Strong Self-phase Modulation Research Articles

Mid-infrared second-harmonic generation and its red-shift signal induced by cross-phase modulation in an AsSe2 soft glass microstructured optical fiber

In this study, we investigate an AsSe2 soft glass microstructured optical fiber (MOF) featuring a hexagonal arrangement of six holes. The MOF is subjected to femtosecond laser pumping, employing a pump wavelength range spanning from 3950 nm to 4100 nm. Our experimental results reveal an intriguing outcome: a tunable mid-infrared second-harmonic generation (SHG) effect is observed, yielding a wavelength range of ∼ 1980 nm to ∼ 2203 nm. The maximum conversion efficiency is achieved at 4100 nm with a power of 130 mW, which can be up to 9.2E-5. The observed SHG is primarily due to the surface nonlinearity polarization at the core-cladding interface. Additionally, we increase the additional degrees of freedom of the SH signal by strong third-order nonlinearity, and demonstrate that strong self-phase modulation (SPM) of pump and cross-phase modulation (XPM) of SH signal help broaden the SH signal by means of generating new wavelength lobes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that strong XPM-based SH signal is observed in an optical fiber in the mid-infrared wavelength region. The realized strong second-order and third-order nonlinearity might expand the fundamental physical mechanism of SHG in optical fiber especially in mid-infrared region, which would have important applications in telecommunications, laser technology, and quantum photonics.

Numerical observation of SPM rogue waves in normal dispersion cascaded supercontinuum generation

Numerical modeling of cascaded mid-infrared (IR) supercontinuum generation (SCG) is used to study how an ensemble of spectrally and temporally distributed solitons from the long-wavelength part of an SC evolves when coupled into the normal dispersion regime of a highly nonlinear chalcogenide fiber. This has revealed a novel phenomenon—the generation of a high-energy rogue wave in the normal dispersion regime in the form of a strong self-phase-modulation (SPM) chirped pulse. This SPM rogue wave is generated by swallowing the energy of many sufficiently closely spaced pulses through inter-pulse Raman amplification and is a key effect behind efficient cascaded mid-IR SCG.

Generation of Chirped Femtosecond Pulses Near 977 nm Using a Mode-Locked All-Fiber Laser

A cladding-pumped all-fiber chirped femtosecond pulse Yb-doped mode-locked laser operating near 977 nm was demonstrated for the first time. Nonlinear polarization evolution was used as the mode-locking mechanism. The laser was self-starting and extremely stable (the stability of the repetition rate of 41.6 MHz was better than that of 15 Hz). Amplification near 977 nm was achieved using a specially designed cladding-pumped Yb-doped fiber. The main feature of the current laser design was its increased intracavity nonlinearity, which resulted in a strong self-phase modulation and significant widening of the generated pulse spectrum. This nonlinearity allowed us to generate pulses compressible down to a duration of 230 fs using an external diffraction grating compressor.

Impact of nonlinear effects on transmission losses of hollow-core antiresonant negative curvature optical fiber.

We investigate the impact of input pulse duration and peak power of a femtosecond laser on pulse broadening and propagation losses in selected hollow-core antiresonant fiber (HC-ARF). The mixed effects of strong self-phase modulation and relatively weak Raman scattering broaden the spectral width, which in turn causes a portion of the output spectrum to exceed the transmission band of the fiber, resulting in transmission losses. By designing and setting up a gas flow control system and a vacuum system, the nonlinear behavior of the fiber filled with different pressurized gases is investigated. The experimental results show that replacing the air molecules in the fiber core with argon can weaken pulse broadening and increase the transmittable peak power by 14 MW for a given 122 MW input, while a vacuum system can reduce the nonlinearity to a larger extent, therefore enhancing the transmission of HC-ARF by at least 26 MW.

Broadband 200-nm second-harmonic generation in silicon in the telecom band

Silicon is well known for its strong third-order optical nonlinearity, exhibiting efficient supercontinuum and four-wave mixing processes. A strong second-order effect that is naturally inhibited in silicon can also be observed, for example, by electrically breaking the inversion symmetry and quasi-phase matching the pump and the signal. To generate an efficient broadband second-harmonic signal, however, the most promising technique requires matching the group velocities of the pump and the signal. In this work, we utilize dispersion engineering of a silicon waveguide to achieve group velocity matching between the pump and the signal, along with an additional degree of freedom to broaden the second harmonic through the strong third-order nonlinearity. We demonstrate that the strong self-phase modulation and cross-phase modulation in silicon help broaden the second harmonic by 200 nm in the O-band. Furthermore, we show a waveguide design that can be used to generate a second-harmonic signal in the entire near-infrared region. Our work paves the way for various applications, such as efficient and broadband complementary-metal oxide semiconductor based on—chip frequency synthesizers, entangled photon pair generators, and optical parametric oscillators.

