Hundred-watt-level high power random distributed feedback Raman fiber laser at 1150 nm and its application in mid-infrared laser generation.

PubMed

Zhang, Hanwei; Zhou, Pu; Wang, Xiong; Du, Xueyuan; Xiao, Hu; Xu, Xiaojun

2015-06-29

Two kinds of hundred-watt-level random distributed feedback Raman fiber have been demonstrated. The optical efficiency can reach to as high as 84.8%. The reported power and efficiency of the random laser is the highest one as we know. We have also demonstrated that the developed random laser can be further used to pump a Ho-doped fiber laser for mid-infrared laser generation. Finally, 23 W 2050 nm laser is achieved. The presented laser can obtain high power output efficiently and conveniently and opens a new direction for high power laser sources at designed wavelength.

Suppression of thermal frequency noise in erbium-doped fiber random lasers.

PubMed

Saxena, Bhavaye; Bao, Xiaoyi; Chen, Liang

2014-02-15

Frequency and intensity noise are characterized for erbium-doped fiber (EDF) random lasers based on Rayleigh distributed feedback mechanism. We propose a theoretical model for the frequency noise of such random lasers using the property of random phase modulations from multiple scattering points in ultralong fibers. We find that the Rayleigh feedback suppresses the noise at higher frequencies by introducing a Lorentzian envelope over the thermal frequency noise of a long fiber cavity. The theoretical model and measured frequency noise agree quantitatively with two fitting parameters. The random laser exhibits a noise level of 6  Hz²/Hz at 2 kHz, which is lower than what is found in conventional narrow-linewidth EDF fiber lasers and nonplanar ring laser oscillators (NPROs) by a factor of 166 and 2, respectively. The frequency noise has a minimum value for an optimum length of the Rayleigh scattering fiber.

Multiwavelength generation in a random distributed feedback fiber laser using an all fiber Lyot filter.

PubMed

Sugavanam, S; Yan, Z; Kamynin, V; Kurkov, A S; Zhang, L; Churkin, D V

2014-02-10

Multiwavelength lasing in the random distributed feedback fiber laser is demonstrated by employing an all fiber Lyot filter. Stable multiwavelength generation is obtained, with each line exhibiting sub-nanometer line-widths. A flat power distribution over multiple lines is obtained, which indicates that the power between lines is redistributed in nonlinear mixing processes. The multiwavelength generation is observed both in first and second Stokes waves.

Characteristics research on self-amplified distributed feedback fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Zhiqiang; Qi, Haifeng; Guo, Jian; Wang, Chang; Peng, Gangding

2014-09-01

A distributed feedback (DFB) fiber laser with a ratio of the backward to forward output power of 1:100 was composed by a 45-mm-length asymmetrical phase-shifted fiber grating fabricated on the 50-mm erbium-doped photosensitive fiber. Forward output laser was amplified using a certain length of Nufern EDFL-980-Hp erbium-doped fiber to absorb the surplus pump power after the active phase-shifted fiber grating and get population inversion. By using OptiSystem software, the best fiber length of the EDFL to get the highest gain was simulated. In order to keep the amplified laser with the narrow line-width and low noise, a narrow-band light filter consisting of a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with the same Bragg wavelength as the laser and an optical circulator was used to filter the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise of the out-cavity erbium-doped fiber. The designed laser structure sufficiently utilized the pump power, and a DFB fiber laser with the 32.5-mW output power, 11.5-kHz line width, and -87-dB/Hz relative intensity noise (RIN) at 300 mW of 980 nm pump power was brought out.

Tapered fiber based Brillouin random fiber laser and its application for linewidth measurement.

PubMed

Gao, Song; Zhang, Liang; Xu, Yanping; Lu, Ping; Chen, Liang; Bao, Xiaoyi

2016-12-12

A one-end pumping Brillouin random fiber laser (BRFL) based on a 5-km tapered fiber (TF) is demonstrated. The enhanced Rayleigh scattering and the increased power density from tapering in the TF provide good directionality and a high degree of coherent feedback. Both the transmitting and TF enhanced Rayleigh scattered pump lights formed effective bi-direction pumping for the Brillouin gain in the standing cavity configuration in the distributed way as the gain and random feedback in the same fiber. The linewidth of the laser shows ~1.17 kHz while the relative intensity noise (RIN) has been verified to be suppressed comparing with that of the two-end pumping of the standard single mode fiber (SMF). Furthermore, utilizing the proposed laser, a high-resolution (~kHz) linewidth measurement method is demonstrated without long delay fiber (>100km) and extra frequency shifter thanks to the acoustic frequency shift from fiber itself.

Free-standing membrane polymer laser on the end of an optical fiber

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhai, Tianrui, E-mail: trzhai@bjut.edu.cn, E-mail: zhangxinping@bjut.edu.cn; Li, Songtao; Hu, Yujie

2016-01-25

One- and two-dimensional distributed feedback cavities were constructed on free-standing polymer membranes using spin-coating and lift-off techniques. Low threshold lasing was generated through feedback amplification when the 290-nm membrane device was optically pumped, which was attributed to the strong confinement mechanism provided by the active waveguide layer without a substrate. The free-standing membrane polymer laser is flexible and can be transplanted. Single- and dual-wavelength fiber lasers were achieved by directly attaching the membrane polymer laser on the optical fiber end face. This technique provides potential to fabricate polymer lasers on surfaces with arbitrary shapes.

Linearly polarized cascaded Raman fiber laser with random distributed feedback operating beyond 1.5  μm.

PubMed

Lobach, Ivan A; Kablukov, Sergey I; Babin, Sergey A

2017-09-15

We report on, to the best of our knowledge, the first demonstration of a linearly polarized cascaded Raman fiber laser based on a simple half-open cavity with a broadband composite reflector and random distributed feedback in a polarization-maintaining phosphosilicate fiber with a zero dispersion wavelength at ∼1400  nm. Pumped by a 1080 nm Yb-doped fiber laser, the random laser delivers more than 8 W at 1262 nm and 9 W at 1515 nm with a polarization extinction ratio of 27 dB. The generation linewidths amount to about 1 and 3 nm, respectively, being almost independent of power, in correspondence with the theory of a cascaded random fiber lasing.

Cascaded Raman lasing in a PM phosphosilicate fiber with random distributed feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lobach, Ivan A.; Kablukov, Sergey I.; Babin, Sergey A.

2018-02-01

We report on the first demonstration of a linearly polarized cascaded Raman fiber laser based on a simple half-open cavity with a broadband composite reflector and random distributed feedback in a polarization maintaining phosphosilicate fiber operating beyond zero dispersion wavelength ( 1400 nm). With increasing pump power from a Yb-doped fiber laser at 1080 nm, the random laser generates subsequently 8 W at 1262 nm and 9 W at 1515 nm with polarization extinction ratio of 27 dB. The generation linewidths amount to about 1 nm and 3 nm, respectively, being almost independent of power, in correspondence with the theory of a cascaded random lasing.

High-resolution low-frequency fluctuation map of a multimode laser diode subject to filtered optical feedback via a fiber Bragg grating.

PubMed

Baladi, Fadwa; Lee, Min Won; Burie, Jean-René; Bettiati, Mauro A; Boudrioua, Azzedine; Fischer, Alexis P A

2016-07-01

A highly detailed and extended map of low-frequency fluctuations is established for a high-power multi-mode 980 nm laser diode subject to filtered optical feedback from a fiber Bragg grating. The low-frequency fluctuations limits and substructures exhibit substantial differences with previous works.

A switchable and stable single-longitudinal-mode, dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser assisted by Rayleigh backscattering in tapered fiber

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gu, Jian; Yang, Yanfu, E-mail: yangyanfu@hotmail.com; Zhang, Jianyu

We have proposed and demonstrated a novel switchable single-longitudinal-mode (SLM), dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser (DWEDFL) assisted by Rayleigh backscattering (RBS) in a tapered fiber in a ring laser configuration. The RBS feedback in a tapered fiber is a key mechanism as linewidth narrowing for laser output. A compound laser cavity ensured that the EDFL operated in the SLM state and a saturable absorber (SA) is employed to form a gain grating for both filtering and improving wavelength stability. The fiber laser can output dual wavelengths simultaneously or operate at single wavelength in a switchable manner. Experiment results show that withmore » the proper SA, the peak power drift was improved from 1–2 dB to 0.31 dB and the optical signal to noise ratio was higher than 60 dB. Under the assistance of RBS feedback, the laser linewidths are compressed by around three times and the Lorentzian 3 dB linewidths of 445 Hz and 425 Hz are obtained at 1550 nm and 1554 nm, respectively.« less

Transversely bounded DFB lasers. [bounded distributed-feedback lasers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elachi, C.; Evans, G.; Yeh, C.

1975-01-01

Bounded distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers are studied in detail. Threshold gain and field distribution for a number of configurations are derived and analyzed. More specifically, the thin-film guide, fiber, diffusion guide, and hollow channel with inhomogeneous-cladding DFB lasers are considered. Optimum points exist and must be used in DFB laser design. Different-modes feedback and the effects of the transverse boundaries are included. A number of applications are also discussed.

Optical bending sensor using distributed feedback solid state dye lasers on optical fiber.

PubMed

Kubota, Hiroyuki; Oomi, Soichiro; Yoshioka, Hiroaki; Watanabe, Hirofumi; Oki, Yuji

2012-07-02

Novel type of optical fiber sensor was proposed and demonstrated. The print-like fabrication technique fabricates multiple distributed feedback solid state dye lasers on a polymeric optical fiber (POF) with tapered coupling. This multi-active-sidecore structure was easily fabricated and provides multiple functions. Mounting the lasers on the same point of a multimode POF demonstrated a bending radius sensitivity of 20 m without any supports. Two axis directional sensing without cross talk was also confirmed. A more complicated mounting formation can demonstrate a twisted POF. The temperature property of the sensor was also studied, and elimination of the temperature influence was experimentally attained.

Random fiber laser.

PubMed

de Matos, Christiano J S; de S Menezes, Leonardo; Brito-Silva, Antônio M; Martinez Gámez, M A; Gomes, Anderson S L; de Araújo, Cid B

2007-10-12

We investigate the effects of two-dimensional confinement on the lasing properties of a classical random laser system operating in the incoherent feedback (diffusive) regime. A suspension of 250 nm rutile (TiO2) particles in a rhodamine 6G solution was inserted into the hollow core of a photonic crystal fiber generating the first random fiber laser and a novel quasi-one-dimensional random laser geometry. A comparison with similar systems in bulk format shows that the random fiber laser presents an efficiency that is at least 2 orders of magnitude higher.

All optical mode controllable Er-doped random fiber laser with distributed Bragg gratings.

PubMed

Zhang, W L; Ma, R; Tang, C H; Rao, Y J; Zeng, X P; Yang, Z J; Wang, Z N; Gong, Y; Wang, Y S

2015-07-01

An all-optical method to control the lasing modes of Er-doped random fiber lasers (RFLs) is proposed and demonstrated. In the RFL, an Er-doped fiber (EDF) recoded with randomly separated fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) is used as the gain medium and randomly distributed reflectors, as well as the controllable element. By combining random feedback of the FBG array and Fresnel feedback of a cleaved fiber end, multi-mode coherent random lasing is obtained with a threshold of 14 mW and power efficiency of 14.4%. Moreover, a laterally-injected control light is used to induce local gain perturbation, providing additional gain for certain random resonance modes. As a result, active mode selection of the RFL is realized by changing locations of the laser cavity that is exposed to the control light.

Precise measurement of single-mode fiber lengths using a gain-switched distributed feedback laser with delayed optical feedback.

PubMed

Wada, Kenji; Matsukura, Satoru; Tanaka, Amaka; Matsuyama, Tetsuya; Horinaka, Hiromichi

2015-09-07

A simple method to measure single-mode optical fiber lengths is proposed and demonstrated using a gain-switched 1.55-μm distributed feedback laser without a fast photodetector or an optical interferometer. From the variation in the amplified spontaneous emission noise intensity with respect to the modulation frequency of the gain switching, the optical length of a 1-km single-mode fiber immersed in water is found to be 1471.043915 m ± 33 μm, corresponding to a relative standard deviation of 2.2 × 10(-8). This optical length is an average value over a measurement time of one minute under ordinary laboratory conditions.

Open-cavity fiber laser with distributed feedback based on externally or self-induced dynamic gratings.

PubMed

Lobach, Ivan A; Drobyshev, Roman V; Fotiadi, Andrei A; Podivilov, Evgeniy V; Kablukov, Sergey I; Babin, Sergey A

2017-10-15

Dynamic population inversion gratings induced in an active medium by counter-propagating optical fields may have a reverse effect on writing laser radiation via feedback they provide. In this Letter we report, to the best of our knowledge, on the first demonstration of an open-cavity fiber laser in which the distributed feedback is provided by a dynamic grating "written" in a Yb-doped active fiber, either by an external source or self-induced via a weak (∼0.1%) reflection from an angle-cleaved fiber end. It has been shown that meters-long dynamic grating is formed with a narrow bandwidth (<50  MHz) and a relatively high-reflection coefficient (>7%) securing single-frequency operation, but the subsequent hole-burning effects accompanied by new grating formation lead to the switching from one longitudinal mode to another. providing a regular pulse-mode dynamics. As a result, periodically generated pulse trains cover a spectrum range of several terahertz delivering millions of cavity modes in sequent pulses.

High frequency optoelectronic oscillators based on the optical feedback of semiconductor mode-locked laser diodes.

PubMed

Haji, Mohsin; Hou, Lianping; Kelly, Anthony E; Akbar, Jehan; Marsh, John H; Arnold, John M; Ironside, Charles N

2012-01-30

Optical self seeding feedback techniques can be used to improve the noise characteristics of passively mode-locked laser diodes. External cavities such as fiber optic cables can increase the memory of the phase and subsequently improve the timing jitter. In this work, an improved optical feedback architecture is proposed using an optical fiber loop delay as a cavity extension of the mode-locked laser. We investigate the effect of the noise reduction as a function of the loop length and feedback power. The well known composite cavity technique is also implemented for suppressing supermode noise artifacts presented due to harmonic mode locking effects. Using this method, we achieve a record low radio frequency linewidth of 192 Hz for any high frequency (>1 GHz) passively mode-locked laser to date (to the best of the authors' knowledge), making it promising for the development of high frequency optoelectronic oscillators.

Stimulated Brillouin scattering in ultra-long distributed feedback Bragg gratings in standard optical fiber.

PubMed

Loranger, Sébastien; Lambin-Iezzi, Victor; Wahbeh, Mamoun; Kashyap, Raman

2016-04-15

Distributed feedback (DFB) fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) are widely used as narrow-band filters and single-mode cavities for lasers. Recently, a nonlinear generation has been shown in 10-20 cm DFB gratings in a highly nonlinear fiber. First, we show in this Letter a novel fabrication technique of ultra-long DFBs in a standard fiber (SMF-28). Second, we demonstrate nonlinear generation in such gratings. A particular inscription technique was used to fabricate all-in-phase ultra-long FBG and to implement reproducible phase shift to form a DFB mode. We demonstrate stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) emission from this DFB mode and characterize the resulting laser. It seems that such a SBS based DFB laser stabilizes a pump's jittering and reduces its linewidth.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SEMICONDUCTOR INJECTION LASERS SELCO-87: Electrical response of InGaAsP/InP heterolasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luc, Vu V.; Eliseev, P. G.; Man'ko, Margarita A.; Tsotsorya, M. V.

1988-11-01

An investigation was made of the change in the voltage across laser diodes emitting in the 1.3 μm range as a result of introduction of an external optical feedback in the form of an electrical response to interruption of the feedback ("optoelectronic" signal). Measurements were made on single-mode buried stripe heterostructures, using both unpackaged laboratory lasers and also serially manufactured ILPN-202 devices with radiation coupled out via a fiber waveguide. The optoelectronic signal reached 10-16 mV, but when a fiber waveguide was used, it was only 0.1-0.8 mV, depending on the quality of the contact between the laser and the fiber. Experiments showed that the ILPN-202 lasers could be used without any additional optics as sensors capable of detection of submicron displacements with a sensitivity in excess of 10 kV/m.

Multiwavelength ytterbium-Brillouin random Rayleigh feedback fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Han; Wang, Zinan; Fan, Mengqiu; Li, Jiaqi; Meng, Qingyang; Xu, Dangpeng; Rao, Yunjiang

2018-03-01

In this letter, we experimentally demonstrate the multiwavelength ytterbium-Brillouin random fiber laser for the first time, in the half-open cavity formed by a fiber loop mirror and randomly distributed Rayleigh mirrors. With a cladding-pumped ytterbium-doped fiber and a long TrueWave fiber, the narrow linewidth Brillouin pump can generate multiple Brillouin Stokes lines with hybrid ytterbium-Brillouin gain. Up to six stable channels with a spacing of about 0.06 nm are obtained. This work extends the operation wavelength of the multiwavelength Brillouin random fiber laser to the 1 µm band, and has potential in various applications.

High power tunable mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator enabled by random fiber laser.

PubMed

Wu, Hanshuo; Wang, Peng; Song, Jiaxin; Ye, Jun; Xu, Jiangming; Li, Xiao; Zhou, Pu

2018-03-05

Random fiber laser, as a kind of novel fiber laser that utilizes random distributed feedback as well as Raman gain, has become a research focus owing to its advantages of wavelength flexibility, modeless property and output stability. Herein, a tunable optical parametric oscillator (OPO) enabled by a random fiber laser is reported for the first time. By exploiting a tunable random fiber laser to pump the OPO, the central wavelength of idler light can be continuously tuned from 3977.34 to 4059.65 nm with stable temporal average output power. The maximal output power achieved is 2.07 W. So far as we know, this is the first demonstration of a continuous-wave tunable OPO pumped by a tunable random fiber laser, which could not only provide a new approach for achieving tunable mid-infrared (MIR) emission, but also extend the application scenarios of random fiber lasers.

Intracavity optical trapping with Ytterbium doped fiber ring laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sayed, Rania; Kalantarifard, Fatemeh; Elahi, Parviz; Ilday, F. Omer; Volpe, Giovanni; Maragò, Onofrio M.

2013-09-01

We propose a novel approach for trapping micron-sized particles and living cells based on optical feedback. This approach can be implemented at low numerical aperture (NA=0.5, 20X) and long working distance. In this configuration, an optical tweezers is constructed inside a ring cavity fiber laser and the optical feedback in the ring cavity is controlled by the light scattered from a trapped particle. In particular, once the particle is trapped, the laser operation, optical feedback and intracavity power are affected by the particle motion. We demonstrate that using this configuration is possible to stably hold micron-sized particles and single living cells in the focal spot of the laser beam. The calibration of the optical forces is achieved by tracking the Brownian motion of a trapped particle or cell and analysing its position distribution.

Demonstration of optical rogue waves using a laser diode emitting at 980  nm and a fiber Bragg grating.

PubMed

Lee, Min Won; Baladi, Fadwa; Burie, Jean-René; Bettiati, Mauro A; Boudrioua, Azzedine; Fischer, Alexis P A

2016-10-01

Rogue waves are observed for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, in a 980 nm laser diode subject to filtered optical feedback via a fiber Bragg grating. By counting the number of rogue waves in a fixed time window, a rogue wave map is established experimentally as a function of both the optical feedback ratio and the laser current. The comparison with low frequency fluctuations (LFFs) reveals that the rogue waves observed in our system are, in fact, LFF jump-ups.

Advances in high power linearly polarized fiber laser and its application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Pu; Huang, Long; Ma, Pengfei; Xu, Jiangming; Su, Rongtao; Wang, Xiaolin

2017-10-01

Fiber lasers are now attracting more and more research interest due to their advantages in efficiency, beam quality and flexible operation. Up to now, most of the high power fiber lasers have random distributed polarization state. Linearlypolarized (LP) fiber lasers, which could find wide application potential in coherent detection, coherent/spectral beam combining, nonlinear frequency conversion, have been a research focus in recent years. In this paper, we will present a general review on the achievements of various kinds of high power linear-polarized fiber laser and its application. The recent progress in our group, including power scaling by using power amplifier with different mechanism, high power linearly polarized fiber laser with diversified properties, and various applications of high power linear-polarized fiber laser, are summarized. We have achieved 100 Watt level random distributed feedback fiber laser, kilowatt level continuous-wave (CW) all-fiber polarization-maintained fiber amplifier, 600 watt level average power picosecond polarization-maintained fiber amplifier and 300 watt level average power femtosecond polarization-maintained fiber amplifier. In addition, high power linearly polarized fiber lasers have been successfully applied in 5 kilowatt level coherent beam combining, structured light field and ultrasonic generation.

A 12 GHz wavelength spacing multi-wavelength laser source for wireless communication systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, P. C.; Shiu, R. K.; Bitew, M. A.; Chang, T. L.; Lai, C. H.; Junior, J. I.

2017-08-01

This paper presents a multi-wavelength laser source with 12 GHz wavelength spacing based on a single distributed feedback laser. A light wave generated from the distributed feedback laser is fed into a frequency shifter loop consisting of 50:50 coupler, dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator, optical amplifier, optical filter, and polarization controller. The frequency of the input wavelength is shifted and then re-injected into the frequency shifter loop. By re-injecting the shifted wavelengths multiple times, we have generated 84 optical carriers with 12 GHz wavelength spacing and stable output power. For each channel, two wavelengths are modulated by a wireless data using the phase modulator and transmitted through a 25 km single mode fiber. In contrast to previously developed schemes, the proposed laser source does not incur DC bias drift problem. Moreover, it is a good candidate for radio-over-fiber systems to support multiple users using a single distributed feedback laser.

Acoustic Emission Source Location Using a Distributed Feedback Fiber Laser Rosette

PubMed Central

Huang, Wenzhu; Zhang, Wentao; Li, Fang

2013-01-01

This paper proposes an approach for acoustic emission (AE) source localization in a large marble stone using distributed feedback (DFB) fiber lasers. The aim of this study is to detect damage in structures such as those found in civil applications. The directional sensitivity of DFB fiber laser is investigated by calculating location coefficient using a method of digital signal analysis. In this, autocorrelation is used to extract the location coefficient from the periodic AE signal and wavelet packet energy is calculated to get the location coefficient of a burst AE source. Normalization is processed to eliminate the influence of distance and intensity of AE source. Then a new location algorithm based on the location coefficient is presented and tested to determine the location of AE source using a Delta (Δ) DFB fiber laser rosette configuration. The advantage of the proposed algorithm over the traditional methods based on fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) include the capability of: having higher strain resolution for AE detection and taking into account two different types of AE source for location. PMID:24141266

Development of high sensitivity eight-element multiplexed fiber laser acoustic pressure hydrophone array and interrogation system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ming; Sun, Zhihui; Zhang, Xiaolei; Li, Shujuan; Song, Zhiqiang; Wang, Meng; Guo, Jian; Ni, Jiasheng; Wang, Chang; Peng, Gangding; Xu, Xiangang

2017-09-01

Fiber laser hydrophones have got widespread concerns due to the unique advantages and broad application prospects. In this paper, the research results of the eight-element multiplexed fiber laser acoustic pressure array and the interrogation system are introduced, containing low-noise distributed feedback fiber laser (DFB-FL) fabrication, sensitivity enhancement packaging, and interferometric signal demodulation. The frequency response range of the system is 10Hz-10kHz, the laser frequency acoustic pressure sensitivity reaches 115 dB re Hz/Pa, and the equivalent noise acoustic pressure is less than 60μPa/Hz1/2. The dynamic range of the system is greater than 120 dB.

Distributed feedback imprinted electrospun fiber lasers.

PubMed

Persano, Luana; Camposeo, Andrea; Del Carro, Pompilio; Fasano, Vito; Moffa, Maria; Manco, Rita; D'Agostino, Stefania; Pisignano, Dario

2014-10-01

Imprinted, distributed feedback lasers are demonstrated on individual, active electrospun polymer nanofibers. In addition to advantages related to miniaturization, optical confinement and grating nanopatterning lead to a significant threshold reduction compared to conventional thin-film lasers. The possibility of imprinting arbitrary photonic crystal geometries on electrospun lasing nanofibers opens new opportunities for realizing optical circuits and chips. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

All-Union Conference on Laser Optics, 4th, Leningrad, USSR, January 13-18, 1984, Proceedings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bukhenskii, M. F.

1984-08-01

The papers presented in this volume provide an overview of current theoretical and experimental research in laser optics. Topics discussed include electronically controlled tunable lasers, nonlinear phenomena in fiber-optic waveguides, holographic distributed-feedback dye lasers, and new developments in solid-state lasers. Papers are also presented on the generation of picosecond pulses through self-Q-switching in a distributed-feedback laser, temporal compression of light pulses during stimulated backscattering, and optimization of second harmonic generation in a multimode Nd:glass laser.

DFB laser - External modulator fiber optic delay line for radar applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newberg, I. L.; Gee, C. M.; Thurmond, G. D.; Yen, H. W.

1989-09-01

A new application of a long fiber-optic delay line as a radar repeater in a radar test set is described. The experimental 31.6-kilometer fiber-optic link includes an external modulator operating with a distributed-feedback laser and low-loss single-mode fiber matched to the laser wavelength to obtain low dispersion for achieving large bandwidth-length performance. The successful tests, in which pulse compression peak sidelobe measurements are used to confirm the link RF phase linearity and SNR performance, show that fiber-optic links can meet the stringent phase and noise requirements of modern radars at high microwave frequencies.

A sensor-type application of a self-oscillating dynamic system with a fiber optic feedback line, including chemical sensors and biosensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabinovich, Emmanuel M.

2004-05-01

We present an overview of research, conducted and published by the author and colleagues during the preceding decade, with self-oscillating dynamic systems. Special attention has been addressed to sensor type applications that allow one to design a new type of sensors of different physical parameters as well as using system for chemical and biosensors. Many detection methods exploit self-oscillating systems, such as lasers and RF or microwave oscillators, and use changes introduced into a feedback mechanism (for instance laser inter-cavity spectroscopy) for evaluation of different physical parameters such as refractive indices or absorption coefficients. Typically, that approach is very efficient, is easy to implement, and gives high sensitivity. We have demonstrated that a similar method can be used in the case of an RF optoelectronic self-oscillating system (OSOS) with a fiber-optic feedback line. Using fiber as an element of a positive feedback line allows one to design a new family of fiber-optic sensors each of which can be integrated into a fiber-optic feedback line. Changes introduced into the feedback line of an OSOS typically cause an RF frequency shift that can be measured very precisely with an RF frequency counter or spectrum analyzer. For some types of sensors an OSOS can easily incorporate and utilize advantages of well-developed modern inexpensive light sources (VCSELs, LEDs) and opto-electronic components that have been designed for communication purposes. A single closed loop OSOS can be easily duplicated for sensor array measurement via the use of parallel fiber-optics (for example VCSEL arrays and fiber ribbon cables) that have been well developed for telecommunication systems.

Diamond Shaped Ring Laser Characterization, Package Design and Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-01

fabricated by Binoptics, with the end facets formed by chemically assisted ion beam etching . The lasers, designed for operation at 1550 nm, propagated bi...calculated and Corning OptiFocus™ Lensed fiber was chosen to use for the four fiber outputs. Each fiber placement was actively optimized. Output power...aligned using active feedback and placed with submicron precision. The prototype package design was constrained to modification of a prior

Laser to single-mode-fiber coupling: A laboratory guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ladany, I.

1992-01-01

All the information necessary to achieve reasonably efficient coupling of semiconductor lasers to single mode fibers is collected from the literature, reworked when necessary, and presented in a mostly tabular form. Formulas for determining the laser waist radius and the fiber mode radius are given. Imaging relations connecting these values with the object and image distances are given for three types of lenses: ball, hemisphere, and Gradient Index (GRIN). Sources for these lenses are indicated, and a brief discussion is given about ways of reducing feedback effects.

DFB fiber laser static strain sensor based on beat frequency interrogation with a reference fiber laser locked to a FBG resonator.

PubMed

Huang, Wenzhu; Feng, Shengwen; Zhang, Wentao; Li, Fang

2016-05-30

We report on a high-resolution static strain sensor developed with distributed feedback (DFB) fiber laser. A reference FBG resonator is used for temperature compensation. Locking another independent fiber laser to the resonator using the Pound-Drever-Hall technique results in a strain power spectral density better than S_ε(f) = (4.6 × 10^-21) ε²/Hz in the frequency range from 1 Hz to 1 kHz, corresponding to a minimum dynamic strain resolution of 67.8 pε/√Hz. This frequency stabilized fiber laser is proposed to interrogate the sensing DFB fiber laser by the beat frequency principle. As a reasonable DFB fiber laser setup is realized, a narrow beat frequency line-width of 3.23 kHz and a high beat frequency stability of 0.036 MHz in 15 minutes are obtained in the laboratory test, corresponding to a minimum static strain resolution of 270 pε. This is the first time that a sub-0.5 nε level for static strain measurement using DFB fiber laser is demonstrated.

MQW Optical Feedback Modulators And Phase Shifters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jackson, Deborah J.

1995-01-01

Laser diodes equipped with proposed multiple-quantum-well (MQW) optical feedback modulators prove useful in variety of analog and digital optical-communication applications, including fiber-optic signal-distribution networks and high-speed, low-crosstalk interconnections among super computers or very-high-speed integrated circuits. Development exploits accompanying electro-optical aspect of QCSE - variation in index of refraction with applied electric field. Also exploits sensitivity of laser diodes to optical feedback. Approach is reverse of prior approach.

