Transverse Mode Instability Threshold Research Articles

Super broadband light source: a promising master oscillator source for high brightness and high-power fiber amplifiers

Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and transverse mode instability (TMI) effects are crucial limitation factors for further power scaling of high-power fiber amplifiers with near-diffraction-limited beam quality. It is an important research direction to carry out laser system optimization from the perspective of seed construction. In this work, we experimentally investigated the impact of utilizing different seed lasers on the SRS and TMI characteristics in high power ytterbium-doped fiber amplifiers. Both the phase modulated single frequency fiber laser (PMSFL), fiber oscillator laser (FOL), and superfluorescent fiber source (SFS) as a typical type of temporally stable broadband light source (SBLS) are employed as seed lasers. The experimental results indicated that the SRS intensity in the fiber amplifier is influenced by the properties of the seed laser source. Notably, the SRS threshold of the SBLS could be comparable to that of a low-noise PMSFL source. There is a significant increase in TMI threshold when employing SBLS as a seed laser in high-power fiber amplifiers, which is 3.86 times that of the injected seed laser with a 3 dB narrow linewidth of 0.74 nm. Considering the combined threshold characteristics of SRS and TMI, it can be found that SBLS is a promising master oscillator source for high brightness and high-power fiber amplifiers. Our work could provide a good reference for the selection of a master oscillator source, and we believe that it is an important direction to go beyond the power limitation of high-power fiber lasers by constructing a light source with broader spectral linewidth and temporal stability.

Simplified expression for transverse mode instability threshold in high power fiber lasers.

In this work, we propose an analytical expression for calculating the transverse mode instability (TMI) threshold power, which clearly shows the role of various fiber parameters and system parameters. The TMI threshold expression is obtained by solving the heat conduction equation and the nonlinear coupling equation using the fundamental mode fitted by Gaussian functions. The calculation results of the proposed TMI threshold expression are consistent with the experimental phenomena and simulation results from the well-recognized theoretical model. The influence of some special parameters on the TMI threshold and the power scaling is also investigated. This work will be helpful for fiber design and TMI mitigation of high-power fiber lasers.

Investigation of gain-filtering Yb-doped fibers with different gain-dopant doping ratios for high power amplifier

We presented an investigation on gain-filtering Yb-doped fiber for the mitigation of transverse mode instability (TMI). The gain-filtering Yb-doped fibers were fabricated by modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) combined with solution doping technique. Four gain-dopant diameter ratio fibers, entailing 100% doping, ∼73% doping, Gaussian doping, and ∼57% doping, presented similar parameters with the core/inner cladding diameter of ∼30/400 μm and core numerical aperture (NA) of ∼0.061. The laser performances of four fibers were demonstrated by a bidirectional pumping all-fiber amplifier. The TMI thresholds of 100%-doped, ∼73%-doped, Gaussian-doped, and ∼57%-doped fibers, were measured to be ∼1753 W, ∼3089 W, ∼3048 W, and over 3301 W, corresponding to the M2 factors of ∼1.52, ∼1.40, ∼1.45, and ∼1.32, respectively. The experimental results indicated that by reasonably tailoring the gain-dopant doping diameter, better gain-filtering effect was manifested, exactly as higher TMI threshold and more superior beam quality. This contribution could provide an effective approach for obtaining high-brightness Yb-doped fiber amplifiers based on gain-filtering effect.

Optimization and demonstration of a bidirectional output linear-cavity fiber laser with a record high power of 2 × 4 kW