Two-dimensional two-photon absorptions and third-order nonlinear optical properties of Ih fullerenes and fullerene onions.

The third order static and dynamic nonlinear optical (NLO) responses of Ih symmetry fullerenes (C60, C240, and C540) and fullerene onions (C60@C240 and C60@C240@C540) are predicted using the ZINDO method and the sum-over-states model. The static second hyperpolarizability of Ih symmetry fullerenes increases exponentially with fullerene size [from 10.00 × 10-34 esu in C60 to 3266.74 × 10-34 esu ≈ γ0(C60) × 92.63 in C540]. The external fields of strong third order NLO responses of Ih symmetry fullerenes change from ultra-violet (C60) to the visible region (C540) as the fullerene size increases. The outer layer fullerene in the fullerene onions has dominant contributions to the third order NLO properties of the fullerene onions, and the inter-shell charge-transfer excitations have conspicuous contributions to the third order NLO properties. The two-dimensional two-photon absorption spectra of C60 and C240 show that those fullerenes have strong two-photon absorptions in the visible region with short wavelength and in the ultra-violet region.

All-optical regenerator of multi-channel signals

One of the main reasons why nonlinear-optical signal processing (regeneration, logic, etc.) has not yet become a practical alternative to electronic processing is that the all-optical elements with nonlinear input–output relationship have remained inherently single-channel devices (just like their electronic counterparts) and, hence, cannot fully utilise the parallel processing potential of optical fibres and amplifiers. The nonlinear input–output transfer function requires strong optical nonlinearity, e.g. self-phase modulation, which, for fundamental reasons, is always accompanied by cross-phase modulation and four-wave mixing. In processing multiple wavelength-division-multiplexing channels, large cross-phase modulation and four-wave mixing crosstalks among the channels destroy signal quality. Here we describe a solution to this problem: an optical signal processor employing a group-delay-managed nonlinear medium where strong self-phase modulation is achieved without such nonlinear crosstalk. We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, simultaneous all-optical regeneration of up to 16 wavelength-division-multiplexing channels by one device. This multi-channel concept can be extended to other nonlinear-optical processing schemes.

Using n- and p-Type Bi2Te3 Topological Insulator Nanoparticles To Enable Controlled Femtosecond Mode-Locking of Fiber Lasers

Mechanically triturated n- and p-type Bi2Te3 nanoparticles, the nanoscale topological insulators (TIs), are employed as nonlinear saturable absorbers to passively mode-lock the erbium-doped fiber lasers (EDFLs) for sub-400 fs pulse generations. A novel method is proposed to enable the control on the self-amplitude modulation (SAM) of TI by adjusting its dopant type. The dopant type of TI only shifts the Fermi level without changing its energy bandgap, that the n- and p-type Bi2Te3 nanoparticles have shown the broadband saturable absorption at 800 and 1570 nm. In addition, both the complicated pulse shortening procedure and the competition between hybrid mode-locking mechanisms in the Bi2Te3 nanoparticle mode-locked EDFL system have been elucidated. The p-type Bi2Te3 with its lower effective Fermi level results in more capacity for excited carriers than the n-type Bi2Te3, which shortens the pulse width by enlarging the SAM depth. However, the strong self-phase modulation occurs with reduced linear loss and...

Experimental study on generation of high energy few cycle pulses with hollow fiber filled with neon

25 fs pulses with energy up to 0.8 mJ from a multi-pass amplifier system have been spectrally broadened from 460 nm to 950 nm due to strong self-phase modulation (SPM) effect in a gas filled hollow fiber. Using a set of chirped mirrors, the ultra-broadband dispersion compensation was achieved, and the compressed pulses reached their transform limit. Under optimized conditions we achieved pulses with duration of 5.1 fs and with energy of 400 μJ, corresponding to the peak power up to 80 GW.

High energy femtosecond fiber chirped pulse amplification system with adaptive phase control

We demonstrate increased peak power from an Yb fiber CPA system operating with strong self-phase modulation by shaping the spectral-phase of the input pulses. An adaptive control loop used feedback from the output autocorrelation. We investigated pre-compensation of both SPM phase distortion at high energies, and residual dispersion from mismatched stretcher/compressor technologies at low energies. Phase shaping resulted in improved pulse quality. When using a bulk grating stretcher, shaping increased the autocorrelation peak by a factor of 2.9, and with a fiber stretcher, shaping increased the autocorrelation peak by a factor of 3.4. High-quality 800 fs, 65 microJ recompressed pulses were produced. This technique could benefit a wide variety of fiber amplifier systems and is self-optimising for operation at both low and high pulse energies.