Recovering Signals from Optical Fiber Interferometric Sensors

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-06-01

GROUP SUB* GROUp Demodulation-, optical fiber, fi ber optic, sensors, passive -homodyne demodulation, symmetric demodul -ation, asymmetric demodulation...interferomeler without feedback control or modulation ofl th laser itself and without requiring the use of electronics withi -n the interferometer. One of...the 3x3 coupler permits Passive Homodyne Demodulation -of the phase-modulated signals provided by the interferometcr without feedback control or

Stable CW Single Frequency Operation of Fabry-Perot Laser Diodes by Self-Injection Phase Locking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duerksen, Gary L.; Krainak, Michael A.

1999-01-01

Previously, single-frequency semiconductor laser operation using fiber Bragg gratings has been achieved by tWo methods: 1) use of the FBG as the output coupler for an anti-reflection-coated semiconductor gain element'; 2) pulsed operation of a gain-switched Fabry-Perot laser diode with FBG-optical and RF-electrical feedback'. Here, we demonstrate CW single frequency operation from a non-AR coated Fabry-Perot laser diode using only FBG optical feedback.

Stable CW Single-Frequency Operation of Fabry-Perot Laser Diodes by Self-Injection Phase Locking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duerksen, Gary L.; Krainak, Michael A.

1998-01-01

Previously, single-frequency semiconductor laser operation using fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) has been achieved by two methods: (1) use of the FBG as the output coupler for an anti-reflection-coated semiconductor gain element; (2) pulsed operation of a gain-switched Fabry-Perot laser diode with FBG-optical and RF-electrical feedback. Here, we demonstrate CW single frequency operation from a non-AR coated Fabry-Perot laser diode using only FBG optical feedback.

Self-starting, self-regulating Fourier domain mode locked fiber laser for OCT imaging

PubMed Central

Murari, Kartikeya; Mavadia, Jessica; Xi, Jiefeng; Li, Xingde

2011-01-01

We present a Fourier domain mode locking (FDML) fiber laser with a feedback loop allowing automatic startup without a priori knowledge of the fundamental drive frequency. The feedback can also regulate the drive frequency making the source robust against environmental variations. A control system samples the energy of the light traversing the FDML cavity and uses a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) to drive the tunable fiber Fabry-Perot filter in order to maximize that energy. We demonstrate a prototype self-starting, self-regulating FDML operating at 40 kHz with a full width tuning range of 140 nm around 1305 nm and a power output of ~40 mW. The laser starts up with no operator intervention in less than 5 seconds and exhibits improved spectral stability over a conventional FDML source. In OCT applications the source achieved over 120 dB detection sensitivity and an ~8.9-µm axial resolution. PMID:21750775

Apparatus For Linewidth Reduction in Distributed Feedback or Distributed Bragg Reflector Semiconductor Lasers Using Vertical Emission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cook, Anthony L. (Inventor); Hendricks, Herbert D. (Inventor)

2000-01-01

The linewidth of a distributed feedback semiconductor laser or a distributed Bragg reflector laser having one or more second order gratings is reduced by using an external cavity to couple the vertical emission back into the laser. This method and device prevent disturbance of the main laser beam, provide unobstructed access to laser emission for the formation of the external cavity, and do not require a very narrow heat sink. Any distributed Bragg reflector semiconductor laser or distributed feedback semiconductor laser that can produce a vertical emission through the epitaxial material and through a window in the top metallization can be used. The external cavity can be formed with an optical fiber or with a lens and a mirror or grating.

Method and Apparatus for Linewidth Reduction in Distributed Feedback or Distributed Bragg Reflector Semiconductor Lasers using Vertical Emission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cook, Anthony L. (Inventor); Hendricks, Herbert D. (Inventor)

1998-01-01

The linewidth of a distributed feedback semiconductor laser or a distributed Bragg reflector laser having one or more second order gratings is reduced by using an external cavity to couple the vertical emission back into the laser. This method and device prevent disturbance of the main laser beam. provide unobstructed access to laser emission for the formation of the external cavity. and do not require a very narrow heat sink. Any distributed Bragg reflector semiconductor laser or distributed feedback semiconductor laser that can produce a vertical emission through the epitaxial material and through a window in the top metallization can be used. The external cavity can be formed with an optical fiber or with a lens and a mirror of grating.

Tunable Er-doped fiber ring laser with single longitudinal mode operation based on Rayleigh backscattering in single mode fiber.

PubMed

Yin, Guolu; Saxena, Bhavaye; Bao, Xiaoyi

2011-12-19

A tunable and single longitudinal mode Er-doped fiber ring laser (SLM-EDFRL) is proposed and demonstrated based on Rayleigh backscattering (RBS) in single mode fiber-28e (SMF-28e). Theory and experimental study on formation of SLM from normal multi-mode ring laser is demonstrated. The RBS feedback in 660 m SMF-28e is the key to ensure SLM laser oscillation. This tunable SLM laser can be tuned over 1549.7-1550.18 nm with a linewidth of 2.5-3.0 kHz and a side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) of ~72 dB for electrical signal power. The tuning range is determined by the bandpass filter and gain medium used in the experiment. The laser is able to operate at S+C+L band.

Chaotic optical time-domain reflectometry using a distributed feedback laser diode modulated by an improved Colpitts oscillator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jing Xia; Xu, Hang; Liu, Li; Su, Peng Cheng; Zhang, Jian Guo

2015-05-01

We report a chaotic optical time-domain reflectometry for fiber fault location, where a chaotic probe signal is generated by driving a distributed feedback laser diode with an improved Colpitts chaotic oscillator. The results show that the unterminated fiber end, the loose connector, and the mismatch connector can be precisely located. A measurement range of approximately 91 km and a range independent resolution of 6 cm are achieved. This implementation method is easy to integrate and is cost effective, which gives it great potential for commercial applications.

High-power all-fiber ultra-low noise laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Jian; Guiraud, Germain; Pierre, Christophe; Floissat, Florian; Casanova, Alexis; Hreibi, Ali; Chaibi, Walid; Traynor, Nicholas; Boullet, Johan; Santarelli, Giorgio

2018-06-01

High-power ultra-low noise single-mode single-frequency lasers are in great demand for interferometric metrology. Robust, compact all-fiber lasers represent one of the most promising technologies to replace the current laser sources in use based on injection-locked ring resonators or multi-stage solid-state amplifiers. Here, a linearly polarized high-power ultra-low noise all-fiber laser is demonstrated at a power level of 100 W. Special care has been taken in the study of relative intensity noise (RIN) and its reduction. Using an optimized servo actuator to directly control the driving current of the pump laser diode, we obtain a large feedback bandwidth of up to 1.3 MHz. The RIN reaches - 160 dBc/Hz between 3 and 20 kHz.

Narrowband random lasing in a Bismuth-doped active fiber

PubMed Central

Lobach, Ivan A.; Kablukov, Sergey I.; Skvortsov, Mikhail I.; Podivilov, Evgeniy V.; Melkumov, Mikhail A.; Babin, Sergey A.; Dianov, Evgeny M.

2016-01-01

Random fiber lasers operating via the Rayleigh scattering (RS) feedback attract now a great deal of attention as they generate a high-quality unidirectional laser beam with the efficiency and performance comparable and even exceeding those of fiber lasers with conventional cavities. Similar to other random lasers, both amplification and random scattering are distributed here along the laser medium being usually represented by a kilometers-long passive fiber with Raman gain. However, it is hardly possible to utilize normal gain in conventional active fibers as they are usually short and RS is negligible. Here we report on the first demonstration of the RS-based random lasing in an active fiber. This became possible due to the implementation of a new Bi-doped fiber with an increased amplification length and RS coefficient. The realized Bi-fiber random laser generates in a specific spectral region (1.42 μm) exhibiting unique features, in particular, a much narrower linewidth than that in conventional cavity of the same length, in agreement with the developed theory. Lasers of this type have a great potential for applications as Bi-doped fibers with different host compositions enable laser operation in an extremely broad range of wavelengths, 1.15–1.78 μm. PMID:27435232

Microwave generation with low residual phase noise from a femtosecond fiber laser with an intracavity electro-optic modulator.

PubMed

Swann, William C; Baumann, Esther; Giorgetta, Fabrizio R; Newbury, Nathan R

2011-11-21

Low phase-noise microwave generation has previously been demonstrated using self-referenced frequency combs to divide down a low noise optical reference. We demonstrate an approach based on a fs Er-fiber laser that avoids the complexity of self-referenced stabilization of the offset frequency. Instead, the repetition rate of the femtosecond Er-fiber laser is phase locked to two cavity-stabilized cw fiber lasers that span 3.74 THz by use of an intracavity electro-optic modulator with over 2 MHz feedback bandwidth. The fs fiber laser effectively divides the 3.74 THz difference signal to produce microwave signals at harmonics of the repetition rate. Through comparison of two identical dividers, we measure a residual phase noise on a 1.5 GHz carrier of -120 dBc/Hz at 1 Hz offset. © 2011 Optical Society of America

Spatiotemporal mode-locking in multimode fiber lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wright, Logan G.; Christodoulides, Demetrios N.; Wise, Frank W.

2017-10-01

A laser is based on the electromagnetic modes of its resonator, which provides the feedback required for oscillation. Enormous progress has been made toward controlling the interactions of longitudinal modes in lasers with a single transverse mode. For example, the field of ultrafast science has been built on lasers that lock many longitudinal modes together to form ultrashort light pulses. However, coherent superposition of longitudinal and transverse modes in a laser has received little attention. We show that modal and chromatic dispersions in fiber lasers can be counteracted by strong spatial and spectral filtering. This allows locking of multiple transverse and longitudinal modes to create ultrashort pulses with a variety of spatiotemporal profiles. Multimode fiber lasers thus open new directions in studies of nonlinear wave propagation and capabilities for applications.

Shape memory polymer (SMP) gripper with a release sensing system

DOEpatents

Maitland, Duncan J.; Lee, Abraham P.; Schumann, Daniel L.; Silva, Luiz Da

2000-01-01

A system for releasing a target material, such as an embolic coil from an SMP located at the end of a catheter utilizing an optical arrangement for releasing the material. The system includes a laser, laser driver, display panel, photodetector, fiber optics coupler, fiber optics and connectors, a catheter, and an SMP-based gripper, and includes a release sensing and feedback arrangement. The SMP-based gripper is heated via laser light through an optic fiber causing the gripper to release a target material (e.g., embolic coil for therapeutic treatment of aneurysms). Various embodiments are provided for coupling the laser light into the SMP, which includes specific positioning of the coils, removal of the fiber cladding adjacent the coil, a metal coating on the SMP, doping the SMP with a gradient absorbing dye, tapering the fiber optic end, coating the SMP with low refractive index material, and locating an insert between the fiber optic and the coil.

Optical fiber-fault surveillance for passive optical networks in S-band operation window

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeh, Chien-Hung; Chi, Sien

2005-07-01

An S-band (1470 to 1520 nm) fiber laser scheme, which uses multiple fiber Bragg grating (FBG) elements as feedback elements on each passive branch, is proposed and described for in-service fault identification in passive optical networks (PONs). By tuning a wavelength selective filter located within the laser cavity over a gain bandwidth, the fiber-fault of each branch can be monitored without affecting the in-service channels. In our experiment, an S-band four-branch monitoring tree-structured PON system is demonstrated and investigated experimentally.

Optical fiber-fault surveillance for passive optical networks in S-band operation window.

PubMed

Yeh, Chien-Hung; Chi, Sien

2005-07-11

An S-band (1470 to 1520 nm) fiber laser scheme, which uses multiple fiber Bragg grating (FBG) elements as feedback elements on each passive branch, is proposed and described for in-service fault identification in passive optical networks (PONs). By tuning a wavelength selective filter located within the laser cavity over a gain bandwidth, the fiber-fault of each branch can be monitored without affecting the in-service channels. In our experiment, an S-band four-branch monitoring tree-structured PON system is demonstrated and investigated experimentally.

Wavelength locking of single emitters and multi-emitter modules: simulation and experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yanson, Dan; Rappaport, Noam; Peleg, Ophir; Berk, Yuri; Dahan, Nir; Klumel, Genady; Baskin, Ilya; Levy, Moshe

2016-03-01

Wavelength-stabilized high-brightness single emitters are commonly used in fiber-coupled laser diode modules for pumping Yb-doped lasers at 976 nm, and Nd-doped ones at 808 nm. We investigate the spectral behavior of single emitters under wavelength-selective feedback from a volume Bragg (or hologram) grating (VBG) in a multi-emitter module. By integrating a full VBG model as a multi-layer thin film structure with commercial raytracing software, we simulated wavelength locking conditions as a function of beam divergence and angular alignment tolerances. Good correlation between the simulated VBG feedback strength and experimentally measured locking ranges, in both VBG misalignment angle and laser temperature, is demonstrated. The challenges of assembling multi-emitter modules based on beam-stacked optical architectures are specifically addressed, where the wavelength locking conditions must be achieved simultaneously with high fiber coupling efficiency for each emitter in the module. It is shown that angular misorientation between fast and slow-axis collimating optics can have a dramatic effect on the spectral and power performance of the module. We report the development of our NEON-S wavelength-stabilized fiber laser pump module, which uses a VBG to provide wavelength-selective optical feedback in the collimated portion of the beam. Powered by our purpose-developed high-brightness single emitters, the module delivers 47 W output at 11 A from an 0.15 NA fiber and a 0.3 nm linewidth at 976 nm. Preliminary wavelength-locking results at 808 nm are also presented.

Short cavity DFB fiber laser based vector hydrophone for low frequency signal detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiaolei; Zhang, Faxiang; Jiang, Shaodong; Min, Li; Li, Ming; Peng, Gangding; Ni, Jiasheng; Wang, Chang

2017-12-01

A short cavity distributed feedback (DFB) fiber laser is used for low frequency acoustic signal detection. Three DFB fiber lasers with different central wavelengths are chained together to make three-element vector hydrophone with proper sensitivity enhancement design, which has extensive and significant applications to underwater acoustic monitoring for the national defense, oil, gas exploration, and so on. By wavelength-phase demodulation, the lasing wavelength changes under different frequency signals can be interpreted, and the sensitivity is tested about 33 dB re pm/g. The frequency response range is rather flat from 5 Hz to 300 Hz.

LEOS Summer Topical Meetings (1991) on Spaceborne Photonics: Aerospace Applications of Lasers and Electro-Optics and Optical Millimeter-Wave Interactions: Measurements, Generation, Transmission and Control Held in Newport Beach, California on July 22-26, 1991

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-02-29

are co-boresighted with dual-axis Risley prisms which are mounted in the extension of the laser cavity at the periphery of the telescope primary...unwanted optical feedback into the lasers, the fiber was polished with a wedge angle of approximately 10 degrees. The fiber tip was brought to less

Demodulation of a fiber Bragg grating strain sensor by a multiwavelength fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cong, Shan; Sun, Yunxu; Zhao, Yuxi; Pan, Lifeng

2012-04-01

A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors system utilizing a multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber lasers (EDFL) with frequency shifter is proposed. The system is one fiber laser cavity with two FBG sensors as its filters. One is for strain sensing, and the other one is for temperature compensation. A frequency shifter is used to suppress the mode competition to lase two wavelengths that correspond with FBGs. The wavelength shift of the EDFL represents the sensing quantity, which is demodulated by Fiber Fabry-Perot (FFP) filter. The sensor's response to strain is measured by experiment. Because of exploiting the dual-wavelength fiber laser with a frequency shifter forming the feedback as the light source, many advantages of this system are achieved, especially high signal-to-noise ratio, high detected power, and low power consuming comparing with conventional FBG sensor system utilizing broadband light as the light source. What's more, this structure is also easy to combine with FBG array.

Random bit generation at tunable rates using a chaotic semiconductor laser under distributed feedback.

PubMed

Li, Xiao-Zhou; Li, Song-Sui; Zhuang, Jun-Ping; Chan, Sze-Chun

2015-09-01

A semiconductor laser with distributed feedback from a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is investigated for random bit generation (RBG). The feedback perturbs the laser to emit chaotically with the intensity being sampled periodically. The samples are then converted into random bits by a simple postprocessing of self-differencing and selecting bits. Unlike a conventional mirror that provides localized feedback, the FBG provides distributed feedback which effectively suppresses the information of the round-trip feedback delay time. Randomness is ensured even when the sampling period is commensurate with the feedback delay between the laser and the grating. Consequently, in RBG, the FBG feedback enables continuous tuning of the output bit rate, reduces the minimum sampling period, and increases the number of bits selected per sample. RBG is experimentally investigated at a sampling period continuously tunable from over 16 ns down to 50 ps, while the feedback delay is fixed at 7.7 ns. By selecting 5 least-significant bits per sample, output bit rates from 0.3 to 100 Gbps are achieved with randomness examined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology test suite.

Intensity-Stabilized Fast-Scanned Direct Absorption Spectroscopy Instrumentation Based on a Distributed Feedback Laser with Detection Sensitivity down to 4 × 10−6

PubMed Central

Zhao, Gang; Tan, Wei; Jia, Mengyuan; Hou, Jiajuan; Ma, Weiguang; Dong, Lei; Zhang, Lei; Feng, Xiaoxia; Wu, Xuechun; Yin, Wangbao; Xiao, Liantuan; Axner, Ove; Jia, Suotang

2016-01-01

A novel, intensity-stabilized, fast-scanned, direct absorption spectroscopy (IS-FS-DAS) instrumentation, based on a distributed feedback (DFB) diode laser, is developed. A fiber-coupled polarization rotator and a fiber-coupled polarizer are used to stabilize the intensity of the laser, which significantly reduces its relative intensity noise (RIN). The influence of white noise is reduced by fast scanning over the spectral feature (at 1 kHz), followed by averaging. By combining these two noise-reducing techniques, it is demonstrated that direct absorption spectroscopy (DAS) can be swiftly performed down to a limit of detection (LOD) (1σ) of 4 × 10−6, which opens up a number of new applications. PMID:27657082

Switchable single-longitudinal-mode dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser based on one polarization-maintaining fiber Bragg grating incorporating saturable absorber and feedback fiber loop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Suchun; Xu, Ou; Lu, Shaohua; Ning, Tigang; Jian, Shuisheng

2009-06-01

Switchable single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser based on one polarization-maintaining fiber Bragg grating (PMFBG) is demonstrated. Due to the enhancement of the polarization hole burning (PHB) by the PMFBG, the laser can be designed to operate in stable dual-wavelength or wavelength-switching modes with a wavelength spacing of 0.336 nm at room temperature by adjusting a polarization controller (PC). The stable SLM operation is guaranteed by a compound-ring cavity and a saturable absorber (SA). The optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) is over 45 dB. The amplitude variation in nearly one and half an hour is less than 0.2 dB.

Dual comb generation from a mode-locked fiber laser with orthogonally polarized interlaced pulses.

PubMed

Akosman, Ahmet E; Sander, Michelle Y

2017-08-07

Ultra-high precision dual-comb spectroscopy traditionally requires two mode-locked, fully stabilized lasers with complex feedback electronics. We present a novel mode-locked operation regime in a thulium-holmium co-doped fiber laser, a frequency-halved state with orthogonally polarized interlaced pulses, for dual comb generation from a single source. In a linear fiber laser cavity, an ultrafast pulse train composed of co-generated, equal intensity and orthogonally polarized consecutive pulses at half of the fundamental repetition rate is demonstrated based on vector solitons. Upon optical interference of the orthogonally polarized pulse trains, two stable microwave RF beat combs are formed, effectively down-converting the optical properties into the microwave regime. These co-generated, dual polarization interlaced pulse trains, from one all-fiber laser configuration with common mode suppression, thus provide an attractive compact source for dual-comb spectroscopy, optical metrology and polarization entanglement measurements.

Single-longitudinal mode distributed-feedback fiber laser with low-threshold and high-efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Man; Zhou, Pu; Gu, Xijia

2018-01-01

Single-frequency fiber laser has attracted a lot of interest in recent years due to its numerous application potentials in telecommunications, LIDAR, high resolution sensing, atom frequency standard, etc. Phosphate glass fiber is one of the candidates for building compact high gain fiber lasers because of its capability of high-concentration of rare-earth ions doping in fiber core. Nevertheless, it is challenging for the integration of UV-written intra-core fiber Bragg gratings into the fiber laser cavity due to the low photosensitivity of phosphate glass fiber. The research presented in this paper will focus on demonstration of UV-written Bragg gratings in phosphate glass fiber and its application in direct-written short monolithic single-frequency fiber lasers. Strong π-phase shift Bragg grating structure is direct-inscribed into the Er/Yb co-doped gain fiber using an excimer laser, and a 5-cm-long phase mask is used to inscribe a laser cavity into the Er/Yb co-doped phosphate glass fibers. The phase mask is a uniform mask with a 50 μm gap in the middle. The fiber laser device emits output power of 10.44 mW with a slope efficiency of 21.5% and the threshold power is about 42.8 mW. Single-longitudinal mode operation is validated by radio frequency spectrum measurement. Moreover, the output spectrum at the highest power shows an excellent optical signal to noise ratio of about 70 dB. These results, to the best of our knowledge, show the lowest power threshold and highest efficiency among the reports that using the same structure to achieve single-longitudinal mode laser output.

Random fiber laser based on artificially controlled backscattering fibers.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaoliang; Chen, Daru; Li, Haitao; She, Lijuan; Wu, Qiong

2018-01-10

The random fiber laser (RFL), which is a milestone in laser physics and nonlinear optics, has attracted considerable attention recently. Most previously reported RFLs are based on distributed feedback of Rayleigh scattering amplified through the stimulated Raman-Brillouin scattering effect in single-mode fibers, which require long-distance (tens of kilometers) single-mode fibers and high threshold, up to watt level, due to the extremely small Rayleigh scattering coefficient of the fiber. We proposed and demonstrated a half-open-cavity RFL based on a segment of an artificially controlled backscattering single-mode fiber with a length of 210 m, 310 m, or 390 m. A fiber Bragg grating with a central wavelength of 1530 nm and a segment of artificially controlled backscattering single-mode fiber fabricated by using a femtosecond laser form the half-open cavity. The proposed RFL achieves thresholds of 25 mW, 30 mW, and 30 mW, respectively. Random lasing at a wavelength of 1530 nm and extinction ratio of 50 dB is achieved when a segment of 5 m erbium-doped fiber is pumped by a 980 nm laser diode in the RFL. A novel RFL with many short cavities has been achieved with low threshold.

Use of a compact fiber optic spectrometer for spectral feedback during the laser ablation of dental hard tissues and restorative materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Joyce Y.; Fan, Kenneth; Fried, Daniel

2006-02-01

One perceived disadvantage of caries removal using lasers is the loss of the tactile feedback associated with the handpiece. However, alternative methods of acoustic and optical feedback become available with the laser that can be exploited to provide information about the chemical composition of the material ablated, the ablation efficiency and rate, the depth of the incision, and the surface and plume temperature during ablation. Such information can be used to increase the selectivity of ablation, avoid peripheral thermal damage and excessive heat deposition in the tooth, and provide a mechanism of robotic automation. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that a compact fiberoptic spectrometer could be used to differentiate between the ablation of sound and carious enamel and dentin and between dental hard tissues and composite. Sound and carious tooth surfaces along with composite restorative materials were scanned with λ=0.355, 2.79 and 9.3 μm laser pulses at irradiation intensities ranging from 0.5-100 J/cm2 and spectra were acquired from λ=250-900-nm using a compact fiber-optic spectrometer. Emission spectra varied markedly with the laser wavelength and pulse duration. Optical feedback was not successful in differentiating between sound and carious enamel and dentin even with the addition of various chromophores to carious lesion areas. However, the spectral feedback was successfully used to differentiate between composites and sound enamel and dentin enabling the selective removal of composite from tooth surfaces using a computer controlled λ=9.3-μm pulsed CO II laser and scanning system.

Self-starting picosecond optical pulse source using stimulated Brillouin scattering in an optical fiber.

PubMed

Tang, W W; Shu, C

2005-02-21

We demonstrate a regeneratively mode-locked optical pulse source at about 10 GHz using an optoelectronic oscillator constructed with an electro-absorption modulator integrated distributed feedback laser diode. The 10 GHz RF component is derived from the interaction between the pump wave and the backscattered, frequency-downshifted Stokes wave resulted from stimulated Brillouin scattering in an optical fiber. The component serves as a modulation source for the 1556 nm laser diode without the need for any electrical or optical RF filter to perform the frequency extraction. Dispersion-compensated fiber, dispersion-shifted fiber, and standard single-mode fiber have been used respectively to generate optical pulses at variable repetition rates.

Fabrication et applications des reseaux de Bragg ultra-longs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gagne, Mathieu

This thesis presents the principal accomplishments realized during the PhD project. The thesis is presented by publication format and is a collection of four published articles having fiber Bragg gratings as a central theme. First achieved in 1978, UV writing of fiber Bragg gratings is nowadays a common and mature technology being present in both industry and academia. The property of reflecting light guided by optical fibers lead to diverse applications in telecommunication, lasers as well as several types of sensors. The conventional fabrication technique is generally based on the use of generally expensive phase masks which determine the obtained characteristics of the fiber Bragg grating. The fiber being photosensitive at those wavelengths, a periodic pattern can be written into it. The maximal length, the period, the chirp, the index contrast and the apodisation are all characteristics that depend on the phase mask. The first objective of the research project is to be able to go beyond this strong dependance on the phase mask without deteriorating grating quality. This is what really sets apart the technique presented in this thesis from other long fiber Bragg grating fabrication techniques available in the literature. The fundamental approach to obtain ultra long fiber Bragg gratings of arbitrary profile is to replace the scheme of scanning a UV beam across a phase mask to expose a fixed fiber by a scheme where the UV beam and phase mask are fixed and where the fiber is moving instead. To obtain a periodic index variation, the interference pattern itself must be synchronized with the moving fiber. Two variations of this scheme were implanted: the first one using electro-optical phase modulator placed in each arm of a Talbot interferometer and the second one using a phase mask mounted on a piezo electric actuator. A new scheme that imparts fine movements of the interferometer is also implemented for the first time and showed to be essential to achieve high quality ultra long fiber Bragg gratings. High quality theory matching ultra long fiber Bragg gratings up to 1 meter long are obtained for the first time. The possibility of fabricating high quality ultra long fiber Bragg grating of more than 10 cm (approximately the maximal phase mask length) opens a variety of new applications otherwise impossible with short fiber Bragg grating technology. Ultra long fiber Bragg gratings have unique characteristics such as high reflectivity, high dispersion and ultra narrow bandwidth. Those characteristics can be used to do advanced signal processing, non linear propagation experiments, distributed feedback fiber lasers and dispersion compensator for telecommunication or optical tomography. The second objective of this project is to use these ultra-long fiber Bragg gratings as an optical cavity for fiber lasers. Alot of research in the past years have been concentrated on those lasers, particularly on distributed feedback fiber lasers where the gratings spans all the gain media. A new random fiber laser configuration is presented. It is based on passive or active insertion of phase shifts along the Bragg grating to obtained a phenomenon called light localization which is the optical equivalent of Anderson localization. This complex wave phenomenon has the unique property to mimic the reflection of a uniform photonic crystal with the random diffusion of light among the elements of a random media. Being commonly obtained in fine powders which must respect a certain set of rules, the realization of 1D structures is vastly simplified in optical fibers. Two random fiber laser schemes based on light localization, one using erbium dopant and the other one Raman scattering, are demonstrated for the first time and compared to traditional distributed feedback fiber lasers.

High power, high efficiency, continuous-wave supercontinuum generation using standard telecom fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arun, S.; Choudhury, Vishal; Balaswamy, V.; Prakash, Roopa; Supradeepa, V. R.

2018-04-01

We demonstrate a simple module for octave spanning continuous-wave supercontinuum generation using standard telecom fiber. This module can accept any high power Ytterbium-doped fiber laser as input. The input light is transferred into the anomalous dispersion region of the telecom fiber through a cascade of Raman shifts. A recently proposed Raman laser architecture with distributed feedback efficiently performs these Raman conversions. A spectrum spanning over 1000nm(>1 octave) from 880-1900nm is demonstrated. The average power from the supercontinuum is ~34W with a high conversion efficiency of 44%. Input wavelength agility is demonstrated with similar supercontinua over a wide input wavelength range.

An auto-locked diode laser system for precision metrology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beica, H. C.; Carew, A.; Vorozcovs, A.; Dowling, P.; Pouliot, A.; Barron, B.; Kumarakrishnan, A.

2017-05-01

We present a unique external cavity diode laser system that can be auto-locked with reference to atomic and molecular spectra. The vacuum-sealed laser head design uses an interchangeable base-plate comprised of a laser diode and optical elements that can be selected for desired wavelength ranges. The feedback light to the laser diode is provided by a narrow-band interference filter, which can be tuned from outside the laser cavity to fineadjust the output wavelength in vacuum. To stabilize the laser frequency, the digital laser controller relies either on a pattern-matching algorithm stored in memory, or on first or third derivative feedback. We have used the laser systems to perform spectroscopic studies in rubidium at 780 nm, and in iodine at 633 nm. The linewidth of the 780-nm laser system was measured to be ˜500 kHz, and we present Allan deviation measurements of the beat note and the lock stability. Furthermore, we show that the laser system can be the basis for a new class of lidar transmitters in which a temperature-stabilized fiber-Bragg grating is used to generate frequency references for on-line points of the transmitter. We show that the fiber-Bragg grating spectra can be calibrated with reference to atomic transitions.

