CA2289807A1 - L-band mode-locked fiber laser - Google Patents

L-band mode-locked fiber laser Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2289807A1
CA2289807A1 CA 2289807 CA2289807A CA2289807A1 CA 2289807 A1 CA2289807 A1 CA 2289807A1 CA 2289807 CA2289807 CA 2289807 CA 2289807 A CA2289807 A CA 2289807A CA 2289807 A1 CA2289807 A1 CA 2289807A1
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Canada
Prior art keywords
mode
range
wavelengths
fiber laser
band
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
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CA 2289807
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French (fr)
Inventor
Ahmad K. Atieh
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Oprel Technologies Inc
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Oprel Technologies Inc
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Filing date
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Priority to CA 2289807 priority Critical patent/CA2289807A1/en
Publication of CA2289807A1 publication Critical patent/CA2289807A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01SDEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S3/00Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range
    • H01S3/05Construction or shape of optical resonators; Accommodation of active medium therein; Shape of active medium
    • H01S3/06Construction or shape of active medium
    • H01S3/063Waveguide lasers, i.e. whereby the dimensions of the waveguide are of the order of the light wavelength
    • H01S3/067Fibre lasers
    • H01S3/06791Fibre ring lasers
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01SDEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S3/00Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range
    • H01S3/05Construction or shape of optical resonators; Accommodation of active medium therein; Shape of active medium
    • H01S3/06Construction or shape of active medium
    • H01S3/063Waveguide lasers, i.e. whereby the dimensions of the waveguide are of the order of the light wavelength
    • H01S3/067Fibre lasers
    • H01S3/06754Fibre amplifiers
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01SDEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S3/00Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range
    • H01S3/10Controlling the intensity, frequency, phase, polarisation or direction of the emitted radiation, e.g. switching, gating, modulating or demodulating
    • H01S3/11Mode locking; Q-switching; Other giant-pulse techniques, e.g. cavity dumping
    • H01S3/1106Mode locking
    • H01S3/1112Passive mode locking

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Lasers (AREA)

Abstract

A mode-locked fiber laser comprises an L-band optical fiber amplifier, conveniently an erbium-doped fiber amplifier, operable at wavelengths from about 1565 nm to about 1610 nm and a pumping device, such as a diffraction grating having a reflection wavelength range from about 1525 nm to about 1565 nm. The pumping device comprises a pump source for the L-band EDFA and a fiber Bragg grating that effectively converts the amplified spontaneous emission produced in the lower range of wavelengths to energy at wavelengths in the higher range so that the laser provides a useful output in the L-band range of wavelengths. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, a figure-eight laser can operates to generate stable soliton pulses with widths as short as 200 fs in the L-band wavelength range (1565 nm - 1610 nm). The laser may produce a tunable single wavelength CW, or dual wavelength CW light.