Femtosecond synchronously mode-locked vertical-external cavity surface-emitting laser

The behavior of a room temperature synchronously mode-locked vertical-external cavity surface-emitting laser (VECSEL) operating at 980 nm is reported. The laser performance was found to be qualitatively the same for different pump pulse duration (3.6 ps and 70 fs). The pulse duration of the laser is limited by strong self-phase modulation to around 10-40 ps. By compressing the strongly chirped pulses generated directly from the laser, ultrashort pulses with duration of around 200 fs with maximum peak powers of 1.3 kW at 80 MHz were obtained. Multiple pulsing of the laser was observed and the effects of cavity length detuning on pulse width and spectral bandwidth have been investigated.

Strong self-phase modulation in planar chalcogenide glass waveguides

Single-mode planar waveguides were fabricated from chalcogenide glass compounds with large Kerr nonlinearities. Strong self-phase modulation of subpicosecond pulses along with low linear and nonlinear absorption losses demonstrates the potential for ultrafast, low-power, all-optical processing applications.

Spectrum of a few-cycle laser pulse propagating in a two-level atom medium

The spectrum evolution of a few-cycle optical pulse in a resonant two-level atom medium is studied theoretically by using the full Maxwell-Bloch equations. On the propagating pulse, significantly much faster oscillation components separated with the main pulse appear due to strong self-phase modulation and pulse reshaping. In this case, ideal self-induced transparency cannot occur for a 2π pulse. The spectrum of the 4π pulse shows an evident oscillatory feature because of the continuum interference of the separate pulses. For larger pulse areas, continuum generation from near ultraviolet to infrared occurs.

Characteristics of the oscillatory spectrum due to only induced-phase modulation in an argon-filled hollow waveguide accompanied with intense self-phase modulation

We experimentally observed the periodic oscillatory structure in the second-harmonic spectrum when we simultaneously propagated intense fundamental and second-harmonic pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser-amplifier system in an argon-filled capillary fiber. The periodic oscillatory structure in the second-harmonic spectrum is only due to the induced-phase modulation (IPM) which, in general, is hidden because of strong self-phase modulation. It is found that this structure can be well explained by the interference of the electric field components in the second-harmonic pulse. These electric field components are generated based on IPM by the fundamental pulse. The theoretical analysis of the nonlinear pulse propagation agrees well with experimental results. In addition, the measured dependence of the modulated spectral behavior on the delay time, including the spectral feature, the oscillatory period and the range of the delay time between two pulses, indicates the excellent agreement with the numerical analysis which includes the medium and waveguide dispersion and the steepening effect.

Generation of high-order rotational lines in hydrogen by four-wave Raman mixing in the femtosecond regime

More than 40 rotational Raman lines are generated using an 800-fs Ti:sapphire laser. The spectral region extends from the near-infrared to the far-ultraviolet with a considerably flat intensity distribution. The effects of laser polarization, pulsewidth, hydrogen pressure, and focusing conditions on the efficiencies of stimulated Raman scattering, four-wave Raman mixing, self-phase modulation, self-focusing, and harmonic generation are investigated. A white light continuum, generated by self-phase modulation, acts as a seed beam for the generation of high-order rotational lines through four-wave Raman mixing. Strong self-phase modulation, however, suppresses the generation of the Raman emission, due to a line broadening of the pump beam. Thus, optimization of experimental conditions is necessary for the efficient generation of high-order rotational lines.

Theoretical investigation of short pulse amplification near 1.3 μm in a high gain Pr 3+-doped fluoride fiber

We analyse theoretically short pulse amplification in a high gain (30 dB) Pr 3+-doped fluoride fiber. Due to the large normal group-velocity dispersion of fluoride glasses at 1.3 μm, efficient practically distortionless amplification of ultrashort pulses is possible even in the presence of strong self-phase modulation. This is in marked contrast to Er 3+-doped fiber amplifiers where the interplay between the dispersion and the intrinsic fiber nonlinearities prevents efficient distortionless amplification of ultrashort pulses.

Propagation of a Gaussian pulse under two-photon near-resonant conditions

Evolution under two-photon near-resonance conditions of an adiabatic Gaussian pulse is considered in Rb vapour. Theoretical results show strong self-phase modulation and pulse deformation with increasing distance of propagation and intensity at a fixed detuning. At sufficiently large distances of propagation and/or input intensity pulse deformation is seen to develop into (two-photon) optical shocks. At a higher intensity double shock fronts are predicted to occur. The previously anticipated existence of an upper bound for the output maximum and of the vanishing of the self-phase modulation at the 'interaction time' between the output and the input profiles are shown explicitly to hold for the cases considered. A quasi free-wave like evolution occurs at asymptotically higher intensities.