High peak power actively Q-switched mid-infrared fiber lasers at 3 μm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Yanlong; Wang, Yishan; Luan, Kunpeng; Chen, Hongwei; Tao, Mengmeng; Si, Jinhai

2017-04-01

Diode-pumped pulsed Er3+-doped ZBLAN fiber lasers at 2.8 μm actively Q-switched by using an mechanical Q-switch with feedbacks of a protected gold mirror and a blazing grating were investigated, respectively. A pulse energy of 0.13 mJ and repetition rate of 10 kHz with a pulse width of 127.3 ns at 2.78 μm was obtained when using a protected gold mirror as the feedback. By replacing the mirror with a blazing grating in Littrow configuration, the wavelength of the Q-switched pulse train was tunable with over 100 nm tuning range from 2.71 to 2.82 μm and a linewidth of 1.5 nm. A maxinmum pulse energy of up to 0.15 mJ and repetition rate of 10 kHz with a pulse width of 92.6 ns was achieved, yielding the maximum peak power of exceeding 1.6 kW. The pulse energy and peak power, to our knowledge, are the highest ever reported in the mid-infrared Q-switched fiber lasers.

High-power, fixed, and tunable wavelength, grating-free cascaded Raman fiber lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balaswamy, V.; Arun, S.; Aparanji, Santosh; Choudhury, Vishal; Supradeepa, V. R.

2018-04-01

Cascaded Raman lasers enable high powers at various wavelength bands inaccessible with conventional rare-earth doped lasers. The input and output wavelengths of conventional implementations are fixed by the constituent fiber gratings necessary for cascaded Raman conversion. We demonstrate here, a simple architecture for high power, fixed and wavelength tunable, grating-free, cascaded Raman conversion between different wavelength bands. The architecture is based on the recently proposed distributed feedback Raman lasers. Here, we implement a module which converts the Ytterbium band to the eye-safe 1.5micron region. We demonstrate pump-limited output powers of over 30W in fixed and continuously wavelength tunable configurations.

A hybrid lightwave transmission system based on light injection/optoelectronic feedback techniques and fiber-VLLC integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Wen-Shing; Lu, Hai-Han; Li, Chung-Yi; Chen, Bo-Rui; Lin, Hung-Hsien; Lin, Dai-Hua

2016-04-01

A hybrid lightwave transmission system based on light injection/optoelectronic feedback techniques and fiber-visible laser light communication (VLLC) integration is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. To be the first one of its kind in employing light injection and optoelectronic feedback techniques in a fiber-VLLC integration lightwave transmission system, the light is successfully directly modulated with Community Access Television (CATV), 16-QAM, and 16-QAM-OFDM signals. Over a 40 km SMF and a 10 m free-space VLLC transport, good performances of carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR)/composite second-order (CSO)/composite triple-beat (CTB)/bit error rate (BER) are achieved for CATV/16-QAM/16-QAM-OFDM signals transmission. Such a hybrid lightwave transmission system would be very useful since it can provide broadband integrated services including CATV, Internet, and telecommunication services over both distribute fiber and in-building networks.

Yb fiber laser pumped mid-IR source based on difference frequency generation and its application to ammonia detection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matsuoka, N.; Yamaguchi, S.; Nanri, K.; Fujioka, T.; Richter, D.; Tittel, F. K.

2001-01-01

A Yb fiber laser pumped cw narrow-linewidth tunable mid-IR source based on a difference frequency generation (DFG) in a periodically poled LiNbO3 (PPLN) crystal for trace gas detection was demonstrated. A high power Yb fiber laser and a distributed feedback (DFB) laser diode were used as DFG pump sources. This source generated mid-IR at 3 microns with a powers of 2.5 microW and a spectral linewidth of less than 30 MHz. A frequency tuning range of 300 GHz (10 cm-1) was obtained by varying the current and temperature of the DFB laser diode. A high-resolution NH3 absorption Doppler-broadened spectrum at 3295.4 cm-1 (3.0345 microns) was obtained at a cell pressure of 27 Pa from which a detection sensitivity of 24 ppm m was estimated.

An actively mode-locked fiber laser for sampling in a wide-bandwidth opto-electronic analog-to-digital converter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Powers, John P.; Pace, Phillip E.

2008-02-01

We have designed, built and tested an actively mode-locked fiber laser, operating at 1550 nm, for use as the sampling waveform in an opto-electronic analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Analysis shows that, in order to digitize a 10-GHz signal to 10 bits of resolution, the sampling pulsewidth must be less than 2.44 ps, the RMS timing jitter must be below 31.0 fs, and the RMS amplitude jitter must be below 0.195%. Fiber lasers have proven to have the capability to narrowly exceed these operating requirements. The fiber laser is a "sigma" laser consisting of Er-doped gain medium, dispersion-compensating fiber, nonlinear fiber, a Faraday rotation mirror, polarization-maintaining fiber and components, and diode pump lasers. The active mode-locking is achieved by a Mach-Zehnder interferometer modulator, driven by a frequency synthesizer operating at the desired sampling rate. A piezo-electric element is used in a feedback control loop to stabilize the output PRF against environmental changes. Measurements of the laser output revealed the maximum nominal PRF to be 16 GHz, the nominal pulsewidth to be 7.2 ps, and the nominal RNS timing jitter to be 386 fs. Incorporating this laser into a sampling ADC would allow us to sample a 805-MHz bandwidth signal to a resolution of 10 bits as limited by timing jitter. Techniques to reduce the timing-jitter bottleneck are discussed.

High power, high efficiency, continuous-wave supercontinuum generation using standard telecom fibers.

PubMed

Arun, S; Choudhury, Vishal; Balaswamy, V; Prakash, Roopa; Supradeepa, V R

2018-04-02

We demonstrate a simple module for octave spanning continuous-wave supercontinuum generation using standard telecom fiber. This module can accept any high power ytterbium-doped fiber laser as input. The input light is transferred into the anomalous dispersion region of the telecom fiber through a cascade of Raman shifts. A recently proposed Raman laser architecture with distributed feedback efficiently performs these Raman conversions. A spectrum spanning over 1000nm (>1 octave) from 880 to 1900nm is demonstrated. The average power from the supercontinuum is ~34W with a high conversion efficiency of 44%. Input wavelength agility is demonstrated with similar supercontinua over a wide input wavelength range.

Fiber Bragg Grating vibration sensor with DFB laser diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siska, Petr; Brozovic, Martin; Cubik, Jakub; Kepak, Stanislav; Vitasek, Jan; Koudelka, Petr; Latal, Jan; Vasinek, Vladimir

2012-01-01

The Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors are nowadays used in many applications. Thanks to its quite big sensitivity to a surrounding environment, they can be used for sensing of temperature, strain, vibration or pressure. A fiber Bragg grating vibration sensor, which is interrogated by a distributed feedback laser diode (DFB) is demonstrated in this article. The system is based on the intensity modulation of the narrow spectral bandwidth of the DFB laser, when the reflection spectrum of the FBG sensor is shifted due to the strain that is applied on it in form of vibrations caused by acoustic wave pressure from loud speaker. The sensor's response in frequency domain and strain is measured; also the factor of sensor pre-strain impact on its sensitivity is discussed.

High-power, fixed, and tunable wavelength, grating-free cascaded Raman fiber lasers.

PubMed

Balaswamy, V; Arun, S; Aparanji, Santosh; Choudhury, Vishal; Supradeepa, V R

2018-04-01

Cascaded Raman lasers enable high powers at various wavelength bands inaccessible with conventional rare-earth-doped lasers. The input and output wavelengths of conventional implementations are fixed by the constituent fiber gratings necessary for cascaded Raman conversion. We demonstrate here a simple architecture for high-power, fixed, and wavelength tunable, grating-free, cascaded Raman conversion between different wavelength bands. The architecture is based on the recently proposed distributed feedback Raman lasers. Here, we implement a module which converts the ytterbium band to the eye-safe 1.5 μm region. We demonstrate pump-limited output powers of over 30 W in fixed and continuously wavelength tunable configurations.

Stable CW Single-Frequency Operation of Fabry-Perot Laser Diodes by Self-Injection Phase Locking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duerksen, Gary L.; Krainak, Michael A.

1999-01-01

Previously, single-frequency semiconductor laser operation using fiber Bragg gratings has been achieved by two methods: 1) use of the FBG as the output coupler for an anti-reflection-coated semiconductor gain element'; 2) pulsed operation of a gain-switched Fabry-Perot laser diode with FBG-optical and RF-electrical feedback. Here, we demonstrate CW single frequency operation from a non-AR coated Fabry-Perot laser diode using only FBG optical feedback. We coupled a nominal 935 run-wavelength Fabry-Perot laser diode to an ultra narrow band (18 pm) FBG. When tuned by varying its temperature, the laser wavelength is pulled toward the centerline of the Bragg grating, and the spectrum of the laser output is seen to fall into three discrete stability regimes as measured by the side-mode suppression ratio.

Digitally controlled chirped pulse laser for sub-terahertz-range fiber structure interrogation.

PubMed

Chen, Zhen; Hefferman, Gerald; Wei, Tao

2017-03-01

This Letter reports a sweep velocity-locked laser pulse generator controlled using a digital phase-locked loop (DPLL) circuit. This design is used for the interrogation of sub-terahertz-range fiber structures for sensing applications that require real-time data collection with millimeter-level spatial resolution. A distributed feedback laser was employed to generate chirped laser pulses via injection current modulation. A DPLL circuit was developed to lock the optical frequency sweep velocity. A high-quality linearly chirped laser pulse with a frequency excursion of 117.69 GHz at an optical communication band was demonstrated. The system was further adopted to interrogate a continuously distributed sub-terahertz-range fiber structure (sub-THz-fs) for sensing applications. A strain test was conducted in which the sub-THz-fs showed a linear response to longitudinal strain change with predicted sensitivity. Additionally, temperature testing was conducted in which a heat source was used to generate a temperature distribution along the fiber structure to demonstrate its distributed sensing capability. A Gaussian temperature profile was measured using the described system and tracked in real time, as the heat source was moved.

Study of Optical Fiber Sensors for Cryogenic Temperature Measurements.

PubMed

De Miguel-Soto, Veronica; Leandro, Daniel; Lopez-Aldaba, Aitor; Beato-López, Juan Jesus; Pérez-Landazábal, José Ignacio; Auguste, Jean-Louis; Jamier, Raphael; Roy, Philippe; Lopez-Amo, Manuel

2017-11-30

In this work, the performance of five different fiber optic sensors at cryogenic temperatures has been analyzed. A photonic crystal fiber Fabry-Pérot interferometer, two Sagnac interferometers, a commercial fiber Bragg grating (FBG), and a π-phase shifted fiber Bragg grating interrogated in a random distributed feedback fiber laser have been studied. Their sensitivities and resolutions as sensors for cryogenic temperatures have been compared regarding their advantages and disadvantages. Additionally, the results have been compared with the given by a commercial optical backscatter reflectometer that allowed for distributed temperature measurements of a single mode fiber.

Study of Optical Fiber Sensors for Cryogenic Temperature Measurements

PubMed Central

Leandro, Daniel; Lopez-Aldaba, Aitor; Beato-López, Juan Jesus; Pérez-Landazábal, José Ignacio; Auguste, Jean-Louis; Jamier, Raphael; Roy, Philippe; Lopez-Amo, Manuel

2017-01-01

In this work, the performance of five different fiber optic sensors at cryogenic temperatures has been analyzed. A photonic crystal fiber Fabry-Pérot interferometer, two Sagnac interferometers, a commercial fiber Bragg grating (FBG), and a π-phase shifted fiber Bragg grating interrogated in a random distributed feedback fiber laser have been studied. Their sensitivities and resolutions as sensors for cryogenic temperatures have been compared regarding their advantages and disadvantages. Additionally, the results have been compared with the given by a commercial optical backscatter reflectometer that allowed for distributed temperature measurements of a single mode fiber. PMID:29189755

A random Q-switched fiber laser

PubMed Central

Tang, Yulong; Xu, Jianqiu

2015-01-01

Extensive studies have been performed on random lasers in which multiple-scattering feedback is used to generate coherent emission. Q-switching and mode-locking are well-known routes for achieving high peak power output in conventional lasers. However, in random lasers, the ubiquitous random cavities that are formed by multiple scattering inhibit energy storage, making Q-switching impossible. In this paper, widespread Rayleigh scattering arising from the intrinsic micro-scale refractive-index irregularities of fiber cores is used to form random cavities along the fiber. The Q-factor of the cavity is rapidly increased by stimulated Brillouin scattering just after the spontaneous emission is enhanced by random cavity resonances, resulting in random Q-switched pulses with high brightness and high peak power. This report is the first observation of high-brightness random Q-switched laser emission and is expected to stimulate new areas of scientific research and applications, including encryption, remote three-dimensional random imaging and the simulation of stellar lasing. PMID:25797520

Fiber optic evanescent field sensor for detection of explosives and CO2 dissolved in water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orghici, R.; Willer, U.; Gierszewska, M.; Waldvogel, S. R.; Schade, W.

2008-02-01

A fiber optic approach for the determination of the carbon dioxide concentration in the gas or fluid phase during sequestration, as well as for the sensing of the explosive TNT is described. The sensor consists of a quartz glass multimode fiber with core diameter of 200 μm and is based on the evanescent field principle. Cladding and jacket of the fiber are removed in the sensing portion, therefore interaction between light within the fiber and the surrounding medium is possible. A single-mode distributed feedback (DFB) laser diode with an emission wavelength around λ= 1.57 μm and a frequency doubled passively Q-switched Cr4+:Nd3+:YAG microchip laser (λ= 1064 nm)are used as light sources. The experimental setup and the sensitivity of the evanescent field sensor are characterized.

Advanced Optical Fiber Communication Systems.

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-02-28

feedback (DFB) laser and a fiber Fabry - Perot (FFP) interferometer for optical frequency discrimination. After the photodetector and amplification, a...filter, an envelope detector, and an integrator; these three components function in tandem as a phase demodulator . We have analyzed the nonlinearities...down-converter and FSK demodulator extract the desired video signals. The measured carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) at the photodiode must be approximately

Fiber Bragg grating interrogation using a wavelength modulated 1651-nm tunable distributed feedback laser and a fiber ring resonator for wearable biomedical sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, Anirban; Chakraborty, Arup Lal; Jha, Chandan Kumar

2017-04-01

This paper demonstrates the interrogation of a fiber Bragg grating with a flat-topped reflection spectrum centred on 1649.55 nm using only a single mode tunable 1651.93 nm semiconductor laser and a fiber ring resonator. The Bragg shift is accurately measured with the fiber-optic ring resonator that has a free spectral range (FSR) of 0.1008 GHz and a broadband photo-detector. Laser wavelength modulation and harmonic detection are used to transform the gentle edges of the flat-topped FBG spectrum into prominent leading and trailing peaks, either of which can be used to accurately measure spectral shifts of the FBG reflection spectrum with a resolution of 0.9 pm. A Raspberry Pi-based low-cost embedded processor is used to measure the temperature-induced spectral shifts over the range 30˚C - 80˚C. The shift was linear with a temperature sensitivity of 12.8 pm/˚C. This technique does not use an optical spectrum analyzer at any stage of its design or operation. The laser does not need to be pre-characterized either. This technique can be readily extended to all types of tunable diode lasers and is ideally suited for compact field instruments.

Reflection Effects in Multimode Fiber Systems Utilizing Laser Transmitters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bates, Harry E.

1991-01-01

A number of optical communication lines are now in use at NASA-Kennedy for the transmission of voice, computer data, and video signals. Now, all of these channels use a single carrier wavelength centered near 1300 or 1550 nm. Engineering tests in the past have given indications of the growth of systematic and random noise in the RF spectrum of a fiber network as the number of connector pairs is increased. This noise seems to occur when a laser transmitter is used instead of a LED. It has been suggested that the noise is caused by back reflections created at connector fiber interfaces. Experiments were performed to explore the effect of reflection on the transmitting laser under conditions of reflective feedback. This effort included computer integration of some of the instrumentation in the fiber optic lab using the Lab View software recently acquired by the lab group. The main goal was to interface the Anritsu Optical and RF spectrum analyzers to the MacIntosh II computer so that laser spectra and network RF spectra could be simultaneously and rapidly acquired in a form convenient for analysis. Both single and multimode fiber is installed at Kennedy. Since most are multimode, this effort concentrated on multimode systems.

Reflection effects in multimode fiber systems utilizing laser transmitters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bates, Harry E.

1991-11-01

A number of optical communication lines are now in use at NASA-Kennedy for the transmission of voice, computer data, and video signals. Now, all of these channels use a single carrier wavelength centered near 1300 or 1550 nm. Engineering tests in the past have given indications of the growth of systematic and random noise in the RF spectrum of a fiber network as the number of connector pairs is increased. This noise seems to occur when a laser transmitter is used instead of a LED. It has been suggested that the noise is caused by back reflections created at connector fiber interfaces. Experiments were performed to explore the effect of reflection on the transmitting laser under conditions of reflective feedback. This effort included computer integration of some of the instrumentation in the fiber optic lab using the Lab View software recently acquired by the lab group. The main goal was to interface the Anritsu Optical and RF spectrum analyzers to the MacIntosh II computer so that laser spectra and network RF spectra could be simultaneously and rapidly acquired in a form convenient for analysis. Both single and multimode fiber is installed at Kennedy. Since most are multimode, this effort concentrated on multimode systems.

Low noise erbium fiber fs frequency comb based on a tapered-fiber carbon nanotube design.

PubMed

Wu, Tsung-Han; Kieu, K; Peyghambarian, N; Jones, R J

2011-03-14

We report on a low noise all-fiber erbium fs frequency comb based on a simple and robust tapered-fiber carbon nanotube (tf-CNT) design. We mitigate dominant noise sources to show that the free-running linewidth of the carrier-envelope offset frequency (fceo) can be comparable to the best reported performance to date for fiber-based frequency combs. A free-running fceo linewidth of ~20 kHz is demonstrated, corresponding to an improvement of ~30 times over previous work based on a CNT mode-locked fiber laser [Opt. Express 18, 1667 (2010)]. We also demonstrate the use of an acousto-optic modulator external to the laser cavity to stabilize fceo, enabling a 300 kHz feedback control bandwidth. The offset frequency is phase-locked with an in-loop integrated phase noise of ~0.8 rad from 10Hz to 400kHz. We show a resolution-limited linewidth of ~1 Hz, demonstrating over 90% of the carrier power within the coherent fceo signal. The results demonstrate that the relatively simple tf-CNT fiber laser design can provide a compact, robust and high-performance fs frequency comb.

High-order random Raman lasing in a PM fiber with ultimate efficiency and narrow bandwidth

PubMed Central

Babin, Sergey A.; Zlobina, Ekaterina A.; Kablukov, Sergey I.; Podivilov, Evgeniy V.

2016-01-01

Random Raman lasers attract now a great deal of attention as they operate in non-active turbid or transparent scattering media. In the last case, single mode fibers with feedback via Rayleigh backscattering generate a high-quality unidirectional laser beam. However, such fiber lasers have rather poor spectral and polarization properties, worsening with increasing power and Stokes order. Here we demonstrate a linearly-polarized cascaded random Raman lasing in a polarization-maintaining fiber. The quantum efficiency of converting the pump (1.05 μm) into the output radiation is almost independent of the Stokes order, amounting to 79%, 83%, and 77% for the 1st (1.11 μm), 2nd (1.17 μm) and 3rd (1.23 μm) order, respectively, at the polarization extinction ratio >22 dB for all orders. The laser bandwidth grows with increasing order, but it is almost independent of power in the 1–10 W range, amounting to ~1, ~2 and ~3 nm for orders 1–3, respectively. So, the random Raman laser exhibits no degradation of output characteristics with increasing Stokes order. A theory adequately describing the unique laser features has been developed. Thus, a full picture of the cascaded random Raman lasing in fibers is shown. PMID:26940082

Fiber Grating Coupled Light Source Capable of Tunable, Single Frequency Operation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krainak, Michael A. (Inventor); Duerksen, Gary L. (Inventor)

2001-01-01

Fiber Bragg grating coupled light sources can achieve tunable single-frequency (single axial and lateral spatial mode) operation by correcting for a quadratic phase variation in the lateral dimension using an aperture stop. The output of a quasi-monochromatic light source such as a Fabry Perot laser diode is astigmatic. As a consequence of the astigmatism, coupling geometries that accommodate the transverse numerical aperture of the laser are defocused in the lateral dimension, even for apsherical optics. The mismatch produces the quadratic phase variation in the feedback along the lateral axis at the facet of the laser that excites lateral modes of higher order than the TM(sub 00). Because the instability entails excitation of higher order lateral submodes, single frequency operation also is accomplished by using fiber Bragg gratings whose bandwidth is narrower than the submode spacing. This technique is particularly pertinent to the use of lensed fiber gratings in lieu of discrete coupling optics. Stable device operation requires overall phase match between the fed-back signal and the laser output. The fiber Bragg grating acts as a phase-preserving mirror when the Bragg condition is met precisely. The phase-match condition is maintained throughout the fiber tuning range by matching the Fabry-Perot axial mode wavelength to the passband center wavelength of the Bragg grating.

Ultralow-frequency-noise stabilization of a laser by locking to an optical fiber-delay line.

PubMed

Kéfélian, Fabien; Jiang, Haifeng; Lemonde, Pierre; Santarelli, Giorgio

2009-04-01

We report the frequency stabilization of an erbium-doped fiber distributed-feedback laser using an all-fiber-based Michelson interferometer of large arm imbalance. The interferometer uses a 1 km SMF-28 optical fiber spool and an acousto-optic modulator allowing heterodyne detection. The frequency-noise power spectral density is reduced by more than 40 dB for Fourier frequencies ranging from 1 Hz to 10 kHz, corresponding to a level well below 1 Hz2/Hz over the entire range; it reaches 10(-2) Hz2/Hz at 1 kHz. Between 40 Hz and 30 kHz, the frequency noise is shown to be comparable to the one obtained by Pound-Drever-Hall locking to a high-finesse Fabry-Perot cavity. Locking to a fiber delay line could consequently represent a reliable, simple, and compact alternative to cavity stabilization for short-term linewidth reduction.

Hybrid semiconductor fiber lasers for telecommunications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khalili, Alireza

2006-12-01

Highly stable edge emitting semiconductor lasers are of utmost importance in most telecommunications applications where high-speed data transmission sets strict limits on the purity of the laser signal. Unfortunately, most edge emitting semiconductor lasers, unlike gaseous or solid-state laser sources, operate with many closely spaced axial modes, which accounts for the observed instability and large spikes in the output spectrum of such lasers. Consequently, in most telecom applications distributed feedback (DFB) or distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) techniques are used to ensure stability and single-frequency operation, further adding to the cost and complexity of such lasers. Additionally, coupling of the highly elliptical output beam of these lasers to singlemode fibers complicates the packaging procedure and sub-micron alignment of various optical components is often necessary. Utilizing the evanescent coupling between a semiconductor antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) and a side polished fiber, this thesis presents an alternative side-coupled laser module that eliminates the need for the cumbersome multi-component alignment processes of conventional laser packages, and creates an inherent mode selection mechanism that guarantees singlemode radiation into the fiber without any gratings. We have been able to demonstrate the first side-coupled fiber semiconductor laser in this technology, coupling more than 3mW of power at 850nm directly into a 5/125mum singlemode fiber. This mixed-cavity architecture yields a high thermal stability (˜0.06nm/°C), and negligible spectral spikes are observed. Theoretical background and simulation results, as well as several supplementary materials are also presented to further rationalize the experimental data. A side-coupled light-emitter and pre-amplifier are also proposed and discussed. We also study different architectures for attaining higher efficiency, higher output power, and wavelength tunability in such lasers. Finally, we discuss possible venues for integration of these side-coupled devices in a telecommunication system. Approved for publication.

Constant peak-power single-frequency linearly-polarized all-fiber laser for coherent detection based on closed-loop feedback technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Yaqian; Zhang, Xiang; Li, Dong; Wang, Dapeng; Zhang, Renzhong; Song, Chengying; Che, Haozhao; Wang, Rui; Guo, Baoling; Chen, Guanghui

2015-10-01

In this paper, a practical single-frequency high-repetition linearly-polarized eye-safe all-fiber laser with constant peak power is demonstrated. It is based on master-oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system. A distributed feedback laser diode simulating at 1550nm with narrow linewidth of 2.3 kHz is employed as the seed source. It is modulated to a pulse laser with high repetition of 20 kHz and peak power of 10mW by an acousto-optic modulator (AOM). The pulse width is tunable between 100ns to 400ns. Two-stage cascade amplifier is established, which consists of a pre-amplifier and a power-amplifier. Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) and stimulated billion scattering are well suppressed by special management. The output peak power of 30W is obtained, which has nearly diffraction-limited beam quality. It operates in linewidth of 1.2MHz, polarization-extinction ratio (PER) of 25dB and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of more than 40dB. Gain of the whole amplifier achieves nearly 35dB. Furthermore, an embedded control system (ECS) based on the WinCE operating system (OS) and the chip of S3C2440 is proposed. This control system based on closed-loop feedback technology makes the peak power keeping constant even the pulse width tunable, which is convenient for the end user of the radar. This robust portable laser is remarkable and fulfills the desire of coherent detection excellently.

Field-programmable gate array-controlled sweep velocity-locked laser pulse generator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhen; Hefferman, Gerald; Wei, Tao

2017-05-01

A field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-controlled sweep velocity-locked laser pulse generator (SV-LLPG) design based on an all-digital phase-locked loop (ADPLL) is proposed. A distributed feedback laser with modulated injection current was used as a swept-frequency laser source. An open-loop predistortion modulation waveform was calibrated using a feedback iteration method to initially improve frequency sweep linearity. An ADPLL control system was then implemented using an FPGA to lock the output of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer that was directly proportional to laser sweep velocity to an on-board system clock. Using this system, linearly chirped laser pulses with a sweep bandwidth of 111.16 GHz were demonstrated. Further testing evaluating the sensing utility of the system was conducted. In this test, the SV-LLPG served as the swept laser source of an optical frequency-domain reflectometry system used to interrogate a subterahertz range fiber structure (sub-THz-FS) array. A static strain test was then conducted and linear sensor results were observed.

Multi-parameter fiber optic sensors based on fiber random grating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Yanping; Zhang, Mingjiang; Lu, Ping; Mihailov, Stephen; Bao, Xiaoyi

2017-04-01

Two novel configurations of multi-parameter fiber-optic sensing systems based on the fiber random grating are reported. The fiber random grating is fabricated through femtosecond laser induced refractive index modification over a 10cm standard telecom single mode fiber. In one configuration, the reflective spectrum of the fiber random grating is directly detected and a wavelength-division spectral cross-correlation algorithm is adopted to extract the spectral shifts for simultaneous measurement of temperature, axial strain, and surrounding refractive index. In the other configuration, a random fiber ring laser is constructed by incorporating the random feedback from the random grating. Numerous polarization-dependent spectral filters are formed along the random grating and superimposed to provide multiple lasing lines with high signal-to-noise ratio up to 40dB, which enables a high-fidelity multi-parameter sensing scheme by monitoring the spectral shifts of the lasing lines. Without the need of phase mask for fabrication and with the high physical strength, the random grating based sensors are much simpler and more compact, which could be potentially an excellent alternative for liquid medical sample sensing in biomedical and biochemical applications.

Simple modules for high efficiency conversion of standard ytterbium doped fiber lasers into octave spanning continuous-wave supercontinuum sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arun, S.; Choudhury, Vishal; Balaswamy, V.; Supradeepa, V. R.

2018-02-01

We have demonstrated a 34 W continuous wave supercontinuum using the standard telecom fiber (SMF 28e). The supercontinuum spans over a bandwidth of 1000 nm (>1 octave) from 880nm to 1900 nm with a substantial power spectral density of >1mW/nm from 880-1350 nm and 50-100mW/nm in 1350-1900 nm. The distributed feedback Raman laser architecture was used for pumping the supercontinuum which ensured high efficiency Raman conversions and helped in achieving a very high efficiency of 44% for supercontinuum generation. Using this architecture, Yb laser operating at any wavelength can be used for generating the supercontinuum and this was demonstrated by using two different Yb lasers operating at 1117nm and 1085 nm to pump the supercontinuum.

Initial evaluation of commercially available InGaAsP DFB laser diodes for use in high-speed digital fiber optic transceivers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cook, Anthony L.; Hendricks, Herbert D.

1990-01-01

NASA has been pursuing the development of high-speed fiber-optic transceivers for use in a number of space data system applications. Current efforts are directed toward a high-performance all-integrated-circuit transceiver operating up to the 3-5 Gb/s range. Details of the evaluation and selection of candidate high-speed optical sources to be used in the space-qualified high-performance transceiver are presented. Data on the performance of commercially available DFB (distributed feedback) lasers are presented, and their performance relative to each other and to their structural design with regard to their use in high-performance fiber-optic transceivers is discussed. The DFB lasers were obtained from seven commercial manufacturers. The data taken on each laser included threshold current, differential quantum efficiency, CW side mode suppression radio, wavelength temperature coefficient, threshold temperature coefficient, natural linewidth, and far field pattern. It was found that laser diodes with buried heterostructures and first-order gratings had, in general, the best CW operating characteristics. The modulated characteristics of the DFB laser diodes are emphasized. Modulated linewidth, modulated side mode suppression ratio, and frequency response are discussed.

Wavelength-controlled external-cavity laser with a silicon photonic crystal resonant reflector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez-Fernandez, A. A.; Liles, Alexandros A.; Persheyev, Saydulla; Debnath, Kapil; O'Faolain, Liam

2016-03-01

We report the experimental demonstration of an alternative design of external-cavity hybrid lasers consisting of a III-V Semiconductor Optical Amplifier with fiber reflector and a Photonic Crystal (PhC) based resonant reflector on SOI. The Silicon reflector comprises a polymer (SU8) bus waveguide vertically coupled to a PhC cavity and provides a wavelength-selective optical feedback to the laser cavity. This device exhibits milliwatt-level output power and sidemode suppression ratio of more than 25 dB.

