readout of radiosensitive gels or solids has previously been indicated as a solution for measurement of radiotherapy 3D dose distributions. The clinical uptake of these dosimetry methods has been limited, partly due to impracticalities of the optical readout such as the expertise and labour required for refractive index fluid matching. In this work a fast laser beam optical CT scanner is described, featuring fluid-less and dual wavelength operation. A second laser with a different wavelength is used to provide an alternative reference scan to the commonly used pre-irradiation scan. Transmission data for both wavelengths is effectively acquired simultaneously, giving a single scan process. Together with the elimination of refractive index fluid matching issues, scanning practicality is substantially improved. Image quality and quantitative accuracy were assessed for both dual and single wavelength methods. The dual wavelength scan technique gave improvements in uniformity of reconstructed optical attenuation coefficients in the sample 3D volume. This was due to a reduction of artefacts caused by scan to scan changes. Optical attenuation measurement accuracy was similar for both dual and single wavelength modes of operation. These results established the basis for further work on dosimetric performance.

Low-Gain Oscillations and MoS2-Based Dual-Wavelength Passive Q-Switching of Diode-Pumped Nd:YAG Lasers on 4F3/2→4I13/2 Transition

We report on our latest experimental results concerning laser oscillations at low-gain lines of diode-pumped Nd:YAG crystal lasers on 4F3/2 → 4I13/2 transition and MoS2 -based dual-wavelength passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser on this transition, for the first time to our knowledge. Using an undoped YAG as etalon to promote the intracavity loss modulation, three new lasing lines of about 1333, 1334, and 1340 nm have been achieved. Especially, the 1334-nm laser can be operated at single wavelength mode with maximum output power of 2.03 W. Dual-wavelength passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 1318 and 1338 nm has also been obtained with maximum average output power of 0.44 W. The shortest pulse width is about 150 ns at pulse repetition rate of 125 kHz, leading to single pulse energy of 3.5 μJ and pulse peak power of 23.4 W.

Spectroscopic characteristics, continuous-wave and mode-locking laser performances of Tm,Y:CaF2 disordered crystal.

The spectroscopic characteristics, continuous-wave (CW) and mode-locking laser performances of Tm,Y:CaF2 disordered crystal were studied. A maximum CW output power of 586 mW was obtained with a slope efficiency of 26%. The Tm,Y:CaF2 mode-locked laser could operate in two states: single-wavelength mode locking or dual-wavelength synchronous mode locking. The single-wavelength mode-locked laser generated pulses with pulse duration of 22 ps, repetition rate of 99 MHz, and pulse energy of 1.15 nJ at 1887 nm. Alternatively, the laser could also be mode-locked simultaneously at 1880.7 nm and 1889.0 nm wavelengths. The beating modulation in autocorrelation trace shows that the dual-wavelength pulses were temporally synchronous.

Phase Uncertainty in Digital Holographic Microscopy Measurements in the Presence of Solution Flow Conditions.

Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) is a surface topography measurement technique with reported sub-nanometer vertical resolution. Although it has been made commercially available recently, few studies have evaluated the uncertainty or noise in the phase measurement by the DHM. As current research is using the DHM to monitor surface topography changes of dissolving materials under flowing water conditions, it is necessary to evaluate the effect of water and flow rate on the uncertainty in the measurement. Uncertainty in this study was concerned with the temporal standard deviation per pixel of the reconstructed phase. Considering the effects of solution flow rate, magnification, objective lens type (air or immersion), and experimental configuration, measurements under static conditions in air and in water with an immersion lens yielded the smallest amount of uncertainty (mean of ≤ 0.5 nm up to 40× magnification). Increasing the water flow rate resulted in an increase in mean uncertainty to ≤ 0.6 nm up to 40× with an immersion lens. Observations of a sample through a glass window at 20× magnification in flowing water also yielded increasing uncertainty, with mean values of ≤ 0.5 nm, ≤ 0.8 nm, and ≤ 1.1 nm for flow rates of 0 mL min-1, 15 mL min-1, and 33 mL min-1. Different hologram acquisition rates (12.5 s-1 and 25 s-1) did not significantly impact the uncertainty in the phase. Collecting holograms in single-wavelength versus dual-wavelength modes did impact the uncertainty, with the mean uncertainty at 10× magnification for the same wavelength being ≤ 0.5 nm from the single-wavelength mode compared to ≤ 1.5 nm from the dual-wavelength mode. When the quantified uncertainty was applied to simulated dissolution data, lower limits of measured dissolution rates were found below which the measured data may not be distinguishable from the uncertainty in the measurement. The limiting surface-normal dissolution velocity is -10-11.7 m s-1 for experiments with an immersion lens in flowing water conditions and -10-11.7 m s-1, -10-11.4 m s-1, and -10-11.0 m s-1 for static (0 mL min-1), slow (≤ 15 mL min-1), and fast (≤ 109 mL min-1) flowing water conditions in experiments with a glass window, respectively. The data presented by this study will allow for better experimental design and methodology for future dissolution or precipitation studies using DHM and will provide confidence in the data produced in postprocessing.