Description

IrBAND MODE-LOCKED FIBER LASER
DESCRIPTION
TECHNICAL FIELD:
The invention relates to lasers and especially to mode-locked lasers which use amplified spontaneous emission devices, such as erbium-doped fiber amplifiers.
BACKGROUND ART:
Passive mode-locking schemes have been used extensively for generating soliton pulses around 1550 nm in the past couple of years [1-4]. The theory of passive mode-locked fiber lasers is well understood, and commercial products are available in the market. One of the configurations used is the figure-eight fiber laser (F8L) in which the required amplified spontaneous emission is provided by a standard erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) having a gain spectrum in the wavelength range from 1525 nm to 1565 nm. Recently, a new generation of EDFAs have been developed which have gain spectrum in the wavelength range 1565 nm to 1610 nm [5,6]. These amplifiers are known as L-band EDFAs.
Unfortunately, the L-band EDFA has relatively low amplified spontaneous emission, at least when compared with a standard (C-band) EDFA, and so has not been considered suitable for use in such fiber lasers.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION:
The present invention seeks to overcome this limitation and to this end provides a mode-locked fiber laser comprising a linear fiber loop and a non-linear amplified fiber loop, the non-linear amplified fiber loop including an L-band optical fiber amplifier operable at wavelengths in a first range and a pumping device for pumping the optical fiber amplifier at wavelengths in a second range.
The pumping device may comprise a reflective diffraction grating, such as a Bragg grating, which improves the stability of the device.
Preferably, the first range is higher than the second range. In particular, the first range may comprise wavelengths from about 1525 nm to about 1565 nm and the second range then may comprise wavelengths from about 1565 nm to about 1610 nm.
2 In preferred embodiments of the present invention, stable picosecond and subpicosecond soliton pulses may be generated in the L-band wavelength range using passive mode-locked F8-L without any environment control. An L-band EDFA is placed asymmetrically in the nonlinear loop. Soliton pulses with full width at half maximum as short as 200 fs are generated around 1590 nm. The centre wavelength can be tuned using a polarization controller placed in the standard, linear loop of the laser.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
Figure 1 is a simplified schematic diagram of an L-band figure-8 fiber laser;
Figure 2 illustrates subpicosecond soliton pulse generation in the L-band wavelength range;
Figure 3 illustrates laser pulse output for different positions of a fiber Bragg grating in the L-band laser of Figure 1;
Figure 4 illustrates tunable single wavelength continuous wave operation of the L-band laser of Figure 1;
Figure 5 illustrates tunable dual wavelength continuous wave operation of the L-band fiber laser; and Figure 6 illustrates continuum generation in the L-band fiber laser of Figure 1.
BEST MODES) FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION:
At the end of the following description is a numbered list of references, to which the reader is directed for reference and which are incorporated herein by reference. For convenience, the description refers to each of the references by its number in the list, in square brackets.
Referring to Figure 1, which is a block diagram of a figure-8 laser embodying the invention, the figure-8 laser comprises a non-linear amplified fiber loop 10 having its respective ends coupled to ports 3 and 4 of a directional fiber coupler 12 and a standard, linear loop 14 having its respective ends coupled to ports 1 and 2 of the fiber coupler 12, thereby forming a circulating optical path. the standard loop 14 comprises a polarization controller 16, an isolator 18 and a 20/80 directional fiber coupler 20.
Ports 1 and 3 of the fiber coupler 20 are connected in the loop 14 and its port 3 constitutes the output port of the laser.
Basic operation of the figure-8 laser is known to those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail. However, the operation in relation to the novel non-linear
3 loop will the described. The non-linear loop 10 comprises a reflecting fiber Bragg grating (FBG) 22 in series with an L-band EDFA 24 and a polarization controller 26.
The FBG 22 is so configured that it cuts the gain spectrum between 1525 nm -1565 nm.
The reflected amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) is used as pump energy for the erbium-doped fiber of L-band EDFA 24, which increases the total generated L-band ASE. The FBG 22 also stabilizes the operation of the laser. The forward pumped single stage L-band EDFA 24 is constructed from 48 m of EDF with concentration of 6.5 x 1024 m 3, and a 980 nm laser pump diode.
The generated soliton pulses spectrum, measured using an HP-70951A optical spectrum analyzer, is illustrated in Figure 2, which shows the measured soliton pulse spectrum centered at 1600 nm. Assuming transform-limited soliton pulses, the generated pulse full width at half maximum is approximately 300 fs. The repetition rate of the generated soliton pulses is approximately 3 MHz. The measurement was repeated for different positions of the FBG 22 in the nonlinear amplifying loop mirror, as shown in Figure 3.
It should be noted that the FBG 22 does not cut the gain spectrum between 1525 nm - 1565 nm when it is placed at the output of EDFA 24. This is due to the fact that the generated ASE in the amplifier 24 is larger in the backward direction. The figure-8 fiber laser can be tuned to generate the soliton pulses with different pulse widths at different center wavelengths, as shown in Figure 3. It is possible to produce the soliton pulses with pulse widths as short as 200 fs, also as shown in Figure 3. The pulses may be picosecond or subpicosecond pulses.
This L-band fiber laser can be used for stable CW light and continuum generation. The CW light can be tuned by means of the polarisation controller 26 over the L-band wavelength range in single or dual wavelength operation. Thus, a stable tunable single wavelength CW light can be generated as shown in Figure 4, or tunable dual wavelength CW light as shown in Figure 5. In the latter case, the wavelength separation can also be controlled, also by the polarisation controller 26.
Finally, the laser can generate continuum in the L-band wavelength, as shown in Figure 6.
This continuum is flat better than 3.5 dB width in 3lnm.
The L-band fiber lasers according to the present invention can use passive or active mode-locking. In the latter case, the speed of the generated pulses can be as high as 20GHZ.
4 Although the above-described embodiment of an L-band fiber laser uses a figure-configuration, it is envisaged that a ring configuration could be used instead.
References [1] T. O. Tsun, M. K. Islam, and P.L Chu, "High-energy femtosecond figure-eight fiber laser," Optics Comm., Vol. 141, pp. 65-68, 1997.
[2] M. Nakazawa, E. Yoshida, and Y. Kimura, "Generation of 98 fs optical pulses directly from an erbium-doped fibre ring laser at 1.57 ~.m," Electron. Lett., Vol. 29, No. l, pp. 63-65, 1993.
[3] M. L. Dennis, and I. N. Duling III, "Role of dispersion in limiting pulse width in fiber lasers," Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 62, No. 23, pp. 2911-2913, 1993.
[4] D. J. Richardson, R. I. Laming, D. N. Payne, V. J. Matsas, and M. W.
Phillips, "Pulse repetition rates in passive, selfstarting, femtosecond soliton fibre laser," Electron.
Lett., Vol. 27, No. 16, pp. 1451-1453, 1991.
[5] H. Ono, M. Yamada, T. Kanamori, S. Sudo, and Y. Ohishi, "1.58-tcm band gain-flattened erbium-doped fiber amplifiers for WDM transmission systems," IEEE J.
Lightwave Technol., Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 490-496, 1999.
[6] J. Nilsson, S. Y. Yun, S. T. Hwang, J. M. Kim, and S. J. Kim, "Long-wavelength erbium-doped fiber amplifier gain enhanced by ASE end-reflectors," IEEE
Photon.
Technol. Lett., Vol. 10, No. 11, pp. 1551-1553, 1998.