Compact silicon photonics-based multi laser module for sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayotte, S.; Costin, F.; Babin, A.; Paré-Olivier, G.; Morin, M.; Filion, B.; Bédard, K.; Chrétien, P.; Bilodeau, G.; Girard-Deschênes, E.; Perron, L.-P.; Davidson, C.-A.; D'Amato, D.; Laplante, M.; Blanchet-Létourneau, J.

2018-02-01

A compact three-laser source for optical sensing is presented. It is based on a low-noise implementation of the Pound Drever-Hall method and comprises high-bandwidth optical phase-locked loops. The outputs from three semiconductor distributed feedback lasers, mounted on thermo-electric coolers (TEC), are coupled with micro-lenses into a silicon photonics (SiP) chip that performs beat note detection and several other functions. The chip comprises phase modulators, variable optical attenuators, multi-mode-interference couplers, variable ratio tap couplers, integrated photodiodes and optical fiber butt-couplers. Electrical connections between a metallized ceramic and the TECs, lasers and SiP chip are achieved by wirebonds. All these components stand within a 35 mm by 35 mm package which is interfaced with 90 electrical pins and two fiber pigtails. One pigtail carries the signals from a master and slave lasers, while another carries that from a second slave laser. The pins are soldered to a printed circuit board featuring a micro-processor that controls and monitors the system to ensure stable operation over fluctuating environmental conditions. This highly adaptable multi-laser source can address various sensing applications requiring the tracking of up to three narrow spectral features with a high bandwidth. It is used to sense a fiber-based ring resonator emulating a resonant fiber optics gyroscope. The master laser is locked to the resonator with a loop bandwidth greater than 1 MHz. The slave lasers are offset frequency locked to the master laser with loop bandwidths greater than 100 MHz. This high performance source is compact, automated, robust, and remains locked for days.

Feedback-controlled laser fabrication of micromirror substrates.

PubMed

Petrak, Benjamin; Konthasinghe, Kumarasiri; Perez, Sonia; Muller, Andreas

2011-12-01

Short (40-200 μs) single focused CO(2) laser pulses of energy ≳100 μJ were used to fabricate high quality concave micromirror templates on silica and fluoride glass. The ablated features have diameters of ≈20-100 μm and average root-mean-square (RMS) surface microroughness near their center of less than 0.2 nm. Temporally monitoring the fabrication process revealed that it proceeds on a time scale shorter than the laser pulse duration. We implement a fast feedback control loop (≈20 kHz bandwidth) based on the light emitted by the sample that ensures an RMS size dispersion of less than 5% in arrays on chips or in individually fabricated features on an optical fiber tip, a significant improvement over previous approaches using longer pulses and open loop operation.

Ultra-long fiber Raman lasers: design considerations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koltchanov, I.; Kroushkov, D. I.; Richter, A.

2015-03-01

In frame of the European Marie Currie project GRIFFON [http://astonishgriffon.net/] the usage of a green approach in terms of reduced power consumption and maintenance costs is envisioned for long-span fiber networks. This shall be accomplished by coherent transmission in unrepeatered links (100 km - 350 km) utilizing ultra-long Raman fiber laser (URFL)-based distributed amplification, multi-level modulation formats, and adapted Digital Signal Processing (DSP) algorithms. The URFL uses a cascaded 2-order pumping scheme where two (co- and counter-) ˜ 1365 nm pumps illuminate the fiber. The URFL oscillates at ˜ 1450 nm whereas amplification is provided by stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) of the ˜ 1365 nm pumps and the optical feedback is realized by two Fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) at the fiber ends reflecting at 1450 nm. The light field at 1450 nm provides amplification for signal waves in the 1550 nm range due to SRS. In this work we present URFL design studies intended to characterize and optimize the power and noise characteristics of the fiber links. We use a bidirectional fiber model describing propagation of the signal, pump and noise powers along the fiber length. From the numerical solution we evaluate the on/off Raman gain and its bandwidth, the signal excursion over the fiber length, OSNR spectra, and the accumulated nonlinearities. To achieve best performance for these characteristics the laser design is optimized with respect to the forward/backward pump powers and wavelengths, input/output signal powers, reflectivity profile of the FBGs and other parameters.

Range Resolved CO2 Atmospheric Backscattering Measurements Using Fiber Lasers and RZPN Code Modulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burris, John

2011-01-01

We report the use of a return-to- zero (RZPN) pseudo noise modulation technique for making range resolved measurements of CO2 within the planetary boundary layer (PBL) using commercial, off-the-shelf, components. Conventional, range resolved, DIAL measurements require laser pulse widths that are significantly shorter than the desired spatial resolution and necessitate using pulses whose temporal spacing is such that scattered returns from only a single pulse are observed by the receiver at any one time (for the PBL pulse separations must be greater than approximately 20 microseconds). This imposes significant operational limitations when using currently available fiber lasers because of the resulting low duty cycle (less than approximately 0.0005) and consequent low average laser output power. The RZPN modulation technique enables a fiber laser to operate at much higher duty cycles (approaching 0.04) thereby more effectively utilizing the amplifier's output. This increases the counts received by approximately two orders of magnitude. Our approach involves employing two distributed feedback lasers (DFB), each modulated by a different RPZN code, whose outputs are then amplified by a CW fiber amplifier. One laser is tuned to a CO2 absorption line; the other operates offline thereby permitting the simultaneous acquisition of both on and offline signals using independent RZPN codes. This minimizes the impact of atmospheric turbulence on the measurement. The on and offline signals are retrieved by deconvolving the return signal using the appropriate kernels.

Precluding nonlinear ISI in direct detection long-haul fiber optic systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swenson, Norman L.; Shoop, Barry L.; Cioffi, John M.

1991-01-01

Long-distance, high-rate fiber optic systems employing directly modulated 1.55-micron single-mode lasers and conventional single-mode fiber suffer severe intersymbol interference (ISI) with a large nonlinear component. A method of reducing the nonlinearity of the ISI, thereby making linear equalization more viable, is investigated. It is shown that the degree of nonlinearity is highly dependent on the choice of laser bias current, and that in some cases the ISI nonlinearity can be significantly reduced by biasing the laser substantially above threshold. Simulation results predict that an increase in signal-to-nonlinear-distortion ratio as high as 25 dB can be achieved for synchronously spaced samples at an optimal sampling phase by increasing the bias current from 1.2 times threshold to 3.5 times threshold. The high SDR indicates that a linear tapped delay line equalizer could be used to mitigate ISI. Furthermore, the shape of the pulse response suggests that partial response precoding and digital feedback equalization would be particularly effective for this channel.

Smart surgical tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Huan; Yang, Lih-Mei; Bai, Shuang; Liu, Jian

2015-02-01

A laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) guided smart surgical tool using a femtosecond fiber laser is developed. This system provides real-time material identification by processing and analyzing the peak intensity and ratio of atomic emissions of LIBS signals. Algorithms to identify emissions of different tissues and metals are developed and implemented into the real-time control system. This system provides a powerful smart surgical tool for precise robotic microsurgery applications with real-time feedback and control.

Lithographic wavelength control of an external cavity laser with a silicon photonic crystal cavity-based resonant reflector.

PubMed

Liles, Alexandros A; Debnath, Kapil; O'Faolain, Liam

2016-03-01

We report the experimental demonstration of a new design for external cavity hybrid lasers consisting of a III-V semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) with fiber reflector and a photonic crystal (PhC)-based resonant reflector on SOI. The silicon reflector is composed of an SU8 polymer bus waveguide vertically coupled to a PhC cavity and provides a wavelength-selective optical feedback to the laser cavity. This device exhibits milliwatt-level output power and side-mode suppression ratios of more than 25 dB.

Random fiber lasers based on artificially controlled backscattering fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Daru; Wang, Xiaoliang; She, Lijuan; Qiang, Zexuan; Yu, Zhangwei

2017-10-01

The random fiber laser (RFL) which is a milestone in laser physics and nonlinear optics, has attracted considerable attention recently. Most previous RFLs are based on distributed feedback of Rayleigh scattering amplified through stimulated Raman/Brillouin scattering effect in single mode fibers, which required long-distance (tens of kilometers) single mode fibers and high threshold up to watt-level due to the extremely small Rayleigh scattering coefficient of the fiber. We proposed and demonstrated a half-open cavity RFL based on a segment of a artificially controlled backscattering SMF(ACB-SMF) with a length of 210m, 310m or 390m. A fiber Bragg grating with the central wavelength of 1530nm and a segment of ACB-SMF forms the half-open cavity. The proposed RFL achieves the threshold of 25mW, 30mW and 30mW, respectively. Random lasing at the wavelength of 1530nm and the extinction ratio of 50dB is achieved when a segment of 5m EDF is pumped by a 980nm LD in the RFL. Another half-open cavity RFL based on a segment of a artificially controlled backscattering EDF(ACBS-EDF) is also demonstrated without an ACB-SMF. The 3m ACB-EDF is fabricated by using the femtosecond laser with pulse energy of 0.34mJ which introduces about 50 reflectors in the EDF. Random lasing at the wavelength of 1530nm is achieved with the output power of 7.5mW and the efficiency of 1.88%. Two novel RFLs with much short cavities have been achieved with low threshold and high efficiency.

Multiperiod-grating surface-emitting lasers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lang, Robert J. (Inventor)

1992-01-01

Surface-emitting distributed feedback (DFB) lasers are disclosed with hybrid gratings. A first-order grating is provided at one or both ends of the active region of the laser for retroreflection of light back into the active region, and a second-order or nonresonant grating is provided at the opposite end for coupling light out perpendicular to the surfaces of the laser or in some other selected direction. The gratings may be curved to focus light retroreflected into the active region and to focus light coupled out to a point. When so focused to a point, the DFB laser may be part of a monolithic read head for a laser recorded disk, or an optical coupler into an optical fiber.

Enhanced optical gain clamping for upstream packet based traffic on hybrid WDM/TDM-PON using fiber Bragg grating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neto, B.; Klingler, A.; Reis, C.; Dionísio, R. P.; Nogueira, R. N.; Teixeira, A. L. J.; André, P. S.

2011-03-01

In this paper, we propose a method to mitigate the temporal power transients arising from Erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) on packeted/bursty scenario. The technique, applicable on hybrid WDM/TDM-PON for extended reach, is based on a low power clamping provided by a distributed feedback (DFB) laser and a fiber Bragg grating (FBG). An improvement in the data signal Q factor was achieved keeping the clamping control signal with a low power, accompanied by a maximum reduction in the gain excursion of 1.12 dB.

High-power fused assemblies enabled by advances in fiber-processing technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiley, Robert; Clark, Brett

2011-02-01

The power handling capabilities of fiber lasers are limited by the technologies available to fabricate and assemble the key optical system components. Previous tools for the assembly, tapering, and fusion of fiber laser elements have had drawbacks with regard to temperature range, alignment capability, assembly flexibility and surface contamination. To provide expanded capabilities for fiber laser assembly, a wide-area electrical plasma heat source was used in conjunction with an optimized image analysis method and a flexible alignment system, integrated according to mechatronic principles. High-resolution imaging and vision-based measurement provided feedback to adjust assembly, fusion, and tapering process parameters. The system was used to perform assembly steps including dissimilar-fiber splicing, tapering, bundling, capillary bundling, and fusion of fibers to bulk optic devices up to several mm in diameter. A wide range of fiber types and diameters were tested, including extremely large diameters and photonic crystal fibers. The assemblies were evaluated for conformation to optical and mechanical design criteria, such as taper geometry and splice loss. The completed assemblies met the performance targets and exhibited reduced surface contamination compared to assemblies prepared on previously existing equipment. The imaging system and image analysis algorithms provided in situ fiber geometry measurement data that agreed well with external measurement. The ability to adjust operating parameters dynamically based on imaging was shown to provide substantial performance benefits, particularly in the tapering of fibers and bundles. The integrated design approach was shown to provide sufficient flexibility to perform all required operations with a minimum of reconfiguration.

True Tapping Mode Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy with Bent Glass Fiber Probes.

PubMed

Smirnov, A; Yasinskii, V M; Filimonenko, D S; Rostova, E; Dietler, G; Sekatskii, S K

2018-01-01

In scanning near-field optical microscopy, the most popular probes are made of sharpened glass fiber attached to a quartz tuning fork (TF) and exploiting the shear force-based feedback. The use of tapping mode feedback could be preferable. Such an approach can be realized, for example, using bent fiber probes. Detailed analysis of fiber vibration modes shows that realization of truly tapping mode of the probe dithering requires an extreme caution. In case of using the second resonance mode, probes vibrate mostly in shear force mode unless the bending radius is rather small (ca. 0.3 mm) and the probe's tip is short. Otherwise, the shear force character of the dithering persists. Probes having these characteristics were prepared by irradiation of a tapered etched glass fiber with a CW CO 2 laser. These probes were attached to the TF in double resonance conditions which enables achieving significant quality factor (4000-6000) of the TF + probe system (Cherkun et al., 2006). We also show that, to achieve a truly tapping character, dithering, short, and not exceeding 3 mm lengths of a freestanding part of bent fiber probe beam should also be used in the case of nonresonant excitation.

A coal mine multi-point fiber ethylene gas concentration sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Yubin; Chang, Jun; Lian, Jie; Liu, Tongyu

2015-03-01

Spontaneous combustion of the coal mine goaf is one of the main disasters in the coal mine. The detection technology based on symbolic gas is the main means to realize the spontaneous combustion prediction of the coal mine goaf, and ethylene gas is an important symbol gas of spontaneous combustion in the coal accelerated oxidation stage. In order to overcome the problem of current coal ethylene detection, the paper presents a mine optical fiber multi-point ethylene concentration sensor based on the tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy. Based on the experiments and analysis of the near-infrared spectrum of ethylene, the system employed the 1.62 μm (DFB) wavelength fiber coupled distributed feedback laser as the light source. By using the wavelength scanning technique and developing a stable fiber coupled Herriot type long path gas absorption cell, a ppm-level high sensitivity detecting system for the concentration of ethylene gas was realized, which could meet the needs of coal mine fire prevention goaf prediction.

Tunable compensation of GVD-induced FM-AM conversion in the front end of high-power lasers.

PubMed

Li, Rao; Fan, Wei; Jiang, Youen; Qiao, Zhi; Zhang, Peng; Lin, Zunqi

2017-02-01

Group velocity dispersion (GVD) is one of the main factors leading to frequency modulation (FM) to amplitude modulation (AM) conversion in the front end of high-power lasers. In order to compensate the FM-AM modulation, the influence of GVD, which is mainly induced by the phase filter effect, is theoretically investigated. Based on the theoretical analysis, a high-precision, high-stability, tunable GVD compensatory using gratings is designed and experimentally demonstrated. The results indicate that the compensator can be implemented in high-power laser facilities to compensate the GVD of fiber with a length between 200-500 m when the bandwidth of a phase-modulated laser is 0.34 nm or 0.58 nm and the central wavelength is in the range of 1052.3217-1053.6008 nm. Due to the linear relationship between the dispersion and the spacing distance of the gratings, the compensator can easily achieve closed-loop feedback controlling. The proposed GVD compensator promises significant applications in large laser facilities, especially in the future polarizing fiber front end of high-power lasers.

The pulsed dye laser versus the Q-switched Nd:YAG laser in laser-induced shock-wave lithotripsy.

PubMed

Thomas, S; Pensel, J; Engelhardt, R; Meyer, W; Hofstetter, A G

1988-01-01

To date, there are two fairly well-established alternatives for laser-induced shock-wave lithotripsy in clinical practice. The Q-switched Nd:YAG laser is distinguished by the high-stone selectivity of its coupler systems. The necessity of a coupler system and its fairly small conversion rate of light energy into mechanical energy present serious drawbacks. Furthermore, the minimal outer diameter of the transmission system is 1.8 mm. The pulsed-dye laser can be used with a highly flexible and uncomplicated 200-micron fiber. However, the laser system itself is more complicated than the Q-switched Nd:YAG laser and requires a great deal of maintenance. Biological evaluation of damage caused by direct irradiation shows that both laser systems produce minor damage of different degrees. YAG laser lithotripsy with the optomechanical coupler was assessed in 31 patients with ureteral calculi. The instability and limited effectiveness of the fiber application system necessitated auxiliary lithotripsy methods in 14 cases. Dye-laser lithotripsy is currently being tested in clinical application. Further development, such as systems for blind application or electronic feedback mechanisms to limit adverse tissue effects, have yet to be optimized. Nevertheless, laser-induced shock-wave lithotripsy has the potential to become a standard procedure in the endourologic management of stone disease.

Gain dynamics of clad-pumped Yb-fiber amplifier and intensity noise control.

PubMed

Zhao, Jian; Guiraud, Germain; Floissat, Florian; Gouhier, Benoit; Rota-Rodrigo, Sergio; Traynor, Nicholas; Santarelli, Giorgio

2017-01-09

Gain dynamics study provides an attractive method to understand the intensity noise behavior in fiber amplifiers. Here, the gain dynamics of a medium power (5 W) clad-pumped Yb-fiber amplifier is experimentally evaluated by measuring the frequency domain transfer functions for the input seed and pump lasers from 10 Hz to 1 MHz. We study gain dynamic behavior of the fiber amplifier in the presence of significant residual pump power (compared to the seed power), showing that the seed transfer function is strongly saturated at low Fourier frequencies while the pump power modulation transfer function is nearly unaffected. The characterization of relative intensity noise (RIN) of the fiber amplifier is well explained by the gain dynamics analysis. Finally, a 600 kHz bandwidth feedback loop using an acoustic-optical modulator (AOM) controlling the seed intensity is successfully demonstrated to suppress the broadband laser intensity noise. A maximum noise reduction of about 30 dB is achieved leading to a RIN of -152 dBc/Hz (~1 kHz-10 MHz) at 2.5 W output power.

Generation and transmission of DPSK signals using a directly modulated passive feedback laser.

PubMed

Karar, Abdullah S; Gao, Ying; Zhong, Kang Ping; Ke, Jian Hong; Cartledge, John C

2012-12-10

The generation of differential-phase-shift keying (DPSK) signals is demonstrated using a directly modulated passive feedback laser at 10.709-Gb/s, 14-Gb/s and 16-Gb/s. The quality of the DPSK signals is assessed using both noncoherent detection for a bit rate of 10.709-Gb/s and coherent detection with digital signal processing involving a look-up table pattern-dependent distortion compensator. Transmission over a passive link consisting of 100 km of single mode fiber at a bit rate of 10.709-Gb/s is achieved with a received optical power of -45 dBm at a bit-error-ratio of 3.8 × 10(-3) and a 49 dB loss margin.

Extended-bandwidth frequency sweeps of a distributed feedback laser using combined injection current and temperature modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hefferman, Gerald; Chen, Zhen; Wei, Tao

2017-07-01

This article details the generation of an extended-bandwidth frequency sweep using a single, communication grade distributed feedback (DFB) laser. The frequency sweep is generated using a two-step technique. In the first step, injection current modulation is employed as a means of varying the output frequency of a DFB laser over a bandwidth of 99.26 GHz. A digital optical phase lock loop is used to lock the frequency sweep speed during current modulation, resulting in a linear frequency chirp. In the second step, the temperature of the DFB laser is modulated, resulting in a shifted starting laser output frequency. A laser frequency chirp is again generated beginning at this shifted starting frequency, resulting in a frequency-shifted spectrum relative to the first recorded data. This process is then repeated across a range of starting temperatures, resulting in a series of partially overlapping, frequency-shifted spectra. These spectra are then aligned using cross-correlation and combined using averaging to form a single, broadband spectrum with a total bandwidth of 510.9 GHz. In order to investigate the utility of this technique, experimental testing was performed in which the approach was used as the swept-frequency source of a coherent optical frequency domain reflectometry system. This system was used to interrogate an optical fiber containing a 20 point, 1-mm pitch length fiber Bragg grating, corresponding to a period of 100 GHz. Using this technique, both the periodicity of the grating in the frequency domain and the individual reflector elements of the structure in the time domain were resolved, demonstrating the technique's potential as a method of extending the sweeping bandwidth of semiconductor lasers for frequency-based sensing applications.

Extended-bandwidth frequency sweeps of a distributed feedback laser using combined injection current and temperature modulation.

PubMed

Hefferman, Gerald; Chen, Zhen; Wei, Tao

2017-07-01

This article details the generation of an extended-bandwidth frequency sweep using a single, communication grade distributed feedback (DFB) laser. The frequency sweep is generated using a two-step technique. In the first step, injection current modulation is employed as a means of varying the output frequency of a DFB laser over a bandwidth of 99.26 GHz. A digital optical phase lock loop is used to lock the frequency sweep speed during current modulation, resulting in a linear frequency chirp. In the second step, the temperature of the DFB laser is modulated, resulting in a shifted starting laser output frequency. A laser frequency chirp is again generated beginning at this shifted starting frequency, resulting in a frequency-shifted spectrum relative to the first recorded data. This process is then repeated across a range of starting temperatures, resulting in a series of partially overlapping, frequency-shifted spectra. These spectra are then aligned using cross-correlation and combined using averaging to form a single, broadband spectrum with a total bandwidth of 510.9 GHz. In order to investigate the utility of this technique, experimental testing was performed in which the approach was used as the swept-frequency source of a coherent optical frequency domain reflectometry system. This system was used to interrogate an optical fiber containing a 20 point, 1-mm pitch length fiber Bragg grating, corresponding to a period of 100 GHz. Using this technique, both the periodicity of the grating in the frequency domain and the individual reflector elements of the structure in the time domain were resolved, demonstrating the technique's potential as a method of extending the sweeping bandwidth of semiconductor lasers for frequency-based sensing applications.

Improving the accuracy of a dual-comb interferometer by suppressing the relative linewidth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Zebin; Xu, Guangyao; Ni, Kai; Zhou, Qian; Wu, Guanhao

2018-04-01

We present a compact system of synchronization for two fiber-based optical frequency comb lasers. We use a free-running continuous wave laser as an intermediary to obtain the relative noise of two combs and employ an intra-cavity electro-optic modulator (EOM) to achieve active phase feedback for fast synchronization. The EOM bandwidth is 150 kHz and the relative linewidth is suppressed markedly from 300 kHz to sub-hertz values. The relative effective timing jitter of the two pulse trains is also decreased from 680 fs to 25 fs. The proposed method shows promise for developing a high-performance, low-cost, fiber-based dual-comb interferometer for ranging or spectroscopy.

Deep turbulence effects mitigation with coherent combining of 21 laser beams over 7 km.

PubMed

Weyrauch, Thomas; Vorontsov, Mikhail; Mangano, Joseph; Ovchinnikov, Vladimir; Bricker, David; Polnau, Ernst; Rostov, Andrey

2016-02-15

We demonstrate coherent beam combining and adaptive mitigation of atmospheric turbulence effects over 7 km under strong scintillation conditions using a coherent fiber array laser transmitter operating in a target-in-the-loop setting. The transmitter system is composed of a densely packed array of 21 fiber collimators with integrated capabilities for piston, tip, and tilt control of the outgoing beams wavefront phases. A small cat's-eye retro reflector was used for evaluation of beam combining and turbulence compensation performance at the target plane, and to provide the feedback signal for control of piston and tip/tilt phases of the transmitted beams using the stochastic parallel gradient descent maximization of the power-in-the-bucket metric.

Continuous tuning of two-section, single-mode terahertz quantum-cascade lasers by fiber-coupled, near-infrared illumination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hempel, Martin; Röben, Benjamin; Niehle, Michael; Schrottke, Lutz; Trampert, Achim; Grahn, Holger T.

2017-05-01

The dynamical tuning due to rear facet illumination of single-mode, terahertz (THz) quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs) which employ distributed feedback gratings are compared to the tuning of single-mode QCLs based on two-section cavities. The THz QCLs under investigation emit in the range of 3 to 4.7 THz. The tuning is achieved by illuminating the rear facet of the QCL with a fiber-coupled light source emitting at 777 nm. Tuning ranges of 5.0 and 11.9 GHz under continuous-wave and pulsed operation, respectively, are demonstrated for a single-mode, two-section cavity QCL emitting at about 3.1 THz, which exhibits a side-mode suppression ratio better than -25 dB.

Ex vivo evaluation of super pulse diode laser system with smart temperature feedback for contact soft-tissue surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yaroslavsky, Ilya; Boutoussov, Dmitri; Vybornov, Alexander; Perchuk, Igor; Meleshkevich, Val; Altshuler, Gregory

2018-02-01

Until recently, Laser Diodes (LD) have been limited in their ability to deliver high peak power levels, which, in turn, limited their clinical capabilities. New technological developments made possible advent of "super pulse" LD (SPLD). Moreover, advanced means of smart thermal feedback enable precise control of laser power, thus ensuring safe and optimally efficacious application. In this work, we have evaluated a prototype SPLD system ex vivo. The device provided up to 25 W average and up to 150 W pulse power at 940 nm wavelength. The laser was operated in the thermal feedback-controlled mode, where power of the laser was varied automatically as a function of real-time thermal feedback to maintain constant tip temperature. The system was also equipped with a fiber tip initiated with advanced TiO2 /tungsten technique. Evaluation methods were designed to assess: 1) Speed and depth of cutting; 2) Dimensions of coagulative margin. The SPLD system was compared with industry-leading conventional diode and CO2 devices. The results indicate that the SPLD system provides increase in speed of controlled cutting by a factor of >2 in comparison with the conventional diode laser and approaching that of CO2 device. The produced ratio of the depth of cut to the thermal damage margin was significantly higher than conventional diodes and close to that of the CO2 system, suggesting optimal hemostasis conditions. SPLD technology with real-time temperature control has a potential for creating a new standard of care in the field of precision soft tissue surgery.

1310nm VCSELs in 1-10Gb/s commercial applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jewell, Jack; Graham, Luke; Crom, Max; Maranowski, Kevin; Smith, Joseph; Fanning, Tom

2006-02-01

Beginning with 4 Gigabit/sec Fibre-Channel, 1310nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are now entering the marketplace. Such VCSELs perform like distributed feedback lasers but have drive currents and heat dissipation like 850nm VCSELs, making them ideal for today's high-performance interconnects and the only choice for the next step in increased interconnection density. Transceiver performances at 4 and 10 Gigabits/sec over fiber lengths 10-40km are presented. The active material is extremely robust, resulting in excellent reliability.

Tunable microwave signal generator with an optically-injected 1310 nm QD-DFB laser.

PubMed

Hurtado, Antonio; Mee, Jesse; Nami, Mohsen; Henning, Ian D; Adams, Michael J; Lester, Luke F

2013-05-06

Tunable microwave signal generation with frequencies ranging from below 1 GHz to values over 40 GHz is demonstrated experimentally with a 1310 nm Quantum Dot (QD) Distributed-Feedback (DFB) laser. Microwave signal generation is achieved using the period 1 dynamics induced in the QD DFB under optical injection. Continuous tuning in the positive detuning frequency range of the quantum dot's unique stability map is demonstrated. The simplicity of the experimental configuration offers promise for novel uses of these nanostructure lasers in Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) applications and future mobile networks.

Time-delay signature of chaos in 1550 nm VCSELs with variable-polarization FBG feedback.

PubMed

Li, Yan; Wu, Zheng-Mao; Zhong, Zhu-Qiang; Yang, Xian-Jie; Mao, Song; Xia, Guang-Qiong

2014-08-11

Based on the framework of spin-flip model (SFM), the output characteristics of a 1550 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) subject to variable-polarization fiber Bragg grating (FBG) feedback (VPFBGF) have been investigated. With the aid of the self-correlation function (SF) and the permutation entropy (PE) function, the time-delay signature (TDS) of chaos in the VPFBGF-VCSEL is evaluated, and then the influences of the operation parameters on the TDS of chaos are analyzed. The results show that the TDS of chaos can be suppressed efficiently through selecting suitable coupling coefficient and feedback rate of the FBG, and is weaker than that of chaos generated by traditional variable-polarization mirror feedback VCSELs (VPMF-VCSELs) or polarization-preserved FBG feedback VCSELs (PPFBGF-VCSELs).

Compact, highly efficient, single-frequency 25W, 2051nm Tm fiber-based MOPA for CO2 trace-gas laser space transmitter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Engin, Doruk; Chuang, Ti; Litvinovitch, Slava; Storm, Mark

2017-08-01

Fibertek has developed and demonstrated an ideal high-power; low-risk; low-size, weight, and power (SWaP) 2051 nm laser design meeting the lidar requirements for satellite-based global measurement of carbon dioxide (CO2). The laser design provides a path to space for either a coherent lidar approach being developed by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)1,2 or an Integrated Path Differential Lidar (IPDA) approach developed by Harris Corp using radio frequency (RF) modulation and being flown as part of a NASA Earth Venture Suborbital Mission—NASA's Atmospheric Carbon and Transport - America.3,4 The thulium (Tm) fiber laser amplifies a <500 kHz linewidth distributed feedback (DFB) laser up to 25 W average power in a polarization maintaining (PM) fiber. The design manages and suppresses all deleterious non-linear effects that can cause linewidth broadening or amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) and meets all lidar requirements. We believe the core laser components, architecture, and design margins can support a coherent or IPDA lidar 10-year space mission. With follow-on funding Fibertek can adapt an existing space-based Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL-6), 20 W erbium fiber laser package for this Tm design and enable a near-term space mission with an electrical-to-optical (e-o) efficiency of <20%. A cladding-pumped PM Tm fiber-based amplifier optimized for high efficiency and high-power operation at 2051 nm is presented. The two-stage amplifier has been demonstrated to achieve 25 W average power and <16 dB polarization extinction ratio (PER) out of a single-mode PM fiber using a <500 kHz linewidth JPL DFB laser5-7 and 43 dB gain. The power amplifier's optical conversion efficiency is 53%. An internal efficiency of 58% is calculated after correcting for passive losses. The two-stage amplifier sustains its highly efficient operation for a temperature range of 5-40°C. The absence of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) for the narrow linewidth amplification shows promise for further power scaling.