Tunable and switchable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser based on in-line tapered fiber filters

A tunable and switchable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) based on all-fiber single-mode tapered fiber structure has been demonstrated. By adjusting the variable optical attenuator (VOA), the laser can be switched between the single-wavelength mode and the dual-wavelength mode. When the temperature applied on the tapered fiber structure varies, the pass-band varies and the wavelength of the output laser shifts correspondingly. When the temperature changes from 30 °C to 180 °C, the central wavelength of the EDFL generated by branch A shifts from 1 550.7 nm to 1 560.3 nm, while that of branch B shifts from 1 530.8 nm to 1 540.4 nm, indicating the wavelength interval is tunable. These advantages enable this laser to be a potential candidate for high-capacity wavelength division multiplexing systems and mechanical sensors.

Coaxial Dual-wavelength Interferometric Method for a Thermal Infrared Focal-plane-array with Integrated Gratings.

Uncooled infrared (IR) focal-plane-array (FPA) with both large sensing range and high sensitivity is a great challenge due to the limited dynamic range of the detected signals. A coaxial dual-wavelength interferometric system was proposed here to detect thermal-induced displacements of an ultrasensitive FPA based on polyvinyl-chloride(PVC)/gold bimorph cantilevers and carbon nanotube (CNT)-based IR absorbing films. By alternately selecting the two displacement measurements performed by λ1 (=640 nm) and λ2 (=660 nm), the temperature measuring range with greater than 50% maximum sensitivity can be extended by eight-fold in comparison with the traditional single-wavelength mode. Meanwhile, the relative measurement error over the full measuring range is below 0.4%. In addition, it offers a feasible approach for on-line and on-wafer FPA characterization with great convenience and high efficiency.

Switchable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser with tunable wavelength

A switchable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) with tunable wavelength is demonstrated. The ring cavity consists of two branches with a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and a spherical-shape structure as fiber filters, respectively. By adjusting the variable optical attenuator (VOA), the laser can be switched between the single-wavelength mode and the dual-wavelength mode. The spherical-shape structure has good sensitivity to the temperature. When the temperature changes from 30 °C to 190 °C, the central wavelength of the EDFL generated by the branch of spherical-shape structure varies from 1 551.6 nm to 1 561.8 nm, which means that the wavelength interval is tunable.

Switchable dual-wavelength fiber laser mode-locked by monolayer graphene on D-shaped fiber

A switchable mode-locking fiber laser is demonstrated by means of a monolayer graphene saturable absorber (SA) based on a D-shaped fiber. The monolayer graphene, which is grown by chemical vapor deposition, is transferred onto the D-shaped fiber and then the light–graphene interaction via the evanescent field of the fiber is enhanced greatly. Using such a graphene-based SA, the single-wavelength mode locking can be switched from 1531.5 to 1559.1 nm by appropriately adjusting the polarization controller (PC). In addition, the stable dual-wavelength mode-locking operation is also observed at the proper state of PC.

Highly Flexible UV–Vis Radiation Sources and Novel Detection Schemes for Spectrophotometric HPLC Detection

The concept and performance of the first multiwavelength deep UV light-emitting-diode-based high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) absorbance detector are presented. In single-wavelength mode and with optical reference, the limit of detection (LOD) is comparable to conventional state-of-the-art HPLC absorbance detectors. In multiwavelength mode--at present up to eight wavelengths without optical reference--the LOD is about 10 times higher than in single-wavelength mode. Multiplexing and demultiplexing methods are used to separate chromatographic signals in multiwavelength mode and keeps the detector configuration simple and yet flexible. Depending on the operation mode, stray light is either totally negligible or controlled electronically and digitally.