Claims (11)

CLAIMS:
1. A mode-locked fiber laser comprising a linear fiber loop and a non-linear amplified fiber loop, the non-linear amplified fiber loop including an L-band optical fiber amplifier operable at wavelengths in a first range and having a pump for generating amplified spontaneous emission at wavelengths in both the first range and a second range, the laser further comprising a device for reflecting amplified spontaneous emission energy leaving said amplifier at wavelengths in said second range back into the amplifier as additional pump energy to produce additional amplified spontaneious emission.
2. A mode-locked fiber laser according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting device comprises a reflecting fiber Bragg grating operable to limit the spectrum of the L-band fiber amplifier to the first range of wavelengths and to thereby stabilize the operation of the mode-locked fiber laser.
3. A mode-locked fiber laser according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the L-band optical fiber amplifier comprises an erbium-doped fiber amplifier.
4. A mode-locked fiber laser according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the second range comprises wavelengths from about 1525 nm to about 1565 nm.
5. A mode-locked fiber laser according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein the first range comprises wavelengths from about 1565 nm to about 1610 nm.
6. A mode-locked fiber laser according to any preceding claim, operable to produce picosecond or subpicosecond pulses in the L-band wavelength range.
7. A mode-locked fiber laser according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising means for tuning a single wavelength of operation thereof.
8. A mode-locked fiber laser according to any one of claims 1 to 5, having means for tuning dual wavelengths and controlling their separation.
9. A mode-locked fiber laser according to any preceding claim wherein the mode-locking is passive.
10. A mode-locked fiber laser according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the mode-locking is active and the speed of the generated pulses is in the Gigahertz range.
11. A mode-locked fiber laser as claimed in claim 9 or 10, having a figure-8 or ring configuration.
CA 2289807 1999-11-15 1999-11-15 L-band mode-locked fiber laser Abandoned CA2289807A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA 2289807 CA2289807A1 (en) 1999-11-15 1999-11-15 L-band mode-locked fiber laser

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Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA 2289807 CA2289807A1 (en) 1999-11-15 1999-11-15 L-band mode-locked fiber laser

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Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2939974A1 (en) * 2008-12-17 2010-06-18 Centre Nat Rech Scient IMPULSIVE FIBER OPTICAL LASER FOR HIGH ENERGY SUB PICOSECOND PULSES IN L-BAND AND LASER TOOL FOR OPHTHALMIC SURGERY

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2939974A1 (en) * 2008-12-17 2010-06-18 Centre Nat Rech Scient IMPULSIVE FIBER OPTICAL LASER FOR HIGH ENERGY SUB PICOSECOND PULSES IN L-BAND AND LASER TOOL FOR OPHTHALMIC SURGERY
WO2010076511A1 (en) * 2008-12-17 2010-07-08 Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique Pulsed laser with an optical fibre for high-energy sub-picosecond pulses in the l band, and laser tool for eye surgery
JP2012512539A (en) * 2008-12-17 2012-05-31 サントル・ナシオナル・ドゥ・ラ・ルシェルシュ・シアンティフィーク(セーエヌエールエス) Pulse laser having optical fiber for L-band high energy subpicosecond pulse, and laser device for ophthalmic surgery

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