Near-IR laser frequency standard stabilized using FM-spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ružička, Bohdan; Číp, Ondřej; Lazar, Josef

2006-02-01

At the present time fiber-optics and optical communication are in rapid progress. Modern technologies such as DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplex) need precise stability of laser frequencies. According to this fact, requirements of new etalons of optical frequencies in the telecommunication band is rapidly growing. Lasers working in near infrared telecommunication band (1500-1600 nm) can be stabilized to 12C IIH II or 13C IIH II (acetylene) gas absorption lines. The acetylene gas absorption has been widely studied and accepted by international bodies of standardization as a primary wavelength reference in the near infrared band around 1550nm. Our aim was to design and develop a compact fibre optics laser system generating coherent light in near-JR band with high frequency stability (at least 1.10 -8). This system should become a base for realization of a primary frequency standard for optical communications in the Czech Republic. Such an etalon will be needed for calibration of wavelength-meters and spectral analysers for DWDM communication systems. We are co-operating with CMI (Czech Metrology Institute) on this project. We present stabilized laser system based on a single frequency DFB (Distributed Feedback) laser diode with a narrow spectral profile. The laser is pre-stabilized by means of the FM-spectroscopy on a passive resonator. Thanks to a fast feed-back loop we are able to improve spectral characteristics of the laser. The laser frequency is locked by a relatively slow second feed-back loop on an absorption line of acetylene vapour which is sealed in a cell under the optimised pressure.

Backscattering measuring system for optimization of intravenous laser irradiation dose

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rusina, Tatyana V.; Popov, V. D.; Melnik, Ivan S.; Dets, Sergiy M.

1996-11-01

Intravenous laser blood irradiation as an effective method of biostimulation and physiotherapy becomes a more popular procedure. Optimal irradiation conditions for each patient are needed to be established individually. A fiber optics feedback system combined with conventional intravenous laser irradiation system was developed to control of irradiation process. The system consists of He-Ne laser, fiber optics probe and signal analyzer. Intravenous blood irradiation was performed in 7 healthy volunteers and 19 patients with different diseases. Measurements in vivo were related to in vitro blood irradiation which was performed in the same conditions with force-circulated venous blood. Comparison of temporal variations of backscattered light during all irradiation procedures has shown a strong discrepancy on optical properties of blood in patients with various health disorders since second procedure. The best cure effect was achieved when intensity of backscattered light was constant during at least five minutes. As a result, the optical irradiation does was considered to be equal 20 minutes' exposure of 3 mW He-Ne laser light at the end of fourth procedure.

Frequency-modulated laser ranging sensor with closed-loop control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, Fabian M.; Böttger, Gunnar; Janeczka, Christian; Arndt-Staufenbiel, Norbert; Schröder, Henning; Schneider-Ramelow, Martin

2018-02-01

Advances in autonomous driving and robotics are creating high demand for inexpensive and mass-producible distance sensors. A laser ranging system (Lidar), based on the frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) method is built in this work. The benefits of an FMCW Lidar system are the low-cost components and the performance in comparison to conventional time-of-flight Lidar systems. The basic system consists of a DFB laser diode (λ= 1308 nm) and an asymmetric fiber-coupled Mach-Zehnder interferometer with a fixed delay line in one arm. Linear tuning of the laser optical frequency via injection current modulation creates a beat signal at the interferometer output. The frequency of the beat signal is proportional to the optical path difference in the interferometer. Since the laser frequency-to-current response is non-linear, a closed-loop feed-back system is designed to improve the tuning linearity, and consequently the measurement resolution. For fast active control, an embedded system with FPGA is used, resulting in a nearly linear frequency tuning, realizing a narrow peak in the Fourier spectrum of the beat signal. For free-space measurements, a setup with two distinct interferometers is built. The fully fiber-coupled Mach-Zehnder reference interferometer is part of the feed-back loop system, while the other - a Michelson interferometer - has a free-space arm with collimator lens and reflective target. A resolution of 2:0 mm for a 560 mm distance is achieved. The results for varying target distances show high consistency and a linear relation to the measured beat-frequency.

Dynamic Sensing Performance of a Point-Wise Fiber Bragg Grating Displacement Measurement System Integrated in an Active Structural Control System

PubMed Central

Chuang, Kuo-Chih; Liao, Heng-Tseng; Ma, Chien-Ching

2011-01-01

In this work, a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing system which can measure the transient response of out-of-plane point-wise displacement responses is set up on a smart cantilever beam and the feasibility of its use as a feedback sensor in an active structural control system is studied experimentally. An FBG filter is employed in the proposed fiber sensing system to dynamically demodulate the responses obtained by the FBG displacement sensor with high sensitivity. For comparison, a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) is utilized simultaneously to verify displacement detection ability of the FBG sensing system. An optical full-field measurement technique called amplitude-fluctuation electronic speckle pattern interferometry (AF-ESPI) is used to provide full-field vibration mode shapes and resonant frequencies. To verify the dynamic demodulation performance of the FBG filter, a traditional FBG strain sensor calibrated with a strain gauge is first employed to measure the dynamic strain of impact-induced vibrations. Then, system identification of the smart cantilever beam is performed by FBG strain and displacement sensors. Finally, by employing a velocity feedback control algorithm, the feasibility of integrating the proposed FBG displacement sensing system in a collocated feedback system is investigated and excellent dynamic feedback performance is demonstrated. In conclusion, our experiments show that the FBG sensor is capable of performing dynamic displacement feedback and/or strain measurements with high sensitivity and resolution. PMID:22247683

True Tapping Mode Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy with Bent Glass Fiber Probes

PubMed Central

Yasinskii, V. M.; Filimonenko, D. S.; Rostova, E.; Dietler, G.; Sekatskii, S. K.

2018-01-01

In scanning near-field optical microscopy, the most popular probes are made of sharpened glass fiber attached to a quartz tuning fork (TF) and exploiting the shear force-based feedback. The use of tapping mode feedback could be preferable. Such an approach can be realized, for example, using bent fiber probes. Detailed analysis of fiber vibration modes shows that realization of truly tapping mode of the probe dithering requires an extreme caution. In case of using the second resonance mode, probes vibrate mostly in shear force mode unless the bending radius is rather small (ca. 0.3 mm) and the probe's tip is short. Otherwise, the shear force character of the dithering persists. Probes having these characteristics were prepared by irradiation of a tapered etched glass fiber with a CW CO2 laser. These probes were attached to the TF in double resonance conditions which enables achieving significant quality factor (4000–6000) of the TF + probe system (Cherkun et al., 2006). We also show that, to achieve a truly tapping character, dithering, short, and not exceeding 3 mm lengths of a freestanding part of bent fiber probe beam should also be used in the case of nonresonant excitation. PMID:29849857

Passively mode-locked tunable fiber laser in a soliton regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Endo, Michiyuki; Ghosh, Gorachand

1999-04-01

A stable, passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber resonator is developed to generate tunable optical pulses with durations of 270 - 325 fs in the soliton regime. The lasing wavelength is tuned continuously over a wavelength range of 60 nm by rotating a bulk band-pass filter inserted in the resonator with a repetition frequency of 45.4 MHz. We reduced the timing jitter by minimizing the intensity fluctuation of the pump source using a feedback loop and by controlling the influence of airflow and temperature fluctuation of the resonator in a sealed box.

High-speed optical feeder-link system using adaptive optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arimoto, Yoshinori; Hayano, Yutaka; Klaus, Werner

1997-05-01

We propose a satellite laser communication system between a ground station and a geostationary satellite, named high- speed optical feeder link system. It is based on the application of (a) high-speed optical devices, which have been developed for ground-based high-speed fiber-optic communications, and (b) the adaptive optics which compensates wavefront distortions due to atmospheric turbulences using a real time feedback control. A link budget study shows that a system with 10-Gbps bit-rate are available assuming the state-of-the-art device performance of the Er-doped fiber amplifier. We further discuss preliminary measurement results of the atmospheric turbulence at the telescope site in Tokyo, and present current study on the design of the key components for the feeder-link laser transceiver.

Consistency properties of chaotic systems driven by time-delayed feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jüngling, T.; Soriano, M. C.; Oliver, N.; Porte, X.; Fischer, I.

2018-04-01

Consistency refers to the property of an externally driven dynamical system to respond in similar ways to similar inputs. In a delay system, the delayed feedback can be considered as an external drive to the undelayed subsystem. We analyze the degree of consistency in a generic chaotic system with delayed feedback by means of the auxiliary system approach. In this scheme an identical copy of the nonlinear node is driven by exactly the same signal as the original, allowing us to verify complete consistency via complete synchronization. In the past, the phenomenon of synchronization in delay-coupled chaotic systems has been widely studied using correlation functions. Here, we analytically derive relationships between characteristic signatures of the correlation functions in such systems and unequivocally relate them to the degree of consistency. The analytical framework is illustrated and supported by numerical calculations of the logistic map with delayed feedback for different replica configurations. We further apply the formalism to time series from an experiment based on a semiconductor laser with a double fiber-optical feedback loop. The experiment constitutes a high-quality replica scheme for studying consistency of the delay-driven laser and confirms the general theoretical results.

Polarization-resolved time-delay signatures of chaos induced by FBG-feedback in VCSEL.

PubMed

Zhong, Zhu-Qiang; Li, Song-Sui; Chan, Sze-Chun; Xia, Guang-Qiong; Wu, Zheng-Mao

2015-06-15

Polarization-resolved chaotic emission intensities from a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) subject to feedback from a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) are numerically investigated. Time-delay (TD) signatures of the feedback are examined through various means including self-correlations of intensity time-series of individual polarizations, cross-correlation of intensities time-series between both polarizations, and permutation entropies calculated for the individual polarizations. The results show that the TD signatures can be clearly suppressed by selecting suitable operation parameters such as the feedback strength, FBG bandwidth, and Bragg frequency. Also, in the operational parameter space, numerical maps of TD signatures and effective bandwidths are obtained, which show regions of chaotic signals with both wide bandwidths and weak TD signatures. Finally, by comparing with a VCSEL subject to feedback from a mirror, the VCSEL subject to feedback from the FBG generally shows better concealment of the TD signatures with similar, or even wider, bandwidths.

Crosstalk analyse of DFB fiber laser hydrophone array based on time division multiplexing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yu; Huang, Junbin; Gu, Hongcan; Tang, Bo; Wu, Jing

2014-12-01

In this paper, the crosstalk of a time division multiplexed (TDM) system of distributed feedback (DFB) fiber laser (FL)hydrophones based on optical switch using Phase Generated Carrier (PGC) method was quantitatively analyzed. After mathematical deduction, the relationship among crosstalk, multiplexing scale and extinction ratio of optical switch was given. The simulation results show that to realize a TDM system of DFB fiber laser hydrophones with crosstalk lower than -40dB, the average extinction ratio should be higher than 24.78dB for a 4- channel system, while higher than 28.45dB for an 8- channel system. Two experiments to analyze the array crosstalk to a certain channel in an 8- channel array were conducted in this paper. Firstly, by testing the powers of leak laser to a certain channel from others, the array crosstalk to this channel was obtained according to the equation mathematically deduced in this paper. The result shows the array crosstalk to a certain channel of the 8-channel array was -7.6dB. An experiment of underwater acoustic detection was carried out finally to get the real array crosstalk to this certain channel, and the experimental result shows that the array crosstalk to this channel is -8.8dB, which is close to the calculated result.

Processing and characterization of polycrystalline YAG (Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) core-clad fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Hyun Jun; Fair, Geoff E.; Potticary, Santeri A.; O'Malley, Matthew J.; Usechak, Nicholas G.

2014-06-01

Polycrystalline YAG fiber has recently attracted considerable attention for the role it could play as a fiber-laser gain media. This primarily due to its large surface-to-volume ratio, high stimulated Brillouin scattering threshold, and its high thermal conductivity; all of which are superior to that of silica-glass fibers. As a consequence, techniques which enable the fabrication of poly- and single-crystalline YAG fibers have recently been the focus of a number of efforts. In this work we have endeavored to reduce the scattering loss of polycrystalline-YAG-core fibers while simultaneously demonstrating optical gain by enhancing our processing techniques using feedback from mechanical testing and through the development of a technique to encase doped YAG-core fibers with un-doped YAG claddings. To this end we have recently fabricated fibers with both core and claddings made up of polycrystalline YAG and subsequently confirmed that they indeed guide light. In this paper, the processes leading to the fabrication of these fibers will be discussed along with their characterization.

Optical trapping and control of nanoparticles inside evacuated hollow core photonic crystal fibers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grass, David, E-mail: david.grass@univie.ac.at; Fesel, Julian; Hofer, Sebastian G.

2016-05-30

We demonstrate an optical conveyor belt for levitated nanoparticles over several centimeters inside both air-filled and evacuated hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (HCPCF). Detection of the transmitted light field allows three-dimensional read-out of the particle center-of-mass motion. An additional laser enables axial radiation pressure based feedback cooling over the full fiber length. We show that the particle dynamics is a sensitive local probe for characterizing the optical intensity profile inside the fiber as well as the pressure distribution along the fiber axis. In contrast to some theoretical predictions, we find a linear pressure dependence inside the HCPCF, extending over three ordersmore » of magnitude from 0.2 mbar to 100 mbar. A targeted application is the controlled delivery of nanoparticles from ambient pressure into medium vacuum.« less

The Use of a Pseudo Noise Code for DIAL Lidar

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burris, John F.

2010-01-01

Retrievals of CO2 profiles within the planetary boundary layer (PBL) are required to understand CO2 transport over regional scales and for validating the future space borne CO2 remote sensing instrument, such as the CO2 Laser Sounder, for the ASCENDS mission, We report the use of a return-to-zero (RZ) pseudo noise (PN) code modulation technique for making range resolved measurements of CO2 within the PBL using commercial, off-the-shelf, components. Conventional, range resolved, measurements require laser pulse widths that are s#rorter than the desired spatial resolution and have pulse spacing such that returns from only a single pulse are observed by the receiver at one time (for the PBL pulse separations must be greater than approximately 2000m). This imposes a serious limitation when using available fiber lasers because of the resulting low duty cycle (less than 0.001) and consequent low average laser output power. RZ PN code modulation enables a fiber laser to operate at much higher duty cycles (approaching 0.1) thereby more effectively utilizing the amplifier's output. This results in an increase in received counts by approximately two orders of magnitude. The approach involves employing two, back to back, CW fiber amplifiers seeded at the appropriate on and offline CO2 wavelengths (approximately 1572 nm) using distributed feedback diode lasers modulated by a PN code at rates significantly above 1 megahertz. An assessment of the technique, discussions of measurement precision and error sources as well as preliminary data will be presented.

Technique development for photoacoustic imaging guided interventions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Qian; Zhang, Haonan; Yuan, Jie; Feng, Ting; Xu, Guan; Wang, Xueding

2015-03-01

Laser-induced thermotherapy (LITT), i.e. tissue destruction induced by a local increase of temperature by means of laser light energy transmission, has been frequently used for minimally invasive treatments of various diseases such as benign thyroid nodules and liver cancer. The emerging photoacoustic (PA) imaging, when integrated with ultrasound (US), could contribute to LITT procedure. PA can enable a good visualization of percutaneous apparatus deep inside tissue and, therefore, can offer accurate guidance of the optical fibers to the target tissue. Our initial experiment demonstrated that, by picking the strong photoacoustic signals generated at the tips of optical fibers as a needle, the trajectory and position of the fibers could be visualized clearly using a commercial available US unit. When working the conventional US Bscan mode, the fibers disappeared when the angle between the fibers and the probe surface was larger than 60 degree; while working on the new PA mode, the fibers could be visualized without any problem even when the angle between the fibers and the probe surface was larger than 75 degree. Moreover, with PA imaging function integrated, the optical fibers positioned into the target tissue, besides delivering optical energy for thermotherapy, can also be used to generate PA signals for on-line evaluation of LITT. Powered by our recently developed PA physio-chemical analysis, PA measurements from the tissue can provide a direct and accurate feedback of the tissue responses to laser ablation, including the changes in not only chemical compositions but also histological microstructures. The initial experiment on the rat liver model has demonstrated the excellent sensitivity of PA imaging to the changes in tissue temperature rise and tissue status (from native to coagulated) when the tissue is treated in vivo with LITT.

Morphology-dependent resonances of a microsphere-optical fiber system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griffel, Giora; Arnold, Stephen; Taskent, Dogan; Serpengüzel, Ali; Connolly, John; Morris, Nancy

1996-05-01

Morphology-dependent resonances of microspheres sitting upon an index-matched single-mode fiber half-coupler are excited by a tunable 753-nm distributed-feedback laser. Resonance peaks in the scattering spectra and associated dips in the transmission spectra for the TE and TM modes are observed. We present a new model that describes this interaction in terms of the fiber-sphere coupling coefficient and the microsphere's intrinsic quality factor Q0 . This model enables us to obtain expressions for the finesse and the Q factor of the composite particle-fiber system, the resonance width, and the depth of the dips measured in the transmission spectra. Our model shows that index matching improves the coupling efficiency by more than a factor of 2 compared with that of a non-index-matched system.

Morphology-dependent resonances of a microsphere-optical fiber system.

PubMed

Griffel, G; Arnold, S; Taskent, D; Serpengüzel, A; Connolly, J; Morris, N

1996-05-15

Morphology-dependent resonances of microspheres sitting upon an index-matched single-mode fiber half-coupler are excited by a tunable 753-nm distributed-feedback laser. Resonance peaks in the scattering spectra and associated dips in the transmission spectra for the TE and TM modes are observed. We present a new model that describes this interaction in terms of the fiber-sphere coupling coefficient and the microsphere's intrinsic quality factor Q(0). This model enables us to obtain expressions for the finesse and the Q factor of the composite particle-fiber system, the resonance width, and the depth of the dips measured in the transmission spectra. Our model shows that index matching improves the coupling efficiency by more than a factor of 2 compared with that of a non-index-matched system.

Interstitial Photoacoustic Sensor for the Measurement of Tissue Temperature during Interstitial Laser Phototherapy

PubMed Central

Li, Zhifang; Chen, Haiyu; Zhou, Feifan; Li, Hui; Chen, Wei R.

2015-01-01

Photothermal therapy is an effective means to induce tumor cell death, since tumor tissue is more sensitive to temperature increases than normal tissue. Biological responses depend on tissue temperature; target tissue temperature needs to be precisely measured and controlled to achieve desired thermal effects. In this work, a unique photoacoustic (PA) sensor is proposed for temperature measurement during interstitial laser phototherapy. A continuous-wave laser light and a pulsed laser light, for photothermal irradiation and photoacoustic temperature measurement, respectively, were delivered to the target tissue through a fiber coupler. During laser irradiation, the PA amplitude was measured. The Grüneisen parameter and the bioheat equation were used to determine the temperature in strategic positions in the target tissue. Our results demonstrate that the interstitial PA amplitude is a linear function of temperature in the range of 22 to 55 °C, as confirmed by thermocouple measurement. Furthermore, by choosing appropriate laser parameters, the maximum temperature surrounding the active diffuse fiber tip in tissue can be controlled in the range of 41 to 55 °C. Thus, this sensor could potentially be used for fast, accurate, and convenient three-dimensional temperature measurement, and for real-time feedback and control of interstitial laser phototherapy in cancer treatment. PMID:25756865

970-nm ridge waveguide diode laser bars for high power DWBC systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilkens, Martin; Erbert, Götz; Wenzel, Hans; Knigge, Andrea; Crump, Paul; Maaßdorf, Andre; Fricke, Jörg; Ressel, Peter; Strohmaier, Stephan; Schmidt, Berthold; Tränkle, Günther

2018-02-01

de lasers are key components in material processing laser systems. While mostly used as pump sources for solid state or fiber lasers, direct diode laser systems using dense wavelength multiplexing have come on the market in recent years. These systems are realized with broad area lasers typically, resulting in beam quality inferior to disk or fiber lasers. We will present recent results of highly efficient ridge waveguide (RW) lasers, developed for dense-wavelength-beamcombining (DWBC) laser systems expecting beam qualities comparable to solid state laser systems and higher power conversion efficiencies (PCE). The newly developed RW lasers are based on vertical structures with an extreme double asymmetric large optical cavity. Besides a low vertical divergence these structures are suitable for RW-lasers with (10 μm) broad ridges, emitting in a single mode with a good beam quality. The large stripe width enables a lateral divergence below 10° (95 % power content) and a high PCE by a comparably low series resistance. We present results of single emitters and small test arrays under different external feedback conditions. Single emitters can be tuned from 950 nm to 975 nm and reach 1 W optical power with more than 55 % PCE and a beam quality of M2 < 2 over the full wavelength range. The spectral width is below 30 pm FWHM. 5 emitter arrays were stabilized using the same setup. Up to now we reached 3 W optical power, limited by power supply, with 5 narrow spectral lines.

Dynamics of a gain-switched distributed feedback ridge waveguide laser in nanoseconds time scale under very high current injection conditions.

PubMed

Klehr, A; Wenzel, H; Brox, O; Schwertfeger, S; Staske, R; Erbert, G

2013-02-11

We present detailed experimental investigations of the temporal, spectral and spatial behavior of a gain-switched distributed feedback (DFB) laser emitting at a wavelength of 1064 nm. Gain-switching is achieved by injecting nearly rectangular shaped current pulses having a length of 50 ns and a very high amplitude up to 2.5 A. The repetition frequency is 200 kHz. The laser has a ridge waveguide (RW) for lateral waveguiding with a ridge width of 3 µm and a cavity length of 1.5 mm. Time resolved investigations show, depending on the amplitude of the current pulses, that the optical power exhibits different types of oscillatory behavior during the pulses, accompanied by changes in the lateral near field intensity profiles and optical spectra. Three different types of instabilities can be distinguished: mode beating with frequencies between 25 GHz and 30 GHz, switching between different lateral intensity profiles with a frequency of 0.4 GHz and self-sustained oscillations with a frequency of 4 GHz. The investigations are of great relevance for the utilization of gain-switched DFB-RW lasers as seed lasers for fiber laser systems and in other applications, which require a high optical power.

Ultra-stable high average power femtosecond laser system tunable from 1.33 to 20  μm.

PubMed

Steinle, Tobias; Mörz, Florian; Steinmann, Andy; Giessen, Harald

2016-11-01

A highly stable 350 fs laser system with a gap-free tunability from 1.33 to 2.0 μm and 2.13 to 20 μm is demonstrated. Nanojoule-level pulse energy is achieved in the mid-infrared at a 43 MHz repetition rate. The system utilizes a post-amplified fiber-feedback optical parametric oscillator followed by difference frequency generation between the signal and idler. No locking or synchronization electronics are required to achieve outstanding free-running output power and spectral stability of the whole system. Ultra-low intensity noise, close to the pump laser's noise figure, enables shot-noise limited measurements.

Theoretical explanation of the polarization-converting system achieved by beam shaping and combination technique and its performance under high power conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Peng; Li, Xiao; Shang, YaPing; Xu, XiaoJun

2015-10-01

The fiber laser has very obvious advantages and broad applications in remote welding, 3D cutting and national defense compared with the traditional solid laser. But influenced by heat effect of gain medium, nonlinear effect, stress birefringence effect and other negative factors, it's very difficult to get high power linearly polarized laser just using a single laser. For these limitations a polarization-converting system is designed using beam shaping and combination technique which is able to transform naturally polarized laser to linearly polarized laser at real time to resolve difficulties of generating high-power linearly polarized laser from fiber lasers in this paper. The principle of the Gaussian beam changing into the hollow beam passing through two axicons and the combination of the Gaussian beam and the hollow beam is discussed. In the experimental verification the energy conversion efficiency reached 93.1% with a remarkable enhancement of the extinction ratio from 3% to 98% benefited from the high conversion efficiency of axicons and the system worked fine under high power conditions. The system also kept excellent far field divergence. The experiment phenomenon also agreed with the simulation quite well. The experiment proves that this polarization-converting system will not affect laser structure which controls easily and needs no feedback and controlling system with stable and reliable properties at the same time. It can absolutely be applied to the polarization-conversion of high power laser.

Differentiation of tissue and kidney stones for laser lithotripsy using different spectroscopic approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lange, Birgit; Cordes, Jens; Brinkmann, Ralf

2015-07-01

Holmium lasers are nowadays the gold standard for endoscopic laser lithotripsy. However, there is a risk of damaging or perforating the ureter or kidney tissue when the vision is poor. An automatic tissue/stone differentiation would improve the handling and safety of the procedure. To achieve this objective, an easy and robust real-time discrimination method has to be found which can be used to realize a feedback loop to control the laser system. Two possible approaches have been evaluated: White light reflectance and fluorescence spectroscopy. In both cases, we use the treatment fiber for detection and evaluate the possibility to decide whether the fiber is placed in front of tissue or calculus by the signal that is delivered by the surface in front of it. White light reflectance spectroscopy uses the standard light source for endourologic surgeries: Radiation of a Xenon light source is coupled to the ureteroscope via a liquid light guide. The part of the white light that is reflected back into the fiber is spectroscopically analyzed. In a clinical proof of concept study reflection signals were measured in vivo in 8 patients. For differentiation of stone and tissue via autofluorescence, excitation as well as detection was done via the treatment fiber. A suitable excitation wavelength was chosen with in vitro measurements (UV / visible) on several human renal calculi and porcine tissues. For verification of the positive results with green excitation in a clinical proof of concept study, a measurement set-up was realized which allows the recording of fluorescence signals during an endourological intervention.

A compact tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer to monitor CO2 at 2.7 μm wavelength in hypersonic flows.

PubMed

Vallon, Raphäel; Soutadé, Jacques; Vérant, Jean-Luc; Meyers, Jason; Paris, Sébastien; Mohamed, Ajmal

2010-01-01

Since the beginning of the Mars planet exploration, the characterization of carbon dioxide hypersonic flows to simulate a spaceship's Mars atmosphere entry conditions has been an important issue. We have developed a Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectrometer with a new room-temperature operating antimony-based distributed feedback laser (DFB) diode laser to characterize the velocity, the temperature and the density of such flows. This instrument has been tested during two measurement campaigns in a free piston tunnel cold hypersonic facility and in a high enthalpy arc jet wind tunnel. These tests also demonstrate the feasibility of mid-infrared fiber optics coupling of the spectrometer to a wind tunnel for integrated or local flow characterization with an optical probe placed in the flow.

Distributed feedback lasers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ladany, I.; Andrews, J. T.; Evans, G. A.

1988-01-01

A ridge waveguide distributed feedback laser was developed in InGaAsP. These devices have demonstrated CW output powers over 7 mW with threshold currents as low as 60 mA at 25 C. Measurements of the frequency response of these devices show a 3 dB bandwidth of about 2 GHz, which may be limited by the mount. The best devices have a single mode spectra over the entire temperature range tested with a side mode suppression of about 20 dB in both CW and pulsed modes. The design of this device, including detailed modeling of the ridge guide structure, effective index calculations, and a discussion of the grating configuration are presented. Also, the fabrication of the devices is presented in some detail, especially the fabrication of and subsequent growth over the grating. In addition, a high frequency fiber pigtailed package was designed and tested, which is a suitable prototype for a commercial package.

Methods and apparatus for broadband frequency comb stabilization

DOEpatents

Cox, Jonathan A; Kaertner, Franz X

2015-03-17

Feedback loops can be used to shift and stabilize the carrier-envelope phase of a frequency comb from a mode-locked fibers laser or other optical source. Compared to other frequency shifting and stabilization techniques, feedback-based techniques provide a wideband closed-loop servo bandwidth without optical filtering, beam pointing errors, or group velocity dispersion. It also enables phase locking to a stable reference, such as a Ti:Sapphire laser, continuous-wave microwave or optical source, or self-referencing interferometer, e.g., to within 200 mrad rms from DC to 5 MHz. In addition, stabilized frequency combs can be coherently combined with other stable signals, including other stabilized frequency combs, to synthesize optical pulse trains with pulse durations of as little as a single optical cycle. Such a coherent combination can be achieved via orthogonal control, using balanced optical cross-correlation for timing stabilization and balanced homodyne detection for phase stabilization.

Recent development on high-power tandem-pumped fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Pu; Xiao, Hu; Leng, Jinyong; Zhang, Hanwei; Xu, Jiangmin; Wu, Jian

2016-11-01

High power fiber laser is attracting more and more attention due to its advantage in excellent beam quality, high electricto- optical conversion efficiency and compact system configuration. Power scaling of fiber laser is challenged by the brightness of pump source, nonlinear effect, modal instability and so on. Pumping active fiber by using high-brightness fiber laser instead of common laser diode may be the solution for the brightness limitation. In this paper, we will present the recent development of various kinds of high power fiber laser based on tandem pumping scheme. According to the absorption property of Ytterbium-doped fiber, Thulium-doped fiber and Holmium-doped fiber, we have theoretically studied the fiber lasers that operate at 1018 nm, 1178 nm and 1150 nm, respectively in detail. Consequently, according to the numerical results we have optimized the fiber laser system design, and we have achieved (1) 500 watt level 1018nm Ytterbium-doped fiber laser (2) 100 watt level 1150 nm fiber laser and 100 watt level random fiber laser (3) 30 watt 1178 nm Ytterbium-doped fiber laser, 200 watt-level random fiber laser. All of the above-mentioned are the record power for the corresponded type of fiber laser to the best of our knowledge. By using the high-brightness fiber laser operate at 1018 nm, 1178 nm and 1150 nm that we have developed, we have achieved the following high power fiber laser (1) 3.5 kW 1090 nm Ytterbium-doped fiber amplifier (2) 100 watt level Thulium-doped fiber laser and (3) 50 watt level Holmium -doped fiber laser.

A cost-effective measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution system for quantum networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valivarthi, Raju; Zhou, Qiang; John, Caleb; Marsili, Francesco; Verma, Varun B.; Shaw, Matthew D.; Nam, Sae Woo; Oblak, Daniel; Tittel, Wolfgang

2017-12-01

We experimentally realize a measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) system. It is based on cost-effective and commercially available hardware such as distributed feedback lasers and field-programmable gate arrays that enable time-bin qubit preparation and time-tagging, and active feedback systems that allow for compensation of time-varying properties of photons after transmission through deployed fiber. We examine the performance of our system, and conclude that its design does not compromise performance. Our demonstration paves the way for MDI-QKD-based quantum networks in star-type topology that extend over more than 100 km distance.

A self-mixing based ring-type fiber-optic acoustic sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lutang; Wu, Chunxu; Fang, Nian

2014-07-01

A novel, simple fiber-optic acoustic sensor consisting of a self-mixing effect based laser source and a ring-type interferometer is presented. With weak external optical feedbacks, the acoustic wave signals can be detected by measuring the changes of oscillating frequency of the laser diode, induced by the disturbances of sensing fiber, with the ring-type interferometer. The operation principles of the sensor system are explored in-depth and the experimental researches are carried out. The acoustic wave signals produced by various actions, such as by pencil broken, mental pin free falling and PZT are detected for evaluating the sensing performances of the experimental system. The investigation items include the sensitivity as well as frequency responses of the sensor system. An experiment for the detection of corona discharges is carried out, which occur in a high-voltage environment between two parallel copper electrodes, under different humidity levels. The satisfied experimental results are obtained. These experimental results well prove that our proposed sensing system has very high sensitivity and excellent high frequency responses characteristics in the detections of weak, high-frequency acoustic wave signals.

High-power single-pass pumped diamond Raman oscillator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heinzig, Matthias; Walbaum, Till; Williams, Robert J.; Kitzler, Ondrej; Mildren, Richard P.; Schreiber, Thomas; Eberhardt, Ramona; Tünnermann, Andreas

2018-02-01

We present our recent advances on power scaling of a high-power single-pass pumped CVD-diamond Raman oscillator at 1.2 μm. The single pass scheme reduced feedback to the high gain fiber amplifier, which pumps the oscillator. The Yb-doped multi-stage fiber amplifier itself enables up to 1 kW output power at a narrow linewidth of 0.16 nm. We operate this laser in quasi-cw mode at 10% duty cycle and on-time (pulse) duration of 10 ms. With a maximum conversion efficiency of 39%, a maximum steady-state output power of 380 W and diffraction limited beam quality was achieved.

Toward Generation of High Power Ultrafast White Light Laser Using Femtosecond Terawatt Laser in a Gas-Filled Hollow-Core Fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tawfik, Walid

2015-06-01

In this work, we could experimentally achieved the generation of white-light laser pulses of few-cycle fs pulses using a neon-filled hollow-core fiber. The observed pulses reached 6-fs at at repetition rate of 1 kHz using 2.5 mJ of 31 fs femtosecond pulses. The pulse compressing achieved by the supercontinuum produced in static neon-filled hollow fibers while the dispersion compensation is achieved by five pairs of chirped mirrors. We showed that gas pressure can be used to continuously vary the bandwidth from 350 nm to 900 nm. Furthermore, the applied technique allows for a straightforward tuning of the pulse duration via the gas pressure whilst maintaining near-transform-limited pulses with constant output energy, thereby reducing the complications introduced by chirped pulses. Through measurements of the transmission through the fiber as a function of gas pressure, a high throughput exceeding 60% was achieved. Adaptive pulse compression is achieved by using the spectral phase obtained from a spectral phase interferometry for direct electric field reconstruction (SPIDER) measurement as feedback for a liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM). The spectral phase of these supercontinua is found to be extremely stable over several hours. This allowed us to demonstrate successful compression to pulses as short as 5.2 fs with controlled wide spectral bandwidth, which could be used to excite different states in complicated molecules at once.

International Congress on High-Speed Photography and Photonics, 19th, Cambridge, England, Sept. 16-21, 1990, Proceedings

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garfield, B.R.; Rendell, J.T.

1991-01-01

The present conference discusses the application of schlieren photography in industry, laser fiber-optic high speed photography, holographic visualization of hypervelocity explosions, sub-100-picosec X-ray grating cameras, flash soft X-radiography, a novel approach to synchroballistic photography, a programmable image converter framing camera, high speed readout CCDs, an ultrafast optomechanical camera, a femtosec streak tube, a modular streak camera for laser ranging, and human-movement analysis with real-time imaging. Also discussed are high-speed photography of high-resolution moire patterns, a 2D electron-bombarded CCD readout for picosec electrooptical data, laser-generated plasma X-ray diagnostics, 3D shape restoration with virtual grating phase detection, Cu vapor lasers for highmore » speed photography, a two-frequency picosec laser with electrooptical feedback, the conversion of schlieren systems to high speed interferometers, laser-induced cavitation bubbles, stereo holographic cinematography, a gatable photonic detector, and laser generation of Stoneley waves at liquid-solid boundaries.« less

A Compact Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectrometer to Monitor CO2 at 2.7 μm Wavelength in Hypersonic Flows

PubMed Central

Vallon, Raphäel; Soutadé, Jacques; Vérant, Jean-Luc; Meyers, Jason; Paris, Sébastien; Mohamed, Ajmal

2010-01-01

Since the beginning of the Mars planet exploration, the characterization of carbon dioxide hypersonic flows to simulate a spaceship’s Mars atmosphere entry conditions has been an important issue. We have developed a Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectrometer with a new room-temperature operating antimony-based distributed feedback laser (DFB) diode laser to characterize the velocity, the temperature and the density of such flows. This instrument has been tested during two measurement campaigns in a free piston tunnel cold hypersonic facility and in a high enthalpy arc jet wind tunnel. These tests also demonstrate the feasibility of mid-infrared fiber optics coupling of the spectrometer to a wind tunnel for integrated or local flow characterization with an optical probe placed in the flow. PMID:22219703

Fiber Bragg grating interrogation using wavelength modulated tunable distributed feedback lasers and a fiber-optic Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

PubMed

Roy, Anirban; Chakraborty, Arup Lal; Jha, Chandan Kumar

2017-04-20

This paper demonstrates a technique of high-resolution interrogation of two fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) with flat-topped reflection spectra centered on 1649.55 nm and 1530.182 nm with narrow line width tunable semiconductor lasers emitting at 1651.93 nm and 1531.52 nm, respectively. The spectral shift of the reflection spectrum in response to temperature and strain is accurately measured with a fiber-optic Mach-Zehnder interferometer that has a free spectral range of 0.0523 GHz and a broadband photodetector. Laser wavelength modulation and harmonic detection techniques are used to transform the gentle edges of the flat-topped FBG into prominent leading and trailing peaks that are up to five times narrower than the FBG spectrum. Either of these peaks can be used to accurately measure spectral shifts of the FBG reflection spectrum with a resolution down to a value of 0.47 pm. A digital signal processing board is used to measure the temperature-induced spectral shifts over the range of 30°C-80°C and strain-induced spectral shifts from 0  μϵ to 12,000  μϵ. The shift is linear in both cases with a temperature sensitivity of 12.8 pm/°C and strain sensitivity of 0.12  pm/μϵ. The distinctive feature of this technique is that it does not use an optical spectrum analyzer at any stage of its design or operation. It can be readily extended to all types of tunable diode lasers and is ideally suited for compact field instruments and for biomedical applications in stroke rehabilitation monitoring.

Development of an Opto-Acoustic Recanalization System Final Report CRADA No. 1314-96

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Silva, L. D.; Adam, H. R.

The objective of the project was to develop an ischemic stroke treatient system that restores blood flow to the brain by removing occlusions using acoustic energy created by fiber optic delivery of laser light, a process called Opto Acoustic Recanalization (OAR). The key tasks of the project were to select a laser system, quantify temperature, pressure and particle size distribution, and develop a prototype device incorporating a feedback mechanism. System parameters were developed to cause emulsification while attempting to minimize particle size and collateral damage. The prototype system was tested in animal models and resulted in no visible collateral damage.

Coherent beam combining of collimated fiber array based on target-in-the-loop technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xinyang; Geng, Chao; Zhang, Xiaojun; Rao, Changhui

2011-11-01

Coherent beam combining (CBC) of fiber array is a promising way to generate high power and high quality laser beams. Target-in-the-loop (TIL) technique might be an effective way to ensure atmosphere propagation compensation without wavefront sensors. In this paper, we present very recent research work about CBC of collimated fiber array using TIL technique at the Key Lab on Adaptive Optics (KLAO), CAS. A novel Adaptive Fiber Optics Collimator (AFOC) composed of phase-locking module and tip/tilt control module was developed. CBC experimental setup of three-element fiber array was established. Feedback control is realized using stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) algorithm. The CBC based on TIL with piston and tip/tilt correction simultaneously is demonstrated. And the beam pointing to locate or sweep position of combined spot on target was achieved through TIL technique too. The goal of our work is achieve multi-element CBC for long-distance transmission in atmosphere.

Development of a 1 x N Fiber Optic Sensor Array for Carbon Sequestration Site Monitoring

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Repasky, Kevin

2014-02-01

A fiber sensor array for sub-surface CO 2 concentrations measurements was developed for monitoring geologic carbon sequestration sites. The fiber sensor array uses a single temperature tunable distributed feedback (DFB) laser operating with a nominal wavelength of 2.004 μm. Light from this DFB laser is direct to one of the 4 probes via an in-line 1 x 4 fiber optic switch. Each of the 4 probes are buried and allow the sub-surface CO 2 to enter the probe through Millipore filters that allow the soil gas to enter the probe but keeps out the soil and water. Light from themore » DFB laser interacts with the CO 2 before it is directed back through the in-line fiber optic switch. The DFB laser is tuned across two CO 2 absorption features where a transmission measurement is made allowing the CO 2 concentration to be retrieved. The fiber optic switch then directs the light to the next probe where this process is repeated allowing sub-surface CO 2 concentration measurements at each of the probes to be made as a function of time. The fiber sensor array was deployed for fifty-eight days beginning June 19, 2012 at the Zero Emission Research Technology (ZERT) field site where sub-surface CO 2 concentrations were monitored. Background measurements indicate the fiber sensor array can monitor background levels as low as 1,000 parts per million (ppm). A thirty four day sub-surface release of 0.15 tones CO 2/day began on July 10, 2012. The elevated subsurface CO 2 concentration was easily detected by each of the four probes with values ranging to over 60,000 ppm, a factor of greater than 6 higher than background measurements. The fiber sensor array was also deploy at the Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership (BSCSP) site in north-central Montana between July 9th and August 7th, 2013 where background measurements were made in a remote sequestration site with minimal infrastructure. The project provided opportunities for two graduate students to participate in research directly related to geologic carbon sequestration. Furthermore, commercialization of the technology developed is being pursued with five different companies via the Department of energy SBIR/STTR program« less

Improved Sensitivity of Spectroscopic Quantification of Stable Isotope Content Using Capillary Absorption Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moran, J.; Wilcox Freeburg, E.; Kriesel, J.; Linley, T. J.; Kelly, J.; Coleman, M. L.; Christensen, L. E.; Vance, S.

2016-12-01

Spectroscopy-based platforms have recently risen to the forefront for making stable isotope measurements of methane, carbon dioxide, water, or other analytes. These spectroscopy systems can be relatively straightforward to operate (versus a mass spectrometry platform), largely relieve the analyst of mass interference artifacts, and many can be used in the field. Despite these significant advantages, however, existing spectroscopy techniques suffer from a lack of measurement sensitivity that can ultimately limit select applications including spatially resolved and compound-specific measurements. Here we present a capillary absorption spectroscopy (CAS) system that is designed to mitigate sensitivity issues in spectroscopy-based stable isotope evaluation. The system uses mid-wave infrared excitation generated from a continuous wave quantum cascade laser. Importantly, the sample `chamber' is a flexible capillary with a total volume of less than one cc. Proprietary coatings on the internal surface of the fiber improve optical performance, guiding the light to a detector and facilitating high levels of interaction between the laser beam and gaseous analytes. We present data demonstrating that a tapered hollow fiber cell, with an internal diameter that broadens toward the detector, reduces optical feedback to further improve measurement sensitivity. Sensitivity of current hollow fiber / CAS systems enable measurements of only 10's of picomoles CO2 while theoretical improvements should enable measurements of as little as 10's of femtomoles. Continued optimization of sample introduction and improvements to optical feedback are being explored. Software is being designed to provide rapid integration of data and generation of processed isotope measurements using a graphical user interface. Taken together, the sensitivity improvements of the CAS system under development could, when coupled to a laser ablation sampling device, enable up to 2 µm spatial resolution (roughly the size of a eukaryotic cell or multiple prokaryotic cells) or provide a basis for compounds specific stable isotope analysis of trace biomarkers. The small size and low weight of the system holds future potential for field and / or remote deployment.

Comparison of fiber lasers based on distributed side-coupled cladding-pumped fibers and double-cladding fibers.

PubMed

Huang, Zhihe; Cao, Jianqiu; Guo, Shaofeng; Chen, Jinbao; Xu, Xiaojun

2014-04-01

We compare both analytically and numerically the distributed side-coupled cladding-pumped (DSCCP) fiber lasers and double cladding fiber (DCF) lasers. We show that, through optimization of the coupling and absorbing coefficients, the optical-to-optical efficiency of DSCCP fiber lasers can be made as high as that of DCF lasers. At the same time, DSCCP fiber lasers are better than the DCF lasers in terms of thermal management.

Low-invasive reconstruction of spine discs under thermo-mechanical effect of fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sobol, Emil; Baskov, Andrey; Borshchenko, Igor; Shekhter, Anatoly

2018-02-01

The paper considers physical processes and mechanisms of laser reparation of spine cartilage, presents results of investigations aimed to optimize laser settings and to develop feedback control system for laser reconstruction of spine discs. Possible mechanisms of laser-induced regeneration include: (1) Space and temporary modulated laser beam induces non-homogeneous and pulse repetitive thermal expansion and stress in the irradiated zone of cartilage. Mechanical effect due to controllable thermal expansion of the tissue and micro and nano gas bubbles formation in the course of the moderate (up to 50 °C) heating of the NP activate biological cells (chondrocytes) and promote cartilage regeneration. (2) Non-destructive laser radiation leads to the formation of nano and micro-pores in cartilage matrix in the in the immediate vicinity of chondrocytes. That promotes water permeability and increases the feeding of biological cells. Results provide the scientific and engineering basis for the novel low-invasive laser procedures to be used in neurosurgery and orthopedics for the treatment cartilages of spine. The technology and equipment for laser reconstruction of spine discs have been tested first on animals, and then in a clinical trial. Since 2001 the laser reconstruction of intervertebral discs have been performed (i) for more than 3,200 patients with chronic symptoms of low back or neck pain who failed to improve with non-operative care; and (ii) for 1100 patients underwent hernia removal surgery. Substantial relief of back pain was obtained in 92.5% of patients treated who returned to their daily activities. LRD allowed also to decrease secondary surgeries more than three times. Optical fiber technique based on light scattering measurements have been used to promote safety and efficacy of the laser procedures.

Difference frequency generation of Mid-IR radiation in PPLN crystals using a dual-wavelength all-fiber amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krzempek, Karol; Soboń, Grzegorz; Dudzik, Grzegorz; Sotor, Jaroslaw; Abramski, Krzysztof M.

2014-02-01

We present a method of generating mid-IR radiation by means of nonlinear difference frequency generation (DFG) effects occurring in periodically polled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystals using an all-fiber dual-wavelength amplifier. The presented mid-IR laser source incorporates an unique double-clad (DC) Erbium and Ytterbium (Er-Yb) doped amplifier stage capable of simultaneous amplification of both wavelengths required in the DFG process - 1064 nm and 1550 nm. The amplifier delivered more than 23.7 dB and 14.4 dB of amplification for 1550 nm and 1064 nm wavelength, low power, off-the-shelf, fiber pigtailed, distributed feedback (DFB) laser diodes, respectively. The dual-wavelength amplifier parameters crucial for the DFG process were investigated, including long-term power and polarization instabilities and optical spectrum characteristics of both amplified wavelengths. The DFG setup used a single collimator radiation delivery scheme and an 40 mm long MgO doped PPLN crystal. In effect the DFG source was capable of generating 1.14 mW of radiation centered around 3.4 μm. The overall performance of the mid-IR source was elaborated by performing sensitive Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) detection of methane (CH4) in ambient air on an free-space optical path-length of 8 m. The measured detection limit of the sensor was 26 ppbv with a 1σ SNR of 69.

Gigahertz frequency comb from a diode-pumped solid-state laser.

PubMed

Klenner, Alexander; Schilt, Stéphane; Südmeyer, Thomas; Keller, Ursula

2014-12-15

We present the first stabilization of the frequency comb offset from a diode-pumped gigahertz solid-state laser oscillator. No additional external amplification and/or compression of the output pulses is required. The laser is reliably modelocked using a SESAM and is based on a diode-pumped Yb:CALGO gain crystal. It generates 1.7-W average output power and pulse durations as short as 64 fs at a pulse repetition rate of 1 GHz. We generate an octave-spanning supercontinuum in a highly nonlinear fiber and use the standard f-to-2f carrier-envelope offset (CEO) frequency f_CEO detection method. As a pump source, we use a reliable and cost-efficient commercial diode laser. Its multi-spatial-mode beam profile leads to a relatively broad frequency comb offset beat signal, which nevertheless can be phase-locked by feedback to its current. Using improved electronics, we reached a feedback-loop-bandwidth of up to 300 kHz. A combination of digital and analog electronics is used to achieve a tight phase-lock of f_CEO to an external microwave reference with a low in-loop residual integrated phase-noise of 744 mrad in an integration bandwidth of [1 Hz, 5 MHz]. An analysis of the laser noise and response functions is presented which gives detailed insights into the CEO stabilization of this frequency comb.

Long microwave delay fiber-optic link for radar testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newberg, I. L.; Gee, C. M.; Thurmond, G. D.; Yen, H. W.

1990-05-01

A long fiberoptic delay line is used as a radar repeater to improve radar testing capabilities. The first known generation of 152 microsec delayed ideal target at X-band (10 GHz) frequencies having the phase stability and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) needed for testing modern high-resolution Doppler radars is demonstrated with a 31.6-km experimental externally modulated fiberoptic link with a distributed-feedback (DFB) laser. The test application, link configuration, and link testing are discussed.

Bubble diagnostics

DOEpatents

Visuri, Steven R.; Mammini, Beth M.; Da Silva, Luiz B.; Celliers, Peter M.

2003-01-01

The present invention is intended as a means of diagnosing the presence of a gas bubble and incorporating the information into a feedback system for opto-acoustic thrombolysis. In opto-acoustic thrombolysis, pulsed laser radiation at ultrasonic frequencies is delivered intraluminally down an optical fiber and directed toward a thrombus or otherwise occluded vessel. Dissolution of the occlusion is therefore mediated through ultrasonic action of propagating pressure or shock waves. A vapor bubble in the fluid surrounding the occlusion may form as a result of laser irradiation. This vapor bubble may be used to directly disrupt the occlusion or as a means of producing a pressure wave. It is desirable to detect the formation and follow the lifetime of the vapor bubble. Knowledge of the bubble formation and lifetime yields critical information as to the maximum size of the bubble, density of the absorbed radiation, and properties of the absorbing material. This information can then be used in a feedback system to alter the irradiation conditions.

Simultaneous in situ measurement of CO, H2O, and gas temperatures in a full-sized coal-fired power plant by near-infrared diode lasers.

PubMed

Teichert, Holger; Fernholz, Thomas; Ebert, Volker

2003-04-20

We present what is to our knowledge the first near-infrared diode-laser-based absorption spectrometer that is suitable for simultaneous in situ measurement of carbon monoxide, water vapor, and temperature in the combustion chamber (20-m diameter, 13-m path length) of a 600-MW lignite-fired power plant. A fiber-coupled distributed-feedback diode-laser module at 1.56 microm served for CO detection, and a Fabry-Perot diode laser at 813 nm was used to determine H2O concentrations and temperature from multiline water spectra. Despite severe light losses (transmission, <10(-8)) and strong background radiation we achieved a resolution of 1.9 x 10(-4) (1sigma) fractional absorption, equivalent to 200 parts in 10(6) by volume of CO (at 1450 K, 10(5) Pa) with 30-s averaging time.

REVIEW ARTICLE: Harmonically mode-locked semiconductor-based lasers as high repetition rate ultralow noise pulse train and optical frequency comb sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quinlan, F.; Ozharar, S.; Gee, S.; Delfyett, P. J.

2009-10-01

Recent experimental work on semiconductor-based harmonically mode-locked lasers geared toward low noise applications is reviewed. Active, harmonic mode-locking of semiconductor-based lasers has proven to be an excellent way to generate 10 GHz repetition rate pulse trains with pulse-to-pulse timing jitter of only a few femtoseconds without requiring active feedback stabilization. This level of timing jitter is achieved in long fiberized ring cavities and relies upon such factors as low noise rf sources as mode-lockers, high optical power, intracavity dispersion management and intracavity phase modulation. When a high finesse etalon is placed within the optical cavity, semiconductor-based harmonically mode-locked lasers can be used as optical frequency comb sources with 10 GHz mode spacing. When active mode-locking is replaced with regenerative mode-locking, a completely self-contained comb source is created, referenced to the intracavity etalon.

Monolithic thulium-doped fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aubrecht, J.; Peterka, P.; Honzátko, P.; Todorov, F.; Podrazký, O.; Kamrádek, M.; Proboštová, J.; Kašík, I.

2017-12-01

In this contribution we report and discuss the results of laser characterizations of experimental thulium-doped optical fibers. These active fibers were fabricated in house and were tested in two laser systems to verify their characteristics. The first one, a monolithic fiber laser, was of great interest to us due to its potentially lower overall resonator losses, improved laser lifetime and better robustness. The compact laser cavities with a Bragg gratings inscribed directly into the active optical fiber differs to the second laser system where the Bragg gratings were inscribed into a passive fiber which had to be spliced to the active fiber. The tested fibers were manufactured by the modified chemical vapor deposition method and a solution-doping of thulium ions with Al2O3 or alumina nanoparticles, respectively. We focused on comparison of laser output powers, slope efficiencies, and laser thresholds for particular thulium-doped fiber in different laser configurations.

Investigation on the applications of fiber grating lasers in industrial sensing and pollution monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Yuanzhong

The main objective of the project was to develop ``eye-safe'' fiber-grating lasers for pollution measurement and monitoring. Fiber grating lasers have a number of advantages such as narrow linewidth and precise wavelength control over the semiconductor counterparts. Three types of Erbium doped fiber grating lasers emitting in 1.5 μm band were developed and characterized in this work. We first used an entirely original approach to develop tunable dual-wavelength switchable fiber grating laser for differential absorption spectroscopy. The lam can switch between two wavelengths with each wavelength being independently tunable. It's characterized by >6-mW output power, <2% intensity fluctuation, 100s Hz switching speed and 1:100,000 wavelength extinction ratio. The outstanding advantage of this approach is the simplicity in laser configuration as well as in detection system for dual wavelength laser, because it uses only an overlapped gain medium and one detector for both wavelengths. Main drawbacks of the prototype laser are slow switching speed (100s Hz) and multimode operation, which could be overcome by cavity dampening and modification in laser configuration. Short cavity erbium-doped fiber grating lasers using high Erbium concentration were also studied. A 6-cm long fiber-grating laser pumped by a 980-nm laser diode was constructed. The linewidth of the laser is very narrow (~100s kHz) but its output slope efficiency is relatively low (~1%). Furthermore, the ion clustering effect arising from high Er concentration tends to cause self-pulsation and thus instability to the laser. By replacing the Erbium doped fiber with Er/Yb codoped one, the fiber grating laser was made more stable and efficient. The ion clustering effect disappears in the laser output due to the low Erbium concentration in Er/Yb codoped fiber, while the Er/Yb codoped fiber's two orders higher pump absorption at 980 nm results in as large as 10 ~ 30% output slope efficiency in about 2 cm long laser. On the other hand, strong pump absorption in Er/Yb fiber was found to cause significant thermal effects in Er/Yb fiber grating lasers, which can be eliminated by ensuring proper thermal dissipation. Because of fiber laser's long lifetime at the upper laser level, its wavelength cannot be directly modulated at high speed. The widely used wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) method is thus not suitable when using fiber laser sources in gas detection. The wavelength sweep scheme was thus employed as an alternative. Laser wavelength/frequency requirement and noise cancellation in this scheme are discussed. For a demonstration of fiber grating laser's application to pollutant monitoring and industrial sensing, laser spectroscopy of C2H 2 gas was undertaken with the Er/Yb codoped fiber-grating laser. A 10 -4 detection sensitivity was achieved. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a single frequency fiber-grating laser was used in rapid laser spectroscopy. The investigation has shown that the fiber grating lasers are high performance as well as low cost, rugged and portable laser sources, very suitable for industrial sensing and pollution monitoring. A number of important pollutants, such as CO, CO2, H2S and C2H2 have absorption peaks around 1.55-μm wavelength and thus can be sensed with these lasers. Although the fiber lasers investigated here operate in the 1.5-μm window, the results are also very useful for fiber lasers that use the same operation principle in other wavelength regions.

Opto-acoustic transducer for medical applications

DOEpatents

Benett, William; Celliers, Peter; Da Silva, Luiz; Glinsky, Michael; London, Richard; Maitland, Duncan; Matthews, Dennis; Krulevich, Peter; Lee, Abraham

2002-01-01

This invention is an optically activated transducer for generating acoustic vibrations in a biological medium. The transducer is located at the end of a fiber optic which may be located within a catheter. Energy for operating the transducer is provided optically by laser light transmitted through the fiber optic to the transducer. Pulsed laser light is absorbed in the working fluid of the transducer to generate a thermal pressure and consequent adiabatic expansion of the transducer head such that it does work against the ambient medium. The transducer returns to its original state by a process of thermal cooling. The motion of the transducer within the ambient medium couples acoustic energy into the medium. By pulsing the laser at a high repetition rate (which may vary from CW to 100 kHz) an ultrasonic radiation field can be established locally in the medium. This method of producing ultrasonic vibrations can be used in vivo for the treatment of stroke-related conditions in humans, particularly for dissolving thrombus. The catheter may also incorporate anti-thrombolytic drug treatments as an adjunct therapy and it may be operated in conjunction with ultrasonic detection equipment for imaging and feedback control.

Opto-acoustic transducer for medical applications

DOEpatents

Benett, William; Celliers, Peter; Da Silva, Luiz; Glinsky, Michael; London, Richard; Maitland, Duncan; Matthews, Dennis; Krulevich, Peter; Lee, Abraham

1999-01-01

This invention is an optically activated transducer for generating acoustic vibrations in a biological medium. The transducer is located at the end of a fiber optic which may be located within a catheter. Energy for operating the transducer is provided optically by laser light transmitted through the fiber optic to the transducer. Pulsed laser light is absorbed in the working fluid of the transducer to generate a thermal pressure and consequent adiabatic expansion of the transducer head such that it does work against the ambient medium. The transducer returns to its original state by a process of thermal cooling. The motion of the transducer within the ambient medium couples acoustic energy into the medium. By pulsing the laser at a high repetition rate (which may vary from CW to 100 kHz) an ultrasonic radiation field can be established locally in the medium. This method of producing ultrasonic vibrations can be used in vivo for the treatment of stroke-related conditions in humans, particularly for dissolving thrombus. The catheter may also incorporate anti-thrombolytic drug treatments as an adjunct therapy and it may be operated in conjunction with ultrasonic detection equipment for imaging and feedback control.

Opto-acoustic transducer for medical applications

DOEpatents

Benett, W.; Celliers, P.; Da Silva, L.; Glinsky, M.; London, R.; Maitland, D.; Matthews, D.; Krulevich, P.; Lee, A.

1999-08-31

This invention is an optically activated transducer for generating acoustic vibrations in a biological medium. The transducer is located at the end of a fiber optic which may be located within a catheter. Energy for operating the transducer is provided optically by laser light transmitted through the fiber optic to the transducer. Pulsed laser light is absorbed in the working fluid of the transducer to generate a thermal pressure and consequent adiabatic expansion of the transducer head such that it does work against the ambient medium. The transducer returns to its original state by a process of thermal cooling. The motion of the transducer within the ambient medium couples acoustic energy into the medium. By pulsing the laser at a high repetition rate (which may vary from CW to 100 kHz) an ultrasonic radiation field can be established locally in the medium. This method of producing ultrasonic vibrations can be used in vivo for the treatment of stroke-related conditions in humans, particularly for dissolving thrombus. The catheter may also incorporate anti-thrombolytic drug treatments as an adjunct therapy and it may be operated in conjunction with ultrasonic detection equipment for imaging and feedback control. 7 figs.

Hybrid wireless-over-fiber transmission system based on multiple injection-locked FP LDs.