194 μm switchable dual-wavelength Tm3+ fiber laser employing high-birefringence fiber Bragg grating

A 1.94 μm switchable dual-wavelength Tm(3+) fiber laser employing two high-birefringence fiber Bragg gratings (HB-FBGs) is demonstrated. The polarization hole burning effect enhanced by the HB-FBG is first observed and adopted to guarantee stable dual-wavelength operation in the spectral region near 2 μm at room temperature. The wavelength spacing between the dual lasing wavelengths is 0.81 nm. The polarization states of the dual-output lasers are orthogonal. By adjusting a polarization controller, a single-wavelength mode operating at one of the dual wavelengths can be selected. The side-mode-suppression ratio of each laser can be greater than 60 dB. The power fluctuation measurement at both operating wavelengths shows that this Tm(3+) fiber laser has good stability.

Formation and evolution of passively mode-locked fiber soliton lasers operating in a dual-wavelength regime

The formation and evolution of dual-wavelength solitons in passively mode-locked fiber soliton lasers are investigated both numerically and experimentally. By solving the Ginzburg&#x2013;Landau equation and taking the gain profile into account, mode-locked soliton emissions at 1532 and 1555&#xA0;nm are achieved simultaneously. Numerical results show that the two solitons exhibit the same intensity and duration, indicating that the dual-wavelength pulses possess the soliton energy quantization effect. In the process of pulse&#x2013;pulse collisions, two solitons pass through each other and maintain their properties, qualitatively distinct from single-wavelength solitons that never overlap each other. The dual-wavelength mode-locked operation evolves into single-wavelength mode locking with the decrease of the pumping strength. The dual-peak gain spectrum of erbium-doped fiber and the birefringence-induced cavity filtering effect play crucial roles in the formation of dual-wavelength solitons. Numerical results agree well with analytical solutions and experimental observations. Our study provides an optional method of measuring the fiber dispersion by means of the dual-wavelength solitons.

Wide temperature range 0 &lt; T &lt; 85 °C narrow linewidth discrete mode laser diodes for coherent communications applications

Cost effective lasers meeting the linewidth requirements for coherent communication systems are a key element in reducing the overall cost of future coherent systems. We report on monolithic devices with linewidths as low as 138 kHz which operate in a narrow linewidth, single wavelength mode with high sidemode suppression ratio over a wide temperature tuning range of -10 °C < T < 110 °C. A linewidth variation of only 23 kHz was measured at a constant emitted power of 4 mW as the device temperature is varied in the range 0 °C < T < 85 °C.

Cytochrome b5 Inhibits Electron Transfer from NADPH-Cytochrome P450 Reductase to Ferric Cytochrome P450 2B4

Experiments demonstrating that cytochrome (cyt) b5 inhibits the activity of cytochrome P450 2B4 (cyt P450 2B4) at higher concentrations suggested that cyt b5 was occupying the cyt P450 reductase-binding site on cyt P450 2B4 and preventing the reduction of ferric cyt P450 (Zhang, H., Im, S.-C., and Waskell, L. (2007) J. Biol. Chem. 282, 29766-29776). In this work experiments were undertaken with manganese-containing cyt b5 (Mn-cyt b5) to test this hypothesis. Because Mn-cyt b5 does not undergo oxidation state changes under our experimental conditions, interpretation of the experimental results was unambiguous. The rate of electron transfer from cyt P450 reductase to ferric cyt P450 2B4 was decreased by Mn-cyt b5 in a concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, reduction of cyt P450 2B4 by cyt P450 reductase was incomplete in the presence of Mn-cyt b5. At a Mn-cyt b(5):cyt P450 2B4:cyt P450 reductase molar ratio of 5:1:1, the rate of reduction of ferric cyt P450 was decreased by 10-fold, and only 30% of the cyt P450 was reduced, whereas 70% remained oxidized. It could be demonstrated that Mn-cyt b5 had its effect by acting on cyt P450, not the reductase, because the reduction of cyt c by cyt P450 reductase in the presence of Mn-cyt b5 was not effected. Furthermore, under steady-state conditions in the cyt P450 reconstituted system, Mn-cyt b5, which lacks the ability to reduce oxyferrous cyt P450 2B4, was unable to stimulate the activity of cyt P450. Mn-cyt b5 only inhibited the cyt P450 2B4 activity. In conjunction with site-directed mutagenesis studies and experiments that strongly suggested that cyt b5 competed with cyt P450 reductase for binding to cyt P450, the current investigation demonstrates unequivocally that cyt b5 inhibits the activity of cyt P450 2B4 by preventing cyt P450 reductase from binding to cyt P450, a prerequisite for electron transfer from cyt P450 reductase to cyt P450 and catalysis.