The bidirectional output fiber laser can achieve two laser outputs from a single resonant cavity, which can reduce the volume and cost of high-power fiber laser systems and has good application prospects in the industry. In this work, we demonstrated a bidirectional output fiber laser oscillator structure, and a total output power of 8 kW at the 2 ports × 4 kW level was achieved experimentally for the first time. In order to suppress stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and transverse mode instability (TMI), the double cladding ytterbium-doped fiber with a core/cladding diameter of 30/400 µm, a pair of matched output coupler fiber Bragg gratings (OCFBG) with a 3 dB bandwidth of 2 nm, and the pump source with wavelength-stabilized 981 nm laser diodes (LDs) were employed. The effect of the coiling method and diameter of the active fiber on the optical-to-optical (O-O) efficiency and TMI threshold were studied intensively. The comparison of laser performance with a unidirectional output oscillator was further exploited, and results indicated that the bidirectional output fiber laser oscillator possessed a higher O-O efficiency and TMI threshold. By optimizing the fiber coiling diameter and coiling method, we finally achieved a total laser output power of 8169 W (3769 W at end A and 4400 W at end B), with an efficiency of 74.6% and beam quality of M2A ∼ 2.13, M2B ∼ 2.36, while the total output power achieved by unidirectional output structure was only 5805 W with signs of TMI. To the best of our knowledge, it is the highest output power of the bidirectional output fiber laser.

Research of Transverse Mode Instability in High-Power Bidirectional Output Yb-Doped Fiber Laser Oscillators

Bidirectional output fiber laser oscillators can realize two high-power laser outputs employing only a single-laser resonant cavity and hold the advantages of being low cost and of compact size. However, like other fiber lasers, their power improvement is limited by transverse mode instability (TMI). To achieve higher power output, in this paper, the characteristics and corresponding suppression method of the TMI in bidirectional output fiber laser oscillators were investigated for the first time. Firstly, the TMI threshold was obtained when the fiber laser oscillator was pumped by 976 nm LDs and 981 nm LDs, separately, and the difference between the two pumping conditions was researched in detail. After that, a comparison study between the bidirectional and unidirectional output fiber laser oscillators pumped by 981 nm LDs was carried out. In the experiment, the effect of pump distribution on the TMI threshold was also considered. The results show that the TMI threshold of the bidirectional-output laser pumped by 981 nm LDs is much higher than that pump by 976 nm LDs, which means that the effective TMI suppression methods in the unidirectional output laser are also applicable in the bidirectional output laser. In addition, it is found that the TMI threshold of a bidirectional output fiber laser is much lower than that of a unidirectional output fiber laser.

Towards a tapered Yb-doped fiber-based narrow linewidth single-mode fiber laser with a high signal to Raman ratio.

We demonstrate an all-fiber high-power narrow-linewidth fiber laser based on a homemade tapered Yb-doped fiber (T-YDF). The laser performance is investigated and systematically compared with different seed powers and pump manners. The experimental results reveal that the injected seed power requires a trade-off designed to take into account the impact of spectral broadening, nonlinear effects, and transverse mode instability (TMI). Compared with the co-pump manner, the counter-pump manner performs well in inhibiting nonlinearities, spectral broadening, and improving the TMI threshold. Under the counter-pump manner, this narrow-linewidth T-YDF amplifier realized a 2.09 kW output power with a 3 dB spectral linewidth of ∼0.34 nm, a beam quality of M2∼1.28 and a high Raman suppression ratio over 53.5 dB, the highest reported power for such a T-YDF-based narrow-linewidth single-mode laser, to the best of our knowledge. This work provides a promising pathway towards implementing monolithic high-power narrow-linewidth single-mode fiber lasers.

TMI and polarization static energy transfer in Yb-doped low-NA PM fibers.

In this work, we conduct experimental investigations of transverse mode instabilities (TMI) in a large mode area ultra-low numerical aperture polarization maintaining fiber amplifier. This fiber is few mode in the slow-axis (conventional operation mode), but single mode in the fast-axis. We test the stability of the output beam by changing the input polarization angle and systematically investigate the transverse mode instability threshold in the two principal polarization axes. The lowest TMI threshold at 300 W was found when the input polarization angle was aligned parallel to the slow-axis. Detuning the input polarization angle from the slow-axis led to increased TMI thresholds. For input polarization angle of 90° (parallel to the fast-axis), the output signal was stable up to 475 W and further scaling was limited by the available pump power. However, for fast-axis operation a lower polarization ratio compared to slow-axis operation was observed as well as an unexpected static energy transfer from the fast-axis into the slow-axis above 400 W.

Mitigation of TMI in an 8 kW tandem pumped fiber amplifier enabled by inter-mode gain competition mechanism through bending control.

In this work, the impact of fiber bending and mode content on transverse mode instability (TMI) is investigated. Based on a modified stimulated thermal Rayleigh scattering (STRS) model considering the gain competition between transverse modes, we theoretically detailed the TMI threshold under various mode content and bending conditions in few-mode fibers. Our theoretical calculations demonstrate that larger bending diameters increase the high order mode (HOM) components in the amplifier, which in turn reduces the frequency-shifted Stokes LP11o mode due to the inter-mode gain competition mechanism, thus improving the TMI threshold of few-mode amplifiers. The experimental results agree with the simulation. Finally, by optimizing the bending, an 8.38 kW output tandem pumped fiber amplifier is obtained with a beam quality M2 of 1.8. Both TMI and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) are well suppressed at the maximum power. This work provides a comprehensive analysis of the TMI in few-mode amplifiers and offers a practical method to realize high-power high-brightness fiber lasers.

Mitigating transverse mode instability in fiber laser oscillator by employing direct pump modulation

The transverse mode instability (TMI) is a thermal-optical effect, inducing a sudden deterioration of beam quality and average power. This non-linear effect will greatly limit the power scaling of fiber lasers. We demonstrate a direct pump modulation to mitigate TMI in a 30 μm-core-diameter all-fiber laser oscillator. It only relies on function generator and pump drivers without the need of feedback control units. The groups of pump LDs and pump drivers and the phase difference between the channels of function generator have a great impact on the beam stability. Compared with the TMI threshold 180 W in continuous wave (CW) mode, the maximum average output power of a stabilized beam is increased up to 310 W via a multi-parameter-based direct pump modulation.

3kW forward-pumped fiber laser via pump recycler.

We report a single-end forward-pumped fiber laser with a record high output power of 3kW. The laser is assembled exclusively from commercially widespread components such as the Yb-doped fiber with core/cladding diameter of 20/400µm, pump laser diodes at an emission wavelength of 915nm, and a signal and pump fiber combiner that serves as the pump recycler. The record high power arises from the combination of the 915nm pumping and pump recycler with an effective reflectivity of 78%, increasing simultaneously the thresholds for stimulated Raman scattering and transverse mode instability (TMI). The length of the oscillator was also varied experimentally from 20m to 5m, showing a contrast of up to 19% in the TMI threshold. This shows the importance of accurately partitioning the Yb-doped fiber length in between the oscillator and amplifier sections to minimize the impact of TMI.

Origin of SRS-induced beam quality distortion under TMI threshold.

In high power fiber lasers, the degradation of beam quality caused by Raman effect has attracted more and more attention in recent years, but its physical mechanism is still unclear. We're going to differentiate between heat effect and nonlinear effect by duty cycle operation. The evolution of beam quality at different pump duty cycles has been studied based on a quasi-continuous wave (QCW) fiber laser. It is found that even if the Stokes intensity is only -6 dB (energy proportion: 26%) lower than that of the signal light intensity, the beam quality has no obvious change with the duty cycle of 5%; on the contrary, when the duty cycle gradually approaches 100% (CW-pumped scheme), the beam quality distortion changes faster and faster with the increase of Stokes intensity. The experimental results are contrary to core-pumped Raman effect theory [IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett.34, 215 (2022)10.1109/LPT.2022.3148999], and further analysis confirms that the heat accumulation in the process of Stokes frequency shift should be responsible for this phenomenon. That is the first time, to the best of our knowledge, for intuitive reveal of the origin of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS)-induced beam quality distortion under transverse mode instability (TMI) threshold in an experiment.

Transverse mode instability considering bend loss and heat load.

Previously, we developed a highly efficient transverse mode instability model by integrating stimulated thermal Rayleigh scattering and quasi-3D fiber amplifier models, enabling the consideration of the 3D gain saturation effect, with its accuracy verified by reasonable fit to experimental data. Bend loss was however ignored. Higher-order-mode bend loss can be very high especially for fibers with core diameters below 25µm and is sensitive to the local heat load. By using a FEM mode solver to account for bend loss and local heat-load-induced bend loss reduction, the transverse mode instability threshold is studied in detail, resulting in some interesting new insights.

Transverse Mode Instability in Raman Fiber Amplifiers

Hybrid ytterbium-Raman fiber amplifiers have reached multi-kW levels in recent years, showing great promise for kW powers at new wavelengths. Many applications need diffraction-limited output which is limited by transverse mode instability (TMI). In this work, we extended our 3D amplifier model for studying TMI in ytterbium fiber amplifiers to include Raman gain and used this new model to study TMI in two Raman fiber amplifiers: a hybrid ytterbium-Raman fiber amplifier and a passive Raman fiber amplifier. Our previous study shows that gain saturation effect in ytterbium fiber amplifiers plays a significant role in suppressing TMI in kW ytterbium fiber amplifiers. This new study shows that in a Raman fiber amplifier in the absence of similar connection between local Raman gain and local Stokes wave, TMI is not much affected by seed power, fiber length or core diameter in the absence of mode-dependent loss. Mode-dependent loss is a key factor for increasing the TMI threshold in this case.

Optimization and Demonstration of Direct LD Pumped High-Power Fiber Lasers to Balance SRS and TMI Effects

Up to now, transverse mode instability (TMI) and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) have become the main factors limiting the power scaling of conventional ytterbium-doped fiber laser. Many technologies are proposed to suppress the SRS or TMI individually, but most of them are contradictions in practical application. In this article, we focus on the technologies that can balance the suppression of both SRS and TMI, including fiber coiling optimization, pump wavelength optimization, pump configuration optimization, and novel vary core diameter active fiber. Firstly, we validate the effectiveness of these technologies in both theoretical and relatively low-power experiments, and introduce the abnormal TMI threshold increasing in a few-mode fiber amplifier with fiber coiling. Then, we scale up the power through various types of fiber lasers, including wide linewidth and narrow linewidth fiber lasers, as well as quasi-continuous wave (QCW) fiber lasers. As a result, we achieve 5~8 kW fiber laser oscillators, 10~20 kW wide linewidth fiber laser amplifiers, 4 kW narrow linewidth fiber amplifiers, and 10 kW peak power QCW fiber oscillators. The demonstration of these new technical schemes is of great significance for the development of high-power fiber lasers.

High-speed modal analysis of dynamic modal coupling in fiber laser oscillator

Up till now, the spatial and temporal dynamics of transverse mode instability (TMI) in fiber laser oscillator have increasingly attracted a worldwide attention. Here, we develop a high-speed modal decomposition (MD) system to analyze the modal coupling for fiber laser oscillator above the TMI threshold. A set of angular-multiplexing transmission functions (TFs) are designed for simultaneous MD and monitoring the far-field beam profile. The TMI threshold of the deployed fiber laser oscillator is 181 W at a co-pumping power (CPP) of 279 W. As the CPP increases from 318 W to 397 W, the power fluctuations of the output laser become more drastic. The changes of the far-field beam profile and the centroid of far-field spot (COFFS) indicate an increased velocity of energy transfer between modes. The high-speed MD verifies above process and analyzes the modal components, indicating that the single cycle of modal coupling decreases from 11 ms to 4 ms. Otherwise, the strong mode coupling occurs between modes with relatively large weights. The high-speed MD provides a powerful tool to research the TMI effect.

Dynamic modal characteristics of transverse mode instabilities in ytterbium-doped fiber laser oscillator

In recent years, transverse mode instability (TMI) has been widely observed in fiber laser amplifier systems. The transverse mode instability phenomenon in fiber laser oscillators is less studied. Here, we focus on the dynamical output properties, i.e., its temporal signal and modal characteristics in a 30-μm-core-diameter ytterbium (Yb)-doped fiber laser oscillator. The TMI occurs at a pumping power around 310 W. Different from amplifiers, the basic oscillation frequency is quite low, at around 100 Hz, changing with time and pump power. When the fiber laser oscillator operates beyond TMI threshold at 357 W or 377 W for a while, the temporal fluctuation slowly disappears together with a decreased oscillation frequency, and appears again later. Based on the mode decomposition technique, we find that during the period of fluctuation disappearance at 357 W, the power output stays low and the output beam is still a mixture of fundamental mode and higher-order modes. The fundamental mode content is calculated to be averagely higher when temporal fluctuation disappears, increasing from ∼57% to ∼63%. Our results indicate complex interaction between the fiber laser oscillation and the TMI effect, and calls for more attention into understanding TMI in fiber laser oscillators.

Influence of central wavelength of pump source and pump direction on transverse mode instability threshold of fiber laser

In high-power ytterbium ion-doped fiber lasers where the output power is limited only by the transverse mode instability (TMI), the TMI threshold of fiber lasers with counter-propagating pumping (counter-pumping) structure is usually greater than that of co-propagating pumping (co-pumping), and bidirectional pumping (bi-pumping) is in turn greater than that of counter-pumping. In order to increase the TMI threshold, we optimized the central wavelength of the pump source to a bi-pumped fiber laser oscillator. In the experiment, we found that only the central wavelength of the pump source is changed in the same fiber laser, and the TMI threshold of the bi-pumping structure is sometimes greater than the sum of the TMI thresholds at the time of only co-pumping and only counter-pumping, sometimes approximately equal to, sometimes less. In addition, an interesting phenomenon was also reported that the counter-pump injection power of the fiber laser in the TMI threshold of bi-pumping is larger than the TMI threshold of only counter-pumping. Using the fiber laser simulation software, we explained the above phenomenon from the two directions of thermal effect and population reverse ratio in the active fiber. These research results are helpful to further optimize each device parameter of fiber laser and achieve higher power output.

Optimization and demonstration of 6 kW oscillating-amplifying integrated fiber laser employing spindle-shaped fiber to suppress SRS and TMI

Oscillating-amplifying integrated fiber laser is a novel configuration with both advantages of fiber laser amplifiers and oscillators. In this work, a specially designed spindle-shaped fiber is used to suppress Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) and transverse mode instability (TMI) for the first time in an oscillating-amplifying integrated fiber laser. This spindle-shaped Ytterbium-doped fiber has a constant pump absorption coefficient of 0.471 dB/m@915 nm with a core/cladding diameter of 25/400 µm at both ends and 37.5/600 µm in the middle. Based on this fiber, we succeeded in suppressing the TMI and raising the TMI threshold of the laser under counter pump to above 1.62 times of that in a reported oscillating-amplifying integrated fiber laser. Combined with the theoretical analysis, we further suppressed SRS by truncating the active fiber of the oscillating section, and achieved a 6 kW laser output with an efficiency of 84.1% and a beam quality of M2 ∼ 1.78. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest output power of the oscillating-amplifying integrated fiber laser.

Investigation of the confined-doped fiber on single-mode operating and power scaling in all-fiber single-frequency amplifiers

In this paper, we proposed a strategy for achieving all-fiber single-frequency amplifiers with near-diffraction-limited beam quality by using confined-doped fiber. Benefiting from the large mode area (LMA) and mode selection properties of the confine-doped fiber, the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) and transverse mode instability (TMI) effects were comprehensively suppressed. Based on this confined-doped fiber assisted amplifier, a 322 W SBS-limited single-frequency laser was obtained with M2 factor of 1.25/1.33 for the x/y direction. Comparing with the full-doped fiber assisted one, the TMI threshold of the confined-doped one is improved more than 1.6 times. Overall, the technique of confined-doped in the fiber core provides a promising approach for the power scaling and single-mode operation of all-fiber single-frequency lasers.

2.5 kW TMI-free co-pump Yb-doped fiber oscillator by 971.5 nm pumping wavelength

Pump wavelength shift from the peak absorption wavelength of 976 nm is one of the strategies for mitigation of transverse mode instability (TMI) in high-power Yb-doped fiber lasers. In the present contribution, 971.5 nm is introduced as an effective pumping wavelength for the increment of TMI threshold. By using this pumping wavelength, a 2580 W co-pumped fiber oscillator is built by 20/400 µm active fiber, with more than a twofold increase in the TMI threshold. Our analytical and experimental investigations indicate that due to the lower heat load of the pumping wavelength of 971.5 nm in the gain medium, it can properly mitigate TMI in fiber oscillators. Power scaling in here presented fiber oscillator is just limited to the occurrence of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) induced mode instability and to the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first evidence of SRS-induced mode instability in high-power fiber oscillators and TMI is not the restricting factor in power scaling anymore.