PubMed

Li, Chung-Yi; Lu, Hai-Han; Chu, Chien-An; Ying, Cheng-Ling; Lu, Ting-Chien; Peng, Peng-Chun

2015-07-27

A hybrid wireless-over-fiber (WoF) transmission system based on multiple injection-locked Fabry-Perot laser diodes (FP LDs) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Unlike the traditional hybrid WoF transmission systems that require multiple distributed feedback (DFB) LDs to support different kinds of services, the proposed system employs multiple injection-locked FP LDs to provide different kinds of applications. Such a hybrid WoF transmission system delivers downstream intensity-modulated 20-GHz microwave (MW)/60-GHz millimeter-wave (MMW)/550-MHz cable television (CATV) signals and upstream phase-remodulated 20-GHz MW signal. Excellent bit error rate (BER), carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR), composite second-order (CSO), and composite triple-beat (CTB) are observed over a 40-km single-mode fiber (SMF) and a 4-m radio frequency (RF) wireless transport. Such a hybrid WoF transmission system has practical applications for fiber-wireless convergence to provide broadband integrated services, including telecommunication, data communication, and CATV services.

Proximal fiber tip damage during Holmium:YAG and thulium fiber laser ablation of kidney stones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Christopher R.; Hardy, Luke A.; Irby, Pierce B.; Fried, Nathaniel M.

2016-02-01

The Thulium fiber laser (TFL) is being studied as an alternative to Holmium:YAG laser for lithotripsy. TFL beam originates within an 18-μm-core thulium doped silica fiber, and its near single mode, Gaussian beam profile enables transmission of higher laser power through smaller fibers than possible during Holmium laser lithotripsy. This study examines whether TFL beam profile also reduces proximal fiber tip damage compared to Holmium laser multimodal beam. TFL beam at wavelength of 1908 nm was coupled into 105-μm-core silica fibers, with 35-mJ energy, 500-μs pulse duration, and pulse rates of 50-500 Hz. For each pulse rate, 500,000 pulses were delivered. Magnified images of proximal fiber surfaces were taken before and after each trial. For comparison, 20 single-use, 270-μm-core fibers were collected after clinical Holmium laser lithotripsy procedures using standard settings (600 mJ, 350 μs, 6 Hz). Total laser energy, number of laser pulses, and laser irradiation time were recorded, and fibers were rated for damage. For TFL studies, output power was stable, and no proximal fiber damage was observed after delivery of 500,000 pulses at settings up to 35 mJ, 500 Hz, and 17.5 W average power. In contrast, confocal microscopy images of fiber tips after Holmium lithotripsy showed proximal fiber tip degradation in all 20 fibers. The proximal fiber tip of a 105-μm-core fiber transmitted 17.5 W of TFL power without degradation, compared to degradation of 270-μm-core fibers after transmission of 3.6 W of Holmium laser power. The smaller and more uniform TFL beam profile may improve fiber lifetime, and potentially reduce costs for the surgical disposables as well.

Q-Switched and Mode Locked Short Pulses from a Diode Pumped, YB-Doped Fiber Laser

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-26

a rod-type photonic crystal fiber [14]. Commercial pulsed fiber laser systems currently offered by Polar Onyx range from 1-10 W, with pulse... Onyx , Fiber laser products http://www.polaronyx.com/Uranus_introduction.htm . 20. Business Wire Press Release, “SPI Lasers 30W pulsed fiber laser

Single-frequency gain-switched Ho-doped fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geng, Jihong; Wang, Q.; Luo, T.; Case, B.; Jiang, S.; Amzajerdian, Farzin; Yu, Jirong

2012-10-01

We demonstrate a single-frequency gain-switched Ho-doped fiber laser based on heavily doped silicate glass fiber fabricated in house. A Q-switched Tm-doped fiber laser at 1.95μm was used to gain-switch the Ho-doped fiber laser via in-band pumping. Output power of the single-frequency gain-switched pulses has been amplified in a cladding-pumped Tm-Ho-codoped fiber amplifier with 1.2m active fiber pumped at 803nm. Two different nonlinear effects, i.e., modulation instability and stimulated Brillouin scattering, could be seen in the 10μm-core fiber amplifier when the peak power exceeds 3kW. The single-frequency gain-switched fiber laser was operated at 2.05μm, a popular laser wavelength for Doppler lidar application. This is the first demonstration of this kind of fiber laser.

FIBER LASER CONSTRUCTION AND THEORY INCLUDING FIBER BRAGG GRATINGS Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCFs) and applications of gas filled PCFs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sutton, Jacob O.

The principles used in fiber lasers have been around for a while but it is only within the past few years that fiber lasers have become commercially available and used in high power laser applications. This paper will focus on the basic design principles of fiber lasers, including fiber Bragg gratings, principles of operation, and forms of non-linear effects. It will describe the type and associated doping of the fiber used and difficult designs used to guide energy from the pump to the active medium. Topics covered include fiber laser design, fiber Bragg gratings, materials used, differences in quantum energymore » loss, thermo-optical effects, stimulated Raman scattering, Brillouin scattering, photonic crystal fibers and applications of gas filled Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCFs). Thanks to fiber lasers, the energy required to produce high power lasers has greatly dropped and as such we can now produce kW power using a standard 120V 15A circuit. High power laser applications are always requiring more power. The fiber laser can now deliver the greater power that these applications demand. Future applications requiring more power than can be combined using standard materials or configurations will need to be developed to overcome the high energy density and high non-linear optical scattering effects present during high power operations.« less

Interferometric fiber-optic sensor embedded in a spark plug for in-cylinder pressure measurement in engines.

PubMed

Bae, Taehan; Atkins, Robert A; Taylor, Henry F; Gibler, William N

2003-02-20

Pressure sensing in an internal combustion engine with an intrinsic fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FFPI) integrated with a spark plug is demonstrated for the first time. The spark plug was used for the ignition of the cylinder in which it was mounted. The FFPI element, protected with a copper/gold coating, was embedded in a groove in the spark-plug housing. Gas pressure inthe engine induced longitudinal strain in this housing, which was also experienced by the fiber-optic sensing element. The sensor was monitored with a signal conditioning unit containing a chirped distributed-feedback laser. Pressure sensitivities as high as 0.00339 radians round-trip phase shift per pounds per square inch of pressure were observed. Measured pressure versus time traces showed good agreement with those from a piezoelectric reference sensor mounted in the same engine cylinder.

Interferometric Fiber-Optic Sensor Embedded in a Spark Plug for In-Cylinder Pressure Measurement in Engines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bae, Taehan; Atkins, Robert A.; Taylor, Henry F.; Gibler, William N.

2003-02-01

Pressure sensing in an internal combustion engine with an intrinsic fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FFPI) integrated with a spark plug is demonstrated for the first time. The spark plug was used for the ignition of the cylinder in which it was mounted. The FFPI element, protected with a copper /gold coating, was embedded in a groove in the spark-plug housing. Gas pressure in the engine induced longitudinal strain in this housing, which was also experienced by the fiber-optic sensing element. The sensor was monitored with a signal conditioning unit containing a chirped distributed-feedback laser. Pressure sensitivities as high as 0.00339 radians round-trip phase shift per pounds per square inch of pressure were observed. Measured pressure versus time traces showed good agreement with those from a piezoelectric reference sensor mounted in the same engine cylinder.

An approach enabling adaptive FEC for OFDM in fiber-VLLC system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Yiran; He, Jing; Deng, Rui; Shi, Jin; Chen, Shenghai; Chen, Lin

2017-12-01

In this paper, we propose an orthogonal circulant matrix transform (OCT)-based adaptive frame-level-forward error correction (FEC) scheme for fiber-visible laser light communication (VLLC) system and experimentally demonstrate by Reed-Solomon (RS) Code. In this method, no extra bits are spent for adaptive message, except training sequence (TS), which is simultaneously used for synchronization and channel estimation. Therefore, RS-coding can be adaptively performed frames by frames via the last received codeword-error-rate (CER) feedback estimated by the TSs of the previous few OFDM frames. In addition, the experimental results exhibit that over 20 km standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) and 8 m visible light transmission, the costs of RS codewords are at most 14.12% lower than those of conventional adaptive subcarrier-RS-code based 16-QAM OFDM at bit error rate (BER) of 10-5.

Thermal Signature Identification System (TheSIS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Merritt, Scott; Bean, Brian

2015-01-01

We characterize both nonlinear and high order linear responses of fiber-optic and optoelectronic components using spread spectrum temperature cycling methods. This Thermal Signature Identification System (TheSIS) provides much more detail than conventional narrowband or quasi-static temperature profiling methods. This detail allows us to match components more thoroughly, detect subtle reversible shifts in performance, and investigate the cause of instabilities or irreversible changes. In particular, we create parameterized models of athermal fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs), delay line interferometers (DLIs), and distributed feedback (DFB) lasers, then subject the alternative models to selection via the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). Detailed pairing of components, e.g. FBGs, is accomplished by means of weighted distance metrics or norms, rather than on the basis of a single parameter, such as center wavelength.

Direct diode lasers with comparable beam quality to fiber, CO2, and solid state lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Robin K.; Chann, Bien; Burgess, James; Kaiman, Michael; Overman, Robert; Glenn, John D.; Tayebati, Parviz

2012-03-01

TeraDiode has produced kW-class ultra-high brightness fiber-coupled direct diode lasers. A fiber-coupled direct diode laser with a power level of 2,040 W from a 50 μm core diameter, 0.15 numerical aperture (NA) output fiber at a single center wavelength was demonstrated. This was achieved with a novel beam combining and shaping technique using COTS diode lasers. The fiber-coupled output corresponds to a Beam Parameter Product (BPP) of 3.75 mm-mrad and is the lowest BPP kW-class direct diode laser yet reported. This laser is suitable for industrial materials processing applications, including sheet metal cutting and welding. This 2-kW fiber-coupled direct diode laser has comparable brightness to that of industrial fiber lasers and CO2 lasers, and is over 10x brighter than state-of-the-art direct diode lasers.

Thermal tuning On narrow linewidth fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Peiqi; Liu, Tianshan; Gao, Xincun; Ren, Shiwei

2010-10-01

At present, people have been dedicated to high-speed and large-capacity optical fiber communication system. Studies have been shown that optical wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology is an effective means of communication to increase the channel capacity. Tunable lasers have very important applications in high-speed, largecapacity optical communications, and distributed sensing, it can provide narrow linewidth and tunable laser for highspeed optical communication. As the erbium-doped fiber amplifier has a large gain bandwidth, the erbium-doped fiber laser can be achieved lasing wavelength tunable by adding a tunable filter components, so tunable filter device is the key components in tunable fiber laser.At present, fiber laser wavelength is tuned by PZT, if thermal wavelength tuning is combined with PZT, a broader range of wavelength tuning is appearance . Erbium-doped fiber laser is used in the experiments,the main research is the physical characteristics of fiber grating temperature-dependent relationship and the fiber grating laser wavelength effects. It is found that the fiber laser wavelength changes continuously with temperature, tracking several temperature points observed the self-heterodyne spectrum and found that the changes in spectra of the 3dB bandwidth of less than 1kHz, and therefore the fiber laser with election-mode fiber Bragg grating shows excellent spectral properties and wavelength stability.

LD-cladding-pumped 50 pm linewidth Tm 3+ -doped silica fiber laser.

PubMed

Yunjun, Zhang; Baoquan, Yao; Youlun, Ju; Hui, Zhou; Yuezhu, Wang

2008-05-26

We report on a Tm(3+)-doped fiber laser source operating at 1936.4 nm with a very narrow linewidth (50 pm) laser output. Up to 2.4 W cw laser power was obtained from an 82 cm long Tm(3+)-doped multimode-core fiber cladding pumped by a 792 nm laser diode (LD). The fiber laser cavity included a high-reflective dichroic and a low-reflective FBG output coupler. The multimode fiber Bragg grating (FBG) transmission spectrum and output laser spectrum were measured. By adjusting the distance between the dichroic and the Tm(3+)-doped fiber end, the multipeak laser spectrum changed to a single-peak laser spectrum.

Comparison of a novel high-power blue diode laser (λ=442 nm) with Ho:YAG (λ=2100 nm), Tm fiber (λ=1940 nm), and KTP (λ=532 nm) lasers for soft tissue ablation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vinnichenko, Victoriya; Kovalenko, Anastasiya; Arkhipova, Valeriya; Yaroslavsky, Ilya; Altshuler, Gregory; Gapontsev, Valentin

2018-02-01

Three lasers were directly compared, including the Ho:YAG laser (λ = 2100 nm), Tm fiber laser (λ = 1940 nm) operating in 3 different modes (CW, regular pulse, and super pulse), and blue diode laser (λ = 442 nm) for vaporization and coagulation efficiency for treating blood-rich soft tissues, ex vivo, in a porcine kidney model at quasi-contact cutting in water. In addition, experimental results were compared with published data on performance of KTP laser (λ = 532 nm) at similar experimental settings (Power = 60 W and cutting speed = 2 mm/s). Tm fiber laser in pulsed mode and blue laser produced highest vaporization rates of 3.7 and 3.4 mm3/s, respectively. Tm fiber laser (in both CW and pulsed modes) also produced the largest coagulation zone among the laser sources tested. A carbonization zone was observed for Tm fiber laser in CW and pulsed modes, as well as for the blue diode laser. Tm fiber laser in super-pulse mode and Ho:YAG laser both resulted in irregular coagulation zones without carbonization. Comparison with known data for KTP laser revealed that tissue effects of the blue laser are similar to that of the KTP laser. These results suggest that the combination of the two lasers (Tm fiber and blue diode) in one system may achieve high cutting efficiency and optimal coagulation for hemostasis during surgical treatment. Ex vivo testing of the combined system revealed feasibility of this approach. The combination of the CW Tm fiber laser (120W) and the blue diode laser (60W) emitting through a combination tip were compared with CW 120 W Tm fiber laser alone and 120 W Ho:YAG laser. Vaporization rates measured 34, 28, and 6 mm3/s, and coagulation zones measured 0.6, 1.3, and 1.7 mm, respectively. A carbonization zone was only observed with CW Tm fiber laser. The vaporization rate of combined CW Tm fiber laser / blue diode laser was comparable to published data for KTP laser for equivalent total power. Thus, high-power blue diode laser, Tm fiber laser, and their combination may provide an alternative to conventional Ho:YAG and KTP lasers for applications in urology and other surgical fields.

All fiber passively Q-switched laser

DOEpatents

Soh, Daniel B. S.; Bisson, Scott E

2015-05-12

Embodiments relate to an all fiber passively Q-switched laser. The laser includes a large core doped gain fiber having a first end. The large core doped gain fiber has a first core diameter. The laser includes a doped single mode fiber (saturable absorber) having a second core diameter that is smaller than the first core diameter. The laser includes a mode transformer positioned between a second end of the large core doped gain fiber and a first end of the single mode fiber. The mode transformer has a core diameter that transitions from the first core diameter to the second core diameter and filters out light modes not supported by the doped single mode fiber. The laser includes a laser cavity formed between a first reflector positioned adjacent the large core doped gain fiber and a second reflector positioned adjacent the doped single mode fiber.

Studies on output characteristics of stable dual-wavelength ytterbium-doped photonic crystal fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Hongchun; Zhang, Sa; Hou, Zhiyun; Xia, Changming; Zhou, Guiyao; Zhang, Wei; Liu, Jiantao; Wu, Jiale; Fu, Jian

2016-06-01

A stable dual-wavelength ytterbium-doped photonic crystal fiber laser pumped by a 976 nm laser diode has been demonstrated at room temperature. Single-wavelength, dual-wavelength laser oscillations are observed when the fiber laser operates under different pump power by using different length of fibers. Stable dual-wavelength radiation around 1045 nm and 1075 nm has been generated simultaneously at a high pump power directly from an ytterbium-doped fiber laser without using any spectral control mechanism. A small core ytterbium-doped PCF fabricated by the powder sinter direction drawn rod technology is used as gain medium. The pump power and fiber length which can affect the output characteristics of dual-wavelength fiber laser are analyzed in the experiment. Experiments confirm that higher pump power and longer fiber length favors 1075 nm output; lower pump power and shorter fiber length favors 1045 nm output. Those results have a good reference in multi-wavelength fiber laser.

Optical Material Researches for Frontier Optical Ceramics and Visible Fiber Laser Technologies

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-07

technology of visible fiber laser, Pr-doped waterproof fluoro-aluminate glass fiber (Pr:WPFGF) laser. The significant achievements are as follows; 1...greater than 1-W and multi-color visible fiber laser oscillations, 2) visible laser pulse generation in a Pr-doped waterproof fluoride glass fiber ...for more high power operation, fabrication of a Pr-doped double-clad structured waterproof fluoride glass fiber with a single-mode beam. These results

Development of Fiber-Based Laser Systems for LISA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Numata, Kenji; Camp, Jordan

2010-01-01

We present efforts on fiber-based laser systems for the LISA mission at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. A fiber-based system has the advantage of higher robustness against external disturbances and easier implementation of redundancies. For a master oscillator, we are developing a ring fiber laser and evaluating two commercial products, a DBR linear fiber laser and a planar-waveguide external cavity diode laser. They all have comparable performance to a traditional NPRO at LISA band. We are also performing reliability tests of a 2-W Yb fiber amplifier and radiation tests of fiber laser/amplifier components. We describe our progress to date and discuss the path to a working LISA laser system design.

Measurement technology based on laser internal/external cavity tuning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Shulian

2011-08-01

For an ordinary laser with two cavity mirrors, if the length of laser cavity changes half wavelength the laser frequency changes one longitudinal mode separation. For a laser with three cavity mirrors, in which a feedback mirror is used to feed part of the laser output beam back into the laser cavity, the external cavity length changes half wavelength the laser intensity fluctuates one period. This presentation gives some research results in measurement field based on changing (tuning) the length of laser internal/external cavity, including 1) HeNe laser cavity-tuning nanometer displacement measurement instruments (laser nanometer rulers), 2) HeNe laser feedback displacement measurement, 3) Nd:YAG laser feedback nanometer displacement measurement, 4) benchmark of waveplate phase retardation measurement based on laser frequency splitting, 5) in-site waveplate phase retardation measurement instruments based on laser feedback and polarization hopping, 6) quasi-common-path microchip Nd:YAG laser feedback interferometer, 7) non-contact Nd:YAG laser feedback surface profile measurement. Some of these instruments have been put into application and display some irreplaceable advantages.

High-performance 1.3-μm laser diode by LP-MOVPE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, TongNing; Ji, Jin-yan; Yan, Xin-min; Liu, Tao; Ning, Zhou; Liu, Jiang; Liu, Zi-li; Huang, Ge-fan

1996-09-01

The progress in 1.3 micrometers wavelength InGaAsP/InP lasers for optic fiber communication and subscriber loop applications is reviewed. By using LP-MOVPE/LPE epitaxy techniques, the performance of commercial optical devices is considerably improved. The bandwidth of the 1.3 micrometers uncooled MQW-LD module could be high to 1.6GHz, threshold current Ith < 15mA, maximum fiber output power Pf >= 20mW while uniformity, reproducible, high yield are achieved. Further by growing active layer with compressive strained structure the lowest threshold current Ith equals 3.8mA was achieved with high reflection coating and the temperature performance of the SL-MQW-LD has been greatly improved, the change of slop efficiency at 25 degrees C and 85 degrees C is less than 1 dB. Using the holographic technique a high power 1.31 micrometers InGaAsP/InP multiquantum well distributed feedback laser has also been developed. The fiber output power of butterfly packaged module with optic isolator Pf > 10mW, threshold current Ith < 18mA, slop efficiency Es > 22 percent and side mode suppression ratio SMSR > 40dB. The composite triple beat CTB < -66dBc and the composite second order CSO < -56dBc by test frequencies equals 55.25 to approximately 289.25MHz with 40 NCTA channels, the carrier to noise ration CNR > 50 dB and the relative intensity noise RIN < -160dB/Hz.

Semiconductor ring lasers subject to both on-chip filtered optical feedback and external conventional optical feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khoder, Mulham; Van der Sande, Guy; Danckaert, Jan; Verschaffelt, Guy

2016-05-01

It is well known that the performance of semiconductor lasers is very sensitive to external optical feedback. This feedback can lead to changes in lasing characteristics and a variety of dynamical effects including chaos and coherence collapse. One way to avoid this external feedback is by using optical isolation, but these isolators and their packaging will increase the cost of the total system. Semiconductor ring lasers nowadays are promising sources in photonic integrated circuits because they do not require cleaved facets or mirrors to form a laser cavity. Recently, some of us proposed to combine semiconductor ring lasers with on chip filtered optical feedback to achieve tunable lasers. The feedback is realized by employing two arrayed waveguide gratings to split/recombine light into different wavelength channels. Semiconductor optical amplifier gates are used to control the feedback strength. In this work, we investigate how such lasers with filtered feedback are influenced by an external conventional optical feedback. The experimental results show intensity fluctuations in the time traces in both the clockwise and counterclockwise directions due to the conventional feedback. We quantify the strength of the conventional feedback induced dynamics be extracting the standard deviation of the intensity fluctuations in the time traces. By using filtered feedback, we can shift the onset of the conventional feedback induced dynamics to larger values of the feedback rate [ Khoder et al, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. DOI: 10.1109/LPT.2016.2522184]. The on-chip filtered optical feedback thus makes the semiconductor ring laser less senstive to the effect of (long) conventional optical feedback. We think these conclusions can be extended to other types of lasers.

Are we all doing it wrong? Influence of stripping and cleaving methods of laser fibers on laser lithotripsy performance.

PubMed

Kronenberg, Peter; Traxer, Olivier

2015-03-01

We assessed whether stripping and cleaving the laser fiber tip with specialized tools, namely laser fiber strippers, or ceramic or metal scissors, would influence lithotripsy performance. Laser fiber tips were stripped with a specialized laser fiber stripper or remained coated. The tips were then cleaved with metal or ceramic scissors. Laser lithotripsy experiments were performed with the 4 fiber tip combinations using an automated laser fragmentation testing system with artificial stones made of plaster of Paris or BegoStone Plus (Bego, Lincoln, Rhode Island). High frequency-low pulse energy (20 Hz and 0.5 J) and low frequency-high pulse energy (5 Hz and 2.0 J) settings were used for 30 seconds. Fissure width, depth and volume, and laser fiber tip photos were analyzed. Coated laser fiber tips always achieved significantly higher ablation volumes (sometimes greater than 50%) than stripped laser fiber tips (p <0.00001) regardless of cleaving scissor type, stone material or lithotripter setting. Coated fiber tips cleaved with metal scissors ablated as well as those cleaved with ceramic scissors (p = 0.16). However, stripped fibers were much less ablative when they were cut with metal scissors compared to ceramic scissors (p <0.00001). Harder stone material decreased ablation volume (p <0.00001). Low frequency-high pulse energy settings were an average of 3 times more ablative than high frequency-low pulse energy settings (p <0.00001). Stripping the fibers, a harder stone material and low frequency-high pulse energy settings were associated with increased fiber tip degradation. Coated laser fibers provided better lithotripsy performance and metal scissors were as good as ceramic scissors to cleave coated fibers. This knowledge may improve and simplify the way that laser lithotripsy procedures are done worldwide. Copyright © 2015 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Numerical simulations of the optical gain of crystalline fiber doped by rare earth and transition ion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daoui, A. K.; Boubir, B.; Adouane, A.; Demagh, N.; Ghoumazi, M.

2015-02-01

A fiber laser is a laser whose gain medium is a doped fiber, although lasers whose cavity is made wholly of fibers have also been called fiber lasers. The gain media in a fiber laser is usually fiber doped with rare-earth ions, such as erbium (Er), neodymium (Nd), ytterbium (Yb), thulium (Tm), or praseodymium (Pr), which is doped into the core of the optical fiber, similar to those used to transmit telecommunications signals. Fiber lasers find many applications in materials processing, including cutting, welding, drilling, and marking metal. To maximize their market penetration, it is necessary to increase their output power. In this work, we present a detailed study based on the numerical simulation using MATLAB, of one of the principal characteristics of a fiber laser doped with rare earth ions and transition ion. The gain depends on several parameters such as the length of the doped fiber, the density, the pump power, noise, etc.). The used program resolves the state equations in this context together with those governing the light propagation phenomena. The developed code can also be used to study the dynamic operating modes of a doped fiber laser.

Measuring bacterial growth by refractive index tapered fiber optic biosensor.

PubMed

Zibaii, Mohammad Ismail; Kazemi, Alireza; Latifi, Hamid; Azar, Mahmoud Karimi; Hosseini, Seyed Masoud; Ghezelaiagh, Mohammad Hossein

2010-12-02

A single-mode tapered fiber optic biosensor was utilized for real-time monitoring of the Escherichia coli (E. coli K-12) growth in an aqueous medium. The applied fiber tapers were fabricated using heat-pulling method with waist diameter and length of 6-7μm and 3mm, respectively. The bacteria were immobilized on the tapered surface using Poly-l-Lysine. By providing the proper condition, bacterial population growth on the tapered surface increases the average surface density of the cells and consequently the refractive index (RI) of the tapered region would increase. The adsorption of the cells on the tapered fiber leads to changes in the optical characteristics of the taper. This affects the evanescent field leading to changes in optical throughput. The bacterial growth rate was monitored at room temperature by transmission of a 1558.17nm distributed feedback (DFB) laser through the tapered fiber. At the same condition, after determining the growth rate of E. coli by means of colony counting method, we compared the results with that obtained from the fiber sensor measurements. This novel sensing method, promises new application such as rapid analysis of the presence of bacteria. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fiber optic biosensor fabricated for measuring the growth rate of Escherichia coli K-12 in the aqueous

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zibaii, M. I.; Kazemi, A.; Latifi, H.; Karimi Azar, M.; Hosseini, S. M.; Ghezelaiagh, M. H.

2010-09-01

A single-mode tapered fiber optic biosensor was utilized for real-time monitoring of the Escherichia coli (E. coli K-12) growth in an aqueous medium. The applied fiber tapers were fabricated using heat-pulling method with waist diameter and length of 6-7μm and 3mm, respectively. The bacteria were immobilized on the tapered surface using Poly-L-Lysine. By providing the proper condition, bacterial population growth on the tapered surface increases the average surface density of the cells and consequently the refractive index (RI) of the tapered region would increase. The adsorption of the cells on the tapered fiber leads to changes in the optical characteristics of the taper. This affects the evanescent field leading to changes in optical throughput. The bacterial growth rate was monitored at room temperature by transmission of a 1558.17nm distributed feedback (DFB) laser through the tapered fiber. At the same condition, after determining the growth rate of E. coli by means of colony counting method, we compared the results with that obtained from the fiber sensor measurements. This novel sensing method, promises new application such as rapid analysis of the presence of bacteria.

All-Fiber, Directly Chirped Laser Source for Chirped-Pulse-Amplification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, Ran

Chirped-pulse-amplification (CPA) technology is widely used to produce ultra-short optical pulses (sub picosecond to femtoseconds) with high pulse energy. A chirped pulse laser source with flexible dispersion control is highly desirable as a CPA seed. This thesis presents an all-fiber, directly chirped laser source (DCLS) that produces nanosecond, linearly-chirped laser pulses at 1053 nm for seeding high energy CPA systems. DCLS produces a frequency chirp on an optical pulse through direct temporal phase modulation. DCLS provides programmable control for the temporal phase of the pulse, high pulse energy and diffraction-limited beam performance, which are beneficial for CPA systems. The DCLS concept is first described. Its key enabling technologies are identified and their experimental demonstration is presented. These include high-precision temporal phase control using an arbitrary waveform generator, multi-pass phase modulation to achieve high modulation depth, regenerative amplification in a fiber ring cavity and a negative feedback system that controls the amplifier cavity dynamics. A few technical challenges that arise from the multi-pass architecture are described and their solutions are presented, such as polarization management and gain-spectrum engineering in the DCLS fiber cavity. A DCLS has been built and its integration into a high energy OPCPA system is demonstrated. DCLS produces a 1-ns chirped pulse with a 3-nm bandwidth. The temporal phase and group delay dispersion on the DCLS output pulse is measured using temporal interferometry. The measured temporal phase has an ˜1000 rad amplitude and is close to a quadratic shape. The chirped pulse is amplified from 0.9 nJ to 76 mJ in an OPCPA system. The amplified pulse is compressed to close to its Fourier transform limit, producing an intensity autocorrelation trace with a 1.5-ps width. Direct compressed-pulse duration control by adjusting the phase modulation drive amplitude is demonstrated. Limitation to pulse compression is investigated using numerical simulation.

Comparative assessment of erbium fiber ring lasers and reflective SOA linear lasers for fiber Bragg grating dynamic strain sensing.

PubMed

Wei, Heming; Krishnaswamy, Sridhar

2017-05-01

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) dynamic strain sensors using both an erbium-based fiber ring laser configuration and a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA)-based linear laser configuration are investigated theoretically and experimentally. Fiber laser models are first presented to analyze the output characteristics of both fiber laser configurations when the FBG sensor is subjected to dynamic strains at high frequencies. Due to differences in the transition times of erbium and the semiconductor (InP/InGaAsP), erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA)- and RSOA-based fiber lasers exhibit different responses and regimes of stability when the FBG is subjected to dynamic strains. The responses of both systems are experimentally verified using an adaptive photorefractive two-wave mixing (TWM) spectral demodulation technique. The experimental results show that the RSOA-FBG fiber linear cavity laser is stable and can stably respond to dynamic strains at high frequencies. An example application using a multiplexed TWM interferometer to demodulate multiple FBG sensors is also discussed.

Investigation of ASE and SRS effects on 1018nm short-wavelength Yb3+-doped fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Zhaoxin; Shi, Wei; Sheng, Quan; Fu, Shijie; Fang, Qiang; Zhang, Haiwei; Bai, Xiaolei; Shi, Guannan; Yao, Jianquan

2017-03-01

1018nm short wavelength Yb3+-doped fiber laser can be widely used for tandem-pumped fiber laser system in 1 μm regime because of its high brightness and low quantum defect (QD). In order to achieve 1018nm short wavelength Yb3+-doped fiber laser with high output power, a steady-state rate equations considering the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) and Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) has been established. We theoretically analyzed the ASE and SRS effects in 1018nm short wavelength Yb3+-doped fiber laser and the simulation results show that the ASE is the main restriction rather than SRS for high power 1018nm short wavelength Yb3+-doped fiber laser, besides the high temperature of fiber is also the restriction for high output power. We use numerical solution of steady-state rate equations to discuss how to suppress ASE in 1018nm short wavelength fiber laser and how to achieve high power 1018nm short-wavelength fiber laser.

Quantum cascade lasers as metrological tools for space optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartalini, S.; Borri, S.; Galli, I.; Mazzotti, D.; Cancio Pastor, P.; Giusfredi, G.; De Natale, P.

2017-11-01

A distributed-feedback quantum-cascade laser working in the 4.3÷4.4 mm range has been frequency stabilized to the Lamb-dip center of a CO2 ro-vibrational transition by means of first-derivative locking to the saturated absorption signal, and its absolute frequency counted with a kHz-level precision and an overall uncertainty of 75 kHz. This has been made possible by an optical link between the QCL and a near-IR Optical Frequency Comb Synthesizer, thanks to a non-linear sum-frequency generation process with a fiber-amplified Nd:YAG laser. The implementation of a new spectroscopic technique, known as polarization spectroscopy, provides an improved signal for the locking loop, and will lead to a narrower laser emission and a drastic improvement in the frequency stability, that in principle is limited only by the stability of the optical frequency comb synthesizer (few parts in 1013). These results confirm quantum cascade lasers as reliable sources not only for high-sensitivity, but also for highprecision measurements, ranking them as optimal laser sources for space applications.

Novel fiber optic tip designs and devices for laser surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hutchens, Thomas Clifton

Fiber optic delivery of laser energy has been used for years in various types of surgical procedures in the human body. Optical energy provides several benefits over electrical or mechanical surgery, including the ability to selectively target specific tissue types while preserving others. Specialty fiber optic tips have also been introduced to further customize delivery of laser energy to the tissue. Recent evolution in lasers and miniaturization has opened up opportunities for many novel surgical techniques. Currently, ophthalmic surgeons use relatively invasive mechanical tools to dissect retinal deposits which occur in proliferative diabetic retinopathy. By using the tight focusing properties of microspheres combined with the short optical penetration depth of the Erbium:YAG laser and mid-IR fiber delivery, a precise laser scalpel can be constructed as an alternative, less invasive and more precise approach to this surgery. Chains of microspheres may allow for a self limiting ablation depth of approximately 10 microm based on the defocusing of paraxial rays. The microsphere laser scalpel may also be integrated with other surgical instruments to reduce the total number of handpieces for the surgeon. In current clinical laser lithotripsy procedures, poor input coupling of the Holmium:YAG laser energy frequently damages and requires discarding of the optical fiber. However, recent stone ablation studies with the Thulium fiber laser have provided comparable results to the Ho:YAG laser. The improved spatial beam profile of the Thulium fiber laser can also be efficiently coupled into a fiber approximately one third the diameter and reduces the risk of damaging the fiber input. For this reason, the trunk optical fiber minus the distal fiber tip can be preserved between procedures. The distal fiber tip, which degrades during stone ablation, could be made detachable and disposable. A novel, low-profile, twist-locking, detachable distal fiber tip interface was designed, assembled, and tested for use in Thulium fiber laser lithotripsy. A 1.00-mm-outer-diameter detachable fiber tip interface was designed, constructed, and tested ex vivo on urinary stones in the laboratory. Similar stone ablation rates between the previously studied tapered distal fiber tip and the detachable fiber tip were measured. For urologists desiring faster TFL lithotripsy procedures, the incorporation of detachable distal fiber tips allows for rapid replacement of damaged fiber tips without concern about the laser to trunk fiber connection. This method for preserving the trunk fiber could be a motivation for integrating a dedicated laser fiber into the ureteroscope, with detachable distal tips, thus freeing the working channel for the use of other surgical instruments. During laser lithotripsy, distal fiber tip degradation increases as the fiber core diameter decreases. However, smaller fiber diameters (≤ 200 microm) are more desirable because of increased saline irrigation rates in the single working channel of the ureteroscope and less impact on ureteroscope deflection. A hollow fiber cap is proposed to reduced fiber tip degradation in small diameter fibers, without compromising stone ablation rates. The disadvantage of the hollow fiber tip observed in the study is the increase in stone retropulsion. However, integrating the hollow fiber tip with a clinically used stone basket may allow for a robust stone ablation instrument that also minimizes retropulsion. These surgical approaches involving novel specialty fiber optic tip designs are discussed in this thesis.

Advanced Optical Fibers for High power Fiber lasers

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-08-24

crystal fiber cladding . Advanced Optical Fibers for High Power Fiber Lasers http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/58958 223 lengths above the second-order mode cut...brightness multimode diode lasers for a given pump waveguide dimen‐ sion. In conventional double- clad fibers, low-index polymer coatings are typically used to...was below 0.2. The fiber was passive and there was no laser demonstration in this first attempt. The first cladding - pumping demonstration in an

Generating a high brightness multi-kilowatt laser by dense spectral combination of VBG stabilized single emitter laser diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fritsche, H.; Koch, Ralf; Krusche, B.; Ferrario, F.; Grohe, Andreas; Pflueger, S.; Gries, W.

2014-05-01

Generating high power laser radiation with diode lasers is commonly realized by geometrical stacking of diode bars, which results in high output power but poor beam parameter product (BPP). The accessible brightness in this approach is limited by the fill factor, both in slow and fast axis. By using a geometry that accesses the BPP of the individual diodes, generating a multi kilowatt diode laser with a BPP comparable to fiber lasers is possible. We will demonstrate such a modular approach for generating multi kilowatt lasers by combining single emitter diode lasers. Single emitter diodes have advantages over bars, mainly a simplified cooling, better reliability and a higher brightness per emitter. Additionally, because single emitters can be arranged in many different geometries, they allow building laser modules where the brightness of the single emitters is preserved. In order to maintain the high brightness of the single emitter we developed a modular laser design which uses single emitters in a staircase arrangement, then coupling two of those bases with polarization combination which is our basic module. Those modules generate up to 160 W with a BPP better than 7.5 mm*mrad. For further power scaling wavelength stabilization is crucial. The wavelength is stabilized with only one Volume Bragg Grating (VBG) in front of a base providing the very same feedback to all of the laser diodes. This results in a bandwidth of < 0.5 nm and a wavelength stability of better than 250 MHz over one hour. Dense spectral combination with dichroic mirrors and narrow channel spacing allows us to combine multiple wavelength channels, resulting in a 2 kW laser module with a BPP better than 7.5 mm*mrad, which can easily coupled into a 100 μm fiber and 0.15 NA.

High-power thulium-doped fiber laser in an all-fiber configuration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baravets, Yauhen; Todorov, Filip; Honzatko, Pavel

2016-12-01

High-power Tm-doped fiber lasers are greatly suitable for various applications, such as material processing, medicine, environmental monitoring and topography. In this work we present an all-fiber narrowband CW laser in near fundamental mode operation based on a Tm-doped double-clad active fiber pumped by 793 nm laser diodes with a central wavelength stabilized at 2039 nm by a fiber Bragg grating. The achieved output power is 60 W with a slope efficiency of 46%. The measured beam quality factor is less than 1.4. Further increasing of the output power is possible using various power scaling techniques, for example, coherent combination of several Tm-doped fiber lasers. The developed fiber laser could be employed for welding, cutting and marking of thermoplastics in industry, minimally invasive surgery in medicine or sensors in lidar systems. Future improvements of thulium fiber lasers are possible due to the extremely wide gain-bandwidth of the active medium and the rapid growth of 2-μm fiber components production.

Next-generation fiber lasers enabled by high-performance components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kliner, D. A. V.; Victor, B.; Rivera, C.; Fanning, G.; Balsley, D.; Farrow, R. L.; Kennedy, K.; Hampton, S.; Hawke, R.; Soukup, E.; Reynolds, M.; Hodges, A.; Emery, J.; Brown, A.; Almonte, K.; Nelson, M.; Foley, B.; Dawson, D.; Hemenway, D. M.; Urbanek, W.; DeVito, M.; Bao, L.; Koponen, J.; Gross, K.

2018-02-01

Next-generation industrial fiber lasers enable challenging applications that cannot be addressed with legacy fiber lasers. Key features of next-generation fiber lasers include robust back-reflection protection, high power stability, wide power tunability, high-speed modulation and waveform generation, and facile field serviceability. These capabilities are enabled by high-performance components, particularly pump diodes and optical fibers, and by advanced fiber laser designs. We summarize the performance and reliability of nLIGHT diodes, fibers, and next-generation industrial fiber lasers at power levels of 500 W - 8 kW. We show back-reflection studies with up to 1 kW of back-reflected power, power-stability measurements in cw and modulated operation exhibiting sub-1% stability over a 5 - 100% power range, and high-speed modulation (100 kHz) and waveform generation with a bandwidth 20x higher than standard fiber lasers. We show results from representative applications, including cutting and welding of highly reflective metals (Cu and Al) for production of Li-ion battery modules and processing of carbon fiber reinforced polymers.

2013 R&D 100 Award: New tech could mean more power for fiber lasers

ScienceCinema

Dawson, Jay

2018-01-16

An LLNL team of six physicists has developed a new technology that is a stepping stone to enable some of the limitations on high-power fiber lasers to be overcome. Their technology, dubbed "Efficient Mode-Converters for High-Power Fiber Amplifiers," allows the power of fiber lasers to be increased while maintaining high beam quality. Currently, fiber lasers are used in machining, on factory floors and in a number of defense applications and can produce tens of kilowatts of power.The conventional fiber laser design features a circular core and has fundamental limitations that make it impractical to allow higher laser power unless the core area is increased. LLNL researchers have pioneered a design to increase the laser's core area along the axis of the ribbon fiber. Their design makes it difficult to use a conventional laser beam, so the LLNL team converted the beam into a profile that propagates into the ribbon fiber and is converted back once it is amplified. The use of this LLNL technology will permit the construction of higher power lasers for lower costs and increase the power of fiber lasers from tens of kilowatts of power to about 100 kilowatts and potentially even higher.

Single-mode fiber laser based on core-cladding mode conversion.

PubMed

Suzuki, Shigeru; Schülzgen, Axel; Peyghambarian, N

2008-02-15

A single-mode fiber laser based on an intracavity core-cladding mode conversion is demonstrated. The fiber laser consists of an Er-doped active fiber and two fiber Bragg gratings. One Bragg grating is a core-cladding mode converter, and the other Bragg grating is a narrowband high reflector that selects the lasing wavelength. Coupling a single core mode and a single cladding mode by the grating mode converter, the laser operates as a hybrid single-mode laser. This approach for designing a laser cavity provides a much larger mode area than conventional large-mode-area step-index fibers.

Holmium:YAG (lambda = 2,120 nm) versus thulium fiber (lambda = 1,908 nm) laser lithotripsy.

PubMed

Blackmon, Richard L; Irby, Pierce B; Fried, Nathaniel M

2010-03-01

The holmium:YAG laser is currently the most common laser lithotripter. However, recent experimental studies have demonstrated that the thulium fiber laser is also capable of vaporizing urinary stones. The high-temperature water absorption coefficient for the thulium wavelength (mu(a) = 160 cm(-1) at lambda = 1,908 nm) is significantly higher than for the holmium wavelength (mu(a) = 28 cm(-1) at lambda = 2,120 nm). We hypothesize that this should translate into more efficient laser lithotripsy using the thulium fiber laser. This study directly compares stone vaporization rates for holmium and thulium fiber lasers. Holmium laser radiation pulsed at 3 Hz with 70 mJ pulse energy and 220 microseconds pulse duration was delivered through a 100-microm-core silica fiber to human uric acid (UA) and calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) stones, ex vivo (n = 10 each). Thulium fiber laser radiation pulsed at 10 Hz with 70 mJ pulse energy and 1-millisecond pulse duration was also delivered through a 100-microm fiber for the same sets of 10 stones each. For the same number of pulses and total energy (126 J) delivered to each stone, the mass loss averaged 2.4+/-0.6 mg (UA) and 0.7+/-0.2 mg (COM) for the holmium laser and 12.6+/-2.5 mg (UA) and 6.8+/-1.7 (COM) for the thulium fiber laser. UA and COM stone vaporization rates for the thulium fiber laser averaged 5-10 times higher than for the holmium laser at 70 mJ pulse energies. With further development, the thulium fiber laser may represent an alternative to the conventional holmium laser for more efficient laser lithotripsy.

Single crystal fibers for high power lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, W.; Florea, C.; Baker, C.; Gibson, D.; Shaw, L. B.; Bowman, S.; O'Connor, S.; Villalobos, G.; Bayya, S.; Aggarwal, I. D.; Sanghera, J. S.

2012-11-01

In this paper, we present our recent results in developing cladded-single crystal fibers for high power single frequency fiber lasers significantly exceeding the capabilities of existing silica fiber based lasers. This fiber laser would not only exploit the advantages of crystals, namely their high temperature stability, high thermal conductivity, superior environmental ruggedness, high propensity for rare earth ion doping and low nonlinearity, but will also provide the benefits from an optical fiber geometry to enable better thermal management thereby enabling the potential for high laser power output in short lengths. Single crystal fiber cores with diameters as small as 35μm have been drawn using high purity rare earth doped ceramic or single crystal feed rods by Laser Heated Pedestal Growth (LHPG) process. The mechanical, optical and morphological properties of these fibers have been characterized. The fibers are very flexible and show good overall uniformity. We also measured the optical loss as well as the non-radiative loss of the doped crystal fibers and the results show that the fibers have excellent optical and morphological quality. The gain coefficient of the crystal fiber matches the low quantum defect laser model and it is a good indication of the high quality of the fibers.

Theoretical study and design of third-order random fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Zhaoxin; Shi, Wei; Fu, Shijie; Sheng, Quan; Yao, Jianquan

2018-02-01

We present result of achieving a random fiber laser at a working wavelength of 1178nm while pumping at 1018nm. The laser power is realized by 200m long cavity which includes three high reflectivity fiber Bragg gratings. This simple and efficient random fiber laser could provide a novel approach to realize low-threshold and high-efficiency 1178nm long wavelength laser. We theoretically analyzed the laser power in random fiber lasers at different pump power by changing three high reflectivity fiber Bragg gratings. We also calculated the forward and backward power of 1st-order stokes, 2nd-order stokes, 3rd-order stokes. With the theoretical analysis, we optimize the cavity's reflectivity to get higher laser power output. The forward random laser exhibits larger gain, the backward random laser has lower gain. By controlling the value of angle-cleaved end fiber's reflectivity to 3×10-7, when the high reflectivity increases from 0.01 to 0.99, the laser power increases, using this proposed configuration, the 1178nm random laser can be generated easily and stably.

Fiber Laser Development for LISA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Numata, Kenji; Chen, Jeffrey R.

2009-01-01

We have developed a linearly-polarized Ytterbium-doped fiber ring laser with single longitudinal-mode output at 1064nm for LISA and other space applications. Single longitudinal-mode selection was achieved by using a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and a fiber Fabry-Perot (FFP). The FFP also serves as a frequency-reference within our ring laser. Our laser exhibits comparable low frequency and intensity noise to Non-Planar Ring Oscillator (NPRO). By using a fiber-coupled phase modulator as a frequency actuator, the laser frequency can be electro-optically tuned at a rate of 100kHz. It appears that our fiber ring laser is promising for space applications where robustness of fiber optics is desirable.

Multi-gigahertz repetition rate passively modelocked fiber lasers using carbon nanotubes.

PubMed

Martinez, Amos; Yamashita, Shinji

2011-03-28

There is an increasing demand for all-fiber passively mode-locked lasers with pulse repetition rates in the order of gigahertz for their potential applications in fields such as telecommunications and metrology. However, conventional mode-locked fiber lasers typically operate at fundamental repetition rates of only a few megahertz. In this paper, we report all-fiber laser operation with fundamental repetition rates of 4.24 GHz, 9.63 GHz and 19.45 GHz. This is, to date and to the best of our knowledge, the highest fundamental repetition rate reported for an all-fiber laser. The laser operation is based on the passive modelocking of a miniature all-fiber Fabry-Pérot laser (FFPL) by a carbon nanotube (CNT) saturable absorber. The key components for such device are a very high-gain Er:Yb phosphosilicate fiber and a fiber compatible saturable absorber with very small foot print and very low losses. The laser output of the three lasers was close to transform-limited with a pulsewidth of approximately 1 ps and low noise. As a demonstration of potential future applications for this laser, we also demonstrated supercontinuum generation with a longitudinal mode-spacing of 0.08 nm by launching the laser operating at 9.63 GHz into 30 m of a highly nonlinear dispersion shifted fiber.

Development of an Eye-Safe Micro-Pulse Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) for Carbon Dioxide Profilings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, W.; Repasky, K. S.; Nehrir, A. R.; Carlsten, J.

2011-12-01

A differential absorption lidar (DIAL) for monitoring carbon dioxide (CO2) is under development at Montana State University using commercially available parts. Two distributed feedback (DFB) lasers, one at the on-line wavelength and one at the off-line wavelength are used to injection seed a fiber amplifier. The DIAL operates in the 1.57 micron carbon dioxide absorption band at an on-line wavelength of 1.5714060 microns. The laser transmitter produces 40 μJ pulses with a pulse duration of 1 μs and a pulse repetition frequency of 20 kHz. The scattered light from the laser transmitter is collected using a 28 cm diameter Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. The light collected by the telescope is collimated and then filtered using a 0.8 nm FWHM narrowband interference filter. After the optical filter, the light is coupled into a multimode optical fiber with a 1000 μm core diameter. The output from the optical fiber is coupled into a photomultiplier tube (PMT) used to monitor the return signal. The analog output from the PMT is next incident on a discriminator producing TTL logic pulses for photon counting. The output from the PMT and discriminator is monitored using a multichannel scalar card allowing the counting of the TTL pulses as a function of range. Data from the DIAL instrument is collected in the following manner. The fiber amplifier is injection seeded first with the on-line DFB laser. The return signal as a function of range is integrated using the multichannel scalar for a user defined time, typically set at 6 s. The off-line DFB laser is then used to injection seed the fiber amplifier and the process is repeated. This process is repeated for a user defined period. The CO2 concentration as a function of range is calculated using the on-line and off-line return signals with the DIAL equation. A comparison of the CO2 concentration measured using the DIAL instrument at 1.5 km and a Li-Cor LI-820 in situ sensor located at 1.5 km from the DIAL over a 2.5 hour period indicate that the CO2 DIAL has an accuracy of ±20 parts per million (PPM).

Extremely high-brightness kW-class fiber coupled diode lasers with wavelength stabilization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Robin K.; Chann, Bien; Glenn, John D.

2011-06-01

TeraDiode has produced ultra-high brightness fiber-coupled direct diode lasers. A fiber-coupled direct diode laser with a power level of 1,040 W from a 200 μm core diameter, 0.18 numerical aperture (NA) output fiber at a single center wavelength was demonstrated. This was achieved with a novel beam combining and shaping technique using COTS diode lasers. The fiber-coupled output corresponds to a Beam Parameter Product (BPP) of 18 mm-mrad and is the lowest BPP kW-class direct diode laser yet reported. The laser has been used to demonstrate laser cutting and welding of steel sheet metal up to 6.65 mm thick. Higher brightness fiber-coupled diode lasers, including a module with 418 W of power coupled to a 100 μm, 0.15 NA fiber, have also been demonstrated.

Stable multi-wavelength fiber lasers for temperature measurements using an optical loop mirror.

PubMed

Diaz, Silvia; Socorro, Abian Bentor; Martínez Manuel, Rodolfo; Fernandez, Ruben; Monasterio, Ioseba

2016-10-10

In this work, two novel stable multi-wavelength fiber laser configurations are proposed and demonstrated by using a spool of a single-mode fiber as an optical loop mirror and one or two fiber ring cavities, respectively. The lasers are comprised of fiber Bragg grating reflectors as the oscillation wavelength selecting filters. The influence of the length of the spool of fiber on the laser stability both in terms of wavelength and laser output power was investigated. An application for temperature measurement is also shown.

Packaging and testing of multi-wavelength DFB laser array using REC technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ni, Yi; Kong, Xuan; Gu, Xiaofeng; Chen, Xiangfei; Zheng, Guanghui; Luan, Jia

2014-02-01

Packaging of distributed feedback (DFB) laser array based on reconstruction-equivalent-chirp (REC) technology is a bridge from chip to system, and influences the practical process of REC chip. In this paper, DFB laser arrays of 4-channel @1310 nm and 8-channel @1550 nm are packaged. Our experimental results show that both these laser arrays have uniform wavelength spacing and larger than 35 dB average Side Mode Suppression Ratio (SMSR). When I=35 mA, we obtain the total output power of 1 mW for 4-channel @1310 nm, and 227 μw for 8-channel @1550 nm respectively. The high frequency characteristics of the packaged chips are also obtained, and the requirements for 4×10 G or even 8×10 G systems can be reached. Our results demonstrate the practical and low cost performance of REC technology and indicate its potential in the future fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) application.

Teradiode's high brightness semiconductor lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Robin K.; Chann, Bien; Burgess, James; Lochman, Bryan; Zhou, Wang; Cruz, Mike; Cook, Rob; Dugmore, Dan; Shattuck, Jeff; Tayebati, Parviz

2016-03-01

TeraDiode is manufacturing multi-kW-class ultra-high brightness fiber-coupled direct diode lasers for industrial applications. A fiber-coupled direct diode laser with a power level of 4,680 W from a 100 μm core diameter, <0.08 numerical aperture (NA) output fiber at a single center wavelength was demonstrated. Our TeraBlade industrial platform achieves world-record brightness levels for direct diode lasers. The fiber-coupled output corresponds to a Beam Parameter Product (BPP) of 3.5 mm-mrad and is the lowest BPP multi-kW-class direct diode laser yet reported. This laser is suitable for industrial materials processing applications, including sheet metal cutting and welding. This 4-kW fiber-coupled direct diode laser has comparable brightness to that of industrial fiber lasers and CO2 lasers, and is over 10x brighter than state-of-the-art direct diode lasers. We have also demonstrated novel high peak power lasers and high brightness Mid-Infrared Lasers.

Precision control of carrier-envelope phase in grating based chirped pulse amplifiers.

PubMed

Li, Chengquan; Moon, Eric; Mashiko, Hiroki; Nakamura, Christopher M; Ranitovic, Predrag; Maharjan, Chakra M; Cocke, C Lewis; Chang, Zenghu; Paulus, Gerhard G

2006-11-13

It is demonstrated that the carrier-envelope (CE) phase of pulses from a high power ultrafast laser system with a grating-based stretcher and compressor can be stabilized to a root mean square (rms) value of 180 mrad over almost 2 hours, excluding a brief re-locking period. The stabilization was accomplished via feedback control of the grating separation in the stretcher. It shows that the long term CE phase stability of a grating based chirped pulse amplification system can be as good as that of lasers using a glass-block stretcher and a prism pair compressor. Moreover, by adjusting the grating separation to preset values, the relative CE phase could be locked to an arbitrary value in the range of 2pi. This method is better than using a pair of wedge plates to adjust the phase after the hollow-core fiber compressor. The CE phase stabilization after a hollow-core fiber compressor was confirmed by a CE-phase meter based on the measurement of the left-to-right asymmetry of electrons produced by above-threshold ionization.

Controlling the 1 μm spontaneous emission in Er/Yb co-doped fiber amplifiers.

PubMed

Sobon, Grzegorz; Kaczmarek, Pawel; Antonczak, Arkadiusz; Sotor, Jaroslaw; Abramski, Krzysztof M

2011-09-26

In this paper we present our experimental studies on controlling the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) from Yb(3+) ions in Er/Yb co-doped fiber amplifiers. We propose a new method of controlling the Yb-ASE by stimulating a laser emission at 1064 nm in the amplifier, by providing a positive 1 μm signal feedback loop. The results are discussed and compared to a conventional amplifier setup without 1 μm ASE control and to an amplifier with auxiliary 1064 nm seeding. We have shown, that applying a 1064 nm signal loop in an Er/Yb amplifier can increase the output power at 1550 nm and provide stable operation without parasitic lasing at 1 μm. © 2011 Optical Society of America

Hollow Core Optical Fiber Gas Lasers: Toward Novel and Practical Systems in Fused Silica

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-05-18

Hollow core Optically pumped Fiber Gas LASer’s (HOFGLAS’s) based on population inversion combine advantages of fiber lasers such as long interaction...polarization dependent fiber properties. Preliminary experiments were performed toward simultaneous lasing in the visible and near infrared; lasing in...words) Hollow core Optically pumped Fiber Gas LASer’s (HOFGLAS’s) based on population inversion combine advantages of fiber lasers such as long

2013 R&D 100 Award: New tech could mean more power for fiber lasers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dawson, Jay

2014-04-03

An LLNL team of six physicists has developed a new technology that is a stepping stone to enable some of the limitations on high-power fiber lasers to be overcome. Their technology, dubbed "Efficient Mode-Converters for High-Power Fiber Amplifiers," allows the power of fiber lasers to be increased while maintaining high beam quality. Currently, fiber lasers are used in machining, on factory floors and in a number of defense applications and can produce tens of kilowatts of power.The conventional fiber laser design features a circular core and has fundamental limitations that make it impractical to allow higher laser power unless themore » core area is increased. LLNL researchers have pioneered a design to increase the laser's core area along the axis of the ribbon fiber. Their design makes it difficult to use a conventional laser beam, so the LLNL team converted the beam into a profile that propagates into the ribbon fiber and is converted back once it is amplified. The use of this LLNL technology will permit the construction of higher power lasers for lower costs and increase the power of fiber lasers from tens of kilowatts of power to about 100 kilowatts and potentially even higher.« less

Electrically tunable liquid crystal photonic bandgap fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olausson, Christina B.; Scolari, Lara; Wei, Lei; Noordegraaf, Danny; Weirich, Johannes; Alkeskjold, Thomas T.; Hansen, Kim P.; Bjarklev, Anders

2010-02-01

We demonstrate electrical tunability of a fiber laser using a liquid crystal photonic bandgap fiber. Tuning of the laser is achieved by combining the wavelength filtering effect of a liquid crystal photonic bandgap fiber device with an ytterbium-doped photonic crystal fiber. We fabricate an all-spliced laser cavity based on a liquid crystal photonic bandgap fiber mounted on a silicon assembly, a pump/signal combiner with single-mode signal feed-through and an ytterbium-doped photonic crystal fiber. The laser cavity produces a single-mode output and is tuned in the range 1040- 1065 nm by applying an electric field to the silicon assembly.

Highly scalable, resonantly cladding-pumped, Er-doped fiber laser with record efficiency.

PubMed

Dubinskii, M; Zhang, J; Ter-Mikirtychev, V

2009-05-15

We report the performance of a resonantly cladding-pumped, Yb-free, Er-doped fiber laser. We believe this is the first reported resonantly cladding-pumped fiber-Bragg-grating-based, Er-doped, large-mode-area (LMA) fiber laser. The laser, pumped by fiber-coupled InGaAsP/InP laser diode modules at 1,532.5 nm, delivers approximately 48 W of cw output at 1,590 nm. It is believed to be the highest power ever reported from a Yb-free Er-doped LMA fiber. This fully integrated laser also has the optical-to-optical efficiency of approximately 57%, to the best of our knowledge, the highest efficiency reported for cladding-pumped unidirectionally emitting Er-doped laser.

Direct inscription of Bragg gratings into coated fluoride fibers for widely tunable and robust mid-infrared lasers.

PubMed

Bharathan, Gayathri; Woodward, Robert I; Ams, Martin; Hudson, Darren D; Jackson, Stuart D; Fuerbach, Alex

2017-11-27

We report the development of a widely tunable all-fiber mid-infrared laser system based on a mechanically robust fiber Bragg grating (FBG) which was inscribed through the polymer coating of a Ho 3+ -Pr 3+ co-doped double clad ZBLAN fluoride fiber by focusing femtosecond laser pulses into the core of the fiber without the use of a phase mask. By applying mechanical tension and compression to the FBG while pumping the fiber with an 1150 nm laser diode, a continuous wave (CW) all-fiber laser with a tuning range of 37 nm, centered at 2870 nm, was demonstrated with up to 0.29 W output power. These results pave the way for the realization of compact and robust mid-infrared fiber laser systems for real-world applications in spectroscopy and medicine.

All-Glass Fiber Amplifier Pumped by Ultra-High Brightness Pumps

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-15

coated triple-clad fibers, we are developing triple-clad Yb fiber with gold coating for improved thermal management. 2.1 Pump laser The two...amplifier results using gain fiber with metalized fiber coating . Keywords: Fiber laser , specialty fiber, pump laser , beam combining, fiber metal coating ... coating can exceed its long-term damage threshold. Such a concern obviously does not apply to a fiber with gold protective coating [14]. Thus in

High efficient bone ablation with diode pumped Erbium and Thulium lasers including different delivery fibers: a comparative in vitro study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stock, Karl; Hausladen, Florian; Stegmayer, Thomas; Wurm, Holger

2018-02-01

Er:YAG lasers (3μm) allow efficient bone ablation caused by the strong absorption in water. Unfortunately, there are only a few and comparable expensive fiber materