Tunable Fiber Laser Research Articles

Diverse and controllable soliton molecules in a fiber laser based on PbBi4Te7 saturable absorber

With the advancement of optical communication, optical encoding, and optical storage technologies, the demand for tunable mode-locked fiber lasers (MLFL) with soliton molecules is continuously increasing. The novel ternary two-dimensional topological insulator PbBi4Te7 provides an effective pathway for realizing tunable soliton molecules in MLFL. This study employs a combined liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) and optical deposition methods (ODMs) to prepare PbBi4Te7 saturable absorbers (SAs). In the same MLFL, conventional soliton (CS), controllable soliton molecules with adjustable soliton numbers and intervals, as well as multi-soliton complexes are obtained. Among them, a fundamental frequency CS pulse at 22.778 MHz with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of up to 71 dB is achieved. By adjusting the pump power, 2nd-, 3rd-, 4th-, 9th-, and 11th-order soliton molecules were obtained. By tuning the polarization controller (PC), switching of the soliton interval for 2nd-, 3rd-, and 4th-order soliton molecules was achieved. Additionally, we obtained three unequally spaced multi-soliton complexes: 2 + 1 soliton molecule, 2 + 2 soliton molecule complex and 2 + 2 + 1 soliton molecule complex. The results indicate that PbBi4Te7-SA exhibits outstanding nonlinear optical performance.

Erbium-Doped Tunable Fiber Laser Based on a Vernier Effect Filter

A novel vernier effect filter is designed utilizing two cascaded Mach–Zehnder interferometers (MZIs). Integrating the filter into an erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL), the tunability of laser wavelength is achieved. Each MZI comprises two sequentially interconnected 3 dB optical couplers (OCs), where the incoming light is initially split into two arms at the first OC and subsequently recombined at the second OC. Interference occurs due to the optical path difference between these two beams. Notably, the two MZIs exhibit closely matched free spectral ranges (FSRs), leading to the formation of a broadened envelope in the superimposed spectrum. By delicately adjusting the optical path difference between the two arms of one MZI, a little drift of the interference spectrum is induced. This small amount of drift, in turn, triggers a significant movement of the envelope, giving rise to the so-called vernier effect. Integrating the vernier effect filter into an EDFL, the wavelength of the fiber laser can be tuned from 1542.56 nm to 1556.62 nm, with a tuning range of 14.06 nm. Furthermore, by employing a high-precision stepper motor, a remarkable tuning accuracy of 0.01 nm is attainable. The side mode suppression ratio of all wavelengths is above 55 dB. In comparison to reported tunable fiber lasers utilizing MZI filters, the proposed fiber laser in this study offers enhanced precision and a more user-friendly tuning process.

1.6 µm tunable and switchable single-frequency erbium-doped fiber laser

We present a tunable and switchable single-frequency (SF) erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) operating at 1.6 µm. For the first time, a multichannel Sagnac filter, a “θ” sub cavity, and a saturable absorber (SA) have been combined to achieve SF operation of single- and dual-wavelength tunability as well as single-dual-triple-wavelength switching. The laser exhibited excellent stability, with no mode-hopping over the 60-minute observation period. Furthermore, linewidths measured utilizing the short-delay self-heterodyne interferometry method are less than 300 Hz. The investigated narrow linewidth SF EDFL has the potential to extend the applications in optical communications and provide a new idea for L-band tunable lasers.

C + L-band tunable sub-kHz linewidth single frequency fiber laser by combining a fiber sub-ring with a saturable absorber

A sub-kHz linewidth single-frequency fiber laser that can be tuned in the full range of C + L band is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A broad band gain fiber by bidirectional pumping combining with a wide tunable filter is used to realize 75.87 nm tuning range from 1529.98 to 1605.85 nm, which can be further improved if a wider tunable filter is available. To achieve single-frequency ultra-narrow linewidth laser operation, a ring-cavity laser configuration with a fiber sub-ring and a saturable absorber is utilized. The measured optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) of the fiber laser is over 80 dB, the side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) can be improved to ∼60 dB, and the linewidth can be narrowed to ∼453 Hz. The output power of the laser exceeds 28 mW, and the slope efficiency is 2.05 %. This proposed fiber laser has the advantages of narrow linewidth, excellent wavelength tunability, and high output power, which is promising for the applications in optical sensing and optical communication systems.

Ultrabroadband mid-infrared emission and gas sensing of cobalt-doped chalcogenide glass ceramics.

Mid-infrared (MIR) gain materials are of great significance for the development of MIR tunable fiber lasers. Herein, for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, it is found that Ga2Se3 nanocrystals distributed in chalcogenide glass ceramics can provide new tetrahedral-coordinated sites that can be used to activate ultrabroadband MIR emissions of divalent transition metal ions, such as Co2+. Under the excitation of a 1550 nm diode laser, the transparent Ge-Ga-Se glass ceramic embedded with Co2+: Ga2Se3 nanocrystals shows an intense 2.5-5.5 µm ultrabroadband emission. The peak wavelength is located at ∼4.2 µm and the full width at half maximum exceeds 2 µm. Such emission properties, originating from the dual lattice sites of Ga3+ ions, are superior to those of transparent chalcogenide glass ceramics embedded with Co2+: ZnSe nanocrystals. Moreover, the gas detection system built based on the glass ceramic shows a sensitivity of 45.9 ppm for butane gas. Therefore, the chalcogenide glass ceramics embedded with active Co2+: Ga2Se3 nanocrystals have great potential in MIR tunable fiber lasers and gas sensing.

Wavelength tunable single-frequency ring cavity fiber laser utilizing external injection locking signal

The ring cavity fiber laser with saturable absorption fibers is a simple and practical technical way of achieving single-frequency laser output. However, this structure cannot obtain wavelength-tunable laser output. In this work, an external injection locking signal launched by tunable LD is used to optimize the tunability in single-frequency ring cavity fiber lasers. By aligning the external injection signal, tunable laser output ranging from 1544.13 to 1546.51 nm is achieved. The maximum output is 16.5 mW and the linewidth is less than 6.15 kHz. The operation process and the linewidth compression effect of external Injection signals are investigated. The results indicate that there is a correlation between the output signal-to-noise ratio and the output linewidth, and this wavelength-tuning structure has the potential for rapid tuning. This work provides a technical solution for achieving a tunable single-frequency laser in the ring cavity structure.

Er3+/Yb3+ Co-Doped Fluorotellurite Glass Fiber with Broadband Luminescence.

In order to address the 'capacity crisis' caused by the narrow bandwidth of the current C band and the demand for wide-spectrum sensing sources and tunable fiber lasers, a broadband luminescence covering the C + L bands using Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped fluorotellurite glass fiber is investigated in this paper. The optimal doping concentrations in the glass host were determined based on the intensity, lifetime, and full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the fluorescence centered at 1.5 µm, which were found to be 1.5 mol% Er2O3 and 3 mol% Yb2O3. We also systematically investigated this in terms of optical absorption spectra, absorption and emission cross-sections, gain coefficients, Judd-Ofelt parameters, and up-conversion fluorescence. The energy transfer (ET) mechanism between the high concentrations of Er3+ and Yb3+ was summarized. In addition, a step-indexed fiber was prepared based on these fluorotellurite glasses, and a wide bandwidth of ~112.5 nm (covering the C + L bands from 1505.1 to 1617.6 nm) at 3 dB for the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) spectra has been observed at a fiber length of 0.57 m, which is the widest bandwidth among all the reports based on tellurite glass. Therefore, this kind of Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped fluorotellurite glass fiber has great potential for developing broadband C + L band amplifiers, ultra-wide fiber sources for sensing, and tunable fiber lasers.

Tunable and switchable multi-wavelength mode-locked fiber lasers induced by an optimized hybrid mode-locked composite filtering effect

A multi-wavelength mode-locked fiber laser can generate different wavelengths from a single laser cavity, offering potential as a dual-frequency comb and serving as an ideal light source for terahertz wave generation. We present an optimized hybrid mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser with flexible outputs: switchable and tunable dual-wavelength mode-locking, along with stable tri-wavelength mode-locking, which is achieved by introducing 0.69 m polarization-maintaining fiber and bent 200 m single-mode fiber to enhance intra-cavity birefringence and nonlinear effect to optimize the hybrid mode-locking effect, that is, build the composite filter effect. The dual-wavelength mode-locking not only covers a tunable wavelength range of 5 nm but also provides tunable wavelength intervals of 4-26 nm due to the composite filter effect. The formation dynamics of the tri-wavelength mode-locking can be switched either pair-by-pair or one-by-one. This approach enables the realization of wavelength interval tunable dual-wavelength mode-locking in mode-locked fiber lasers simply by introducing fiber without additional actions. Such a simple, compact fiber laser with tunable wavelength capabilities holds significant potential for diverse applications.

1283-1460 nm continuously tunable, watt-level bismuth-doped phosphosilicate fiber laser and its frequency doubling to a visible laser.

We report, to the best of our knowledge, the first demonstration of an O + E-band tunable watt-level bismuth-doped phosphosilicate fiber laser and its frequency doubling to tunable red laser. Benefiting from the two types of bismuth active centers associated with silicon and phosphorus introduced in one fiber, an ultrabroad gain is available in the designed low-water-peak bismuth-doped phosphosilicate fiber (Bi-PSF) pumped by a self-made 1239 nm Raman fiber laser. The high-efficiency tunable lasing is achieved with a maximum output power of 1.705 W around 1320 nm and a slope efficiency of 33.0%. The wavelength can be continuously tuned from 1283 to 1460 nm over a 177 nm spectral range, almost covering the whole O+E-bands. We further employ a polarization beam splitter in the cavity to output an O + E-band linear-polarization laser for second-harmonic generation by a designed multi-period MgO2:PPLN crystal, and a 650-690-nm tunable visible laser is correspondingly obtained. Such an O+E-wideband tunable high-power laser and the SHG red laser may have great potential in the all-band optical communications, biophotonics, and spectroscopy.

Tunable mode-locked holmium-doped fiber laser based on GIMF-SIMF-GIMF structure at 2.09 µm

In this study, a structure of graded-index multimode fiber-step index multimode fiber-graded index multimode fiber (GIMF-SIMF-GIMF) was used as a saturable absorber (SA) to generate mode-locking in a holmium-doped fiber laser (HDFL). The HDFL was pumped with a compact in-house thulium-doped fiber laser (TDFL) operating at 1943 nm with a maximum output power of 2.1 W. Mode-locked pulses with a pulse duration of 1.61 ps were successfully generated at the center wavelength of 2091.1 nm. The pulse had a repetition rate of 12.79 MHz with a bit of fluctuation of 2.09 %, indicating stable pulses. The mode-locked pulses were also tunable with a range from 2086.5 nm to 2091.1 nm by stretching the GIMF part of the SA. This first report demonstrated mode-locking using nonlinear multimode interference (NL-MMI) using GIMF-SIMF-GIMF structure as a saturable absorber in HDFL operating near 2.1 µm wavelength.

21.8 W acetylene-filled hollow-core anti-resonant fiberamplified spontaneous emission source at 3.1 µm.

We report a 20-W-level acetylene-filled nested hollow-core anti-resonant fiber (nested HC-ARF) amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) source at 3.1 µm. A 1535 nm hundred-watt wavelength tunable single-frequency fiber laser with a high signal-to-noise ratio and narrow linewidth is built for pumping acetylene molecules. Simultaneously, a homemade 120 µm core diameter eight-tube nested HC-ARF is used as a gas chamber to obtain high pump laser coupling efficiency. The mid-infrared (mid-IR) ASE source output power of 21.8 W is achieved at 3.1 µm through the low-pressure acetylene gas-filled nested HC-ARF, and the slope efficiency is 25.1%. In addition, the ASE source features an excellent beam quality of Mx 2 = 1.16 and My 2 = 1.13. To the best of our knowledge, for the first time, it is a record output power for such mid-infrared ASE sources while maintaining excellent beam quality. This work provides a new way to achieve high-power mid-infrared emission.

Tunable and switchable dual-wavelength SLM narrow-linewidth fiber laser with Lyot filter cascaded by double-ring cavity

An erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser with single longitudinal mode (SLM), narrow linewidth, and switchable dual-wavelength based on a Lyot filter cascaded dual-ring cavity structure (DRCs) has been designed and constructed. In the experimental system, an Employed passive DRCs enhances the longitudinal mode spacing, while the Lyot filter effectively mitigates mode competition within the laser cavity. The composite filter structure facilitates stable dual-wavelength output while ensuring a consistent SLM output. Then, experimental results reveal optical signal-to-noise ratios (OSNR) with 62 dB for single-wavelength and 55 dB for dual-wavelength. Additionally, the power and wavelength fluctuations for both single-wavelength and dual-wavelength remained stable throughout monitoring periods of 20 min and 1 h, respectively. Meanwhile, a maximum tuning range of 2 nm is achieved by stretching a polarization-maintaining fiber Bragg grating (PM-FBG) using a fiber displacement stage. The linewidths of each wavelength are 2.8 kHz and 2.6 kHz, respectively. During the process of wavelength tuning, the fluctuations of linewidth do not exceed 0.3 kHz and 0.45 kHz, respectively. Simultaneously, the polarization states of each wavelength are measured, which reveals orthogonal single polarization. The relative intensity noise (RIN) is measured below −133 dB/Hz at frequencies above 1 MHz.

Michelson interferometer-based tunable multiwavelength thulium-doped fluoride fiber laser in S-band for 5 G networks

This work reported a multiwavelength thulium-doped fluoride fiber laser (TDFFL) for the S-band region using the Michelson interferometer as an optical filter. Michelson interferometer was utilized as a comb-like filter, whereas dispersion-compensated fiber (DCF) of 10 km length was used to increase the number of lasing lines and reduce mode competition. Approximately 61 lasing lines were achieved with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 40 dB in the wavelength region from 1501.36 to 1505.52 nm within 10 dB of maximum power. The stability of the multiwavelength fiber laser was also recorded for the time duration of two hours, and it was found that all lasing lines were stable and equally spaced at the free spectral range (FSR) of 0.07 nm. The variation in optical power was less than 0.5 dB; however, the wavelength shift was about 0.01 nm. Tunability of multiwavelength laser has also been observed up to the broader transmission span of 57 nm by incorporating the tunable band pass filter (TBPF). Moreover, FSR was observed to be tunable within the range of 0.02 to 0.14 nm by using the optical delay line (ODL) with a Michelson interferometer. Additionally, the proposed laser can generate frequency signals from 2.65 GHz to 18.54 GHz according to the obtained range of FSR.

Design of L+Band Bismuth-doped Fiber Laser

At present, the development of new communication bands to meet the needs of large communication transmission capacity in the current era is one of the key research topics. The conventional erbium-doped laser is limited by its structure which has the problem of short luminous bandwidth and can not cover a large communication band. Therefore, there is growing interest in designing bismuth-doped glass and fiber with ultra-wide gain bandwidth for fiber laser applications. By utilizing its ultra-wide gain bandwidth characteristics, important communication devices such as broadband fiber amplifiers and broadband tunable fiber lasers can be designed to operate in the L+band, thereby solving the problem that the ultra-wide bandwidth of the optical communication window cannot be achieved in the future high-speed communication systems. In this study, the 1550nm pump source is used to excite the bismuth-doped fiber, and the MATLAB numerical simulation modeling is used to design a bismuth-doped fiber laser with a central wavelength of 1650nm and a threshold power of 10W. To a certain extent, this design addresses the research gap in L+ band bismuth-doped fiber lasers.

Broadband tunable single-frequency Yb-doped fiber laser with dual ring subcavity and Sagnac ring filter

We demonstrate a broadband tunable ultra-narrow linewidth single-frequency (SF) Yb-doped fiber laser (YDFL). A dual ring subcavity (DRS) as a filtering component to eliminate the dense longitudinal mode inherent in YDFL and theoretically analyzed its filtering characteristics. By inserting a 0.8 m unpumped polarization-maintaining Yb-doped fiber in the Sagnac ring, a dynamic narrowband grating (DNG) based on the saturable absorption (SA) effect is constructed to ensure SF laser output over the entire wavelength tuning range. We achieve a wide wavelength tunable SF laser output in the range of ∼74 nm, covering 1021.06 nm to 1094.98 nm. The laser has an optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) of more than 62.5 dB, a slope efficiency of 3.57 %, and an ultra-narrow linewidth of 622 Hz over the entire tunable range. In addition, the stability of the wavelength and power fluctuations below 0.018 nm and 0.67 dB, respectively. This tunable SF fiber laser has a compact structure, lower cost, and excellent performance, and is expected to be used in the fields of coherent communications, precision metrology, and so on.

High-efficiency and broadband tunable Raman fiber laser in a chalcogenide fiber based on the Fresnel reflection.

A high-efficiency and broadband tunable chalcogenide fiber Raman laser with the Fabry-Perot (F-P) cavity formed by the Fresnel reflection was established. A maximum average power slope efficiency of around 43% and a maximum output peak power of about 2.9 W at 2148 nm were demonstrated by using a 2 µm nanosecond pump source. The laser shows a broadened pulse width of 674 ns and a broadband tunability of the central wavelength from 2100 to 2186 nm. The Raman Fabry-Perot cavity constituted by the Fresnel reflection from chalcogenide fiber endfaces can operate at any wavelength without the aid of any additional optical feedback element. This will facilitate the realization of fiber lasers with excellent performance and compact system, especially in the mid-infrared region.

Fiber Bragg gratings fabricated in fibers with different geometries by femtosecond laser written through the coating and their applications in strain sensing and fiber laser

Applications of the type-I fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) written through the coating (TTC) in strain sensing and tunable distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) fiber lasers were demonstrated. We reported the principle of selecting the distance between the fiber and the phase mask when writing type-I TTC FBGs. Type-I TTC FBGs written in commercially available acrylate-coated fibers with various geometries and their strain responses were demonstrated. Results showed that the strain sensitivity of FBGs increases as the core-diameter decreases, probably due to the waveguide effect. In addition, a continuously tunable DBR fiber laser based on TTC FBGs was achieved with a wavelength tuning range of 19.934 nm around 1080 nm, by applying a strain of 0-21265.8 µɛ to the laser resonant cavity. The wavelength tuning range was limited by the splice point between the gain fiber and the passive fiber for transmitting pump and signal lasers. When the pump power was 100 mW, the relative intensity noises were −97.334 dB/Hz at the relaxation oscillation peak of 880 kHz and −128 dB/Hz at frequencies greater than 3 MHz. The results open a potential scheme to design and implement continuously tunable fiber lasers and fiber laser sensors for strain sensing with a higher resolution.

Biological material spider silk by direct incorporation onto fiber ferrule for wavelength tunable Q-switched application

This study presents a novel structure saturable absorber (SSA) based on spider silk for wavelength tunable Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) operation from S to L bands. The nonlinear optical absorption of spider silk was measured, showing a high modulation depth of 64.92%, a low saturation intensity of 0.03 MW cm−2, and a non-saturable loss of 24%. By adjusting the polarization controller, a wavelength tunable Q-switched EDFL was achieved, with a tuning range of 64 nm from 1522 nm to 1586 nm. The Q-switched pulses had a repetition rate varying from 20.62 kHz to 6.57 kHz and a pulse width ranging from 14.02 μs to 26.30 μs, corresponding to an output power from −11.31 dBm to −9.02 dBm at the maximum pump power of 151.40 mW. The proposed SSA using spider silk offers a low-cost, eco-friendly, and high-performance solution for wide wavelength tunable Q-switched EDFL applications in optical testing, fiber communication, optical fiber sensing, and ultrafast lasers.

High-order tunable multi-wavelength random Raman fiber laser based on few-mode fiber filter

In recent years, multi-wavelength fiber lasers have become one of the research hotspots and have been extensively applied in optical fiber communication systems. However, the presented multi-wavelength fiber lasers mainly operate in the 1.5 μm band. In this paper, a few-mode fiber filter-based cascaded high-order tunable multi-wavelength random Raman fiber laser (MWRRFL) is demonstrated, for the first time, in which a tuning range covers the 1.1–1.5 μm band. In the half-open MWRRFL, a few-mode fiber-based intermodal interferometer filter is inserted in the point reflector as a wavelength selector. The synergetic effect including high Raman gain and Rayleigh backscattering intensity in the hybrid of dispersion-shifted fiber and standard single-mode fiber is employed. It presents the capability for flat multi-wavelength random lasing stimulation. As a result, the wavelength channel number of the 6th-order random lasing is 6, with a maximum power variation of 4.66 dB and good temporal stability. The proposed cascaded tunable MWRRFL could provide a versatile source for optical fiber communication, optical fiber sensing, spectrum analysis, etc.

Wavelength tunable ring cavity erbium-doped fibre laser based on tapered Fabry Perot filter fabricated by hydrofluoric acid corrosion for stretch sensing

In this study, the erbium-doped fiber laser with a ring cavity and a Fabry-Perot (F-P) filter was proposed and experimentally verified. In the design of the laser, hydrofluoric acid was employed for chemical etching to prepare the F-P cavity, and tapering was applied to the F-P cavity to enhance sensitivity. The experimentally prepared F-P filter was placed in the resonant cavity and served as a frequency-selective device for the fiber laser. At a laser threshold of 48 mW, we obtained a single-wavelength laser output at 1565.28 nm, with a 3 dB linewidth of 0.29 nm. To evaluate the stretching sensing performance of the EDFL system, we performed stretching of the F-P filter. The experimental results demonstrated that within a stretching length range of 0 to 3 mm, we could obtain a single-wavelength laser that could be tuned from 1559.57 to 1567.04 nm, corresponding to a tuning range of 7.47 nm. The laser showed a sensitivity of 2.73 nm/mm and a goodness of fit 0.999. Monitoring the stability of a single-wavelength laser within 30 min, the signal-to-noise ratio was greater than 27.212 dB, and the power fluctuation was less than 0.712 dB. Additionally, the polarization controller was adjusted to obtain two different dual-wavelength lasers with a power fluctuation of less than 0.71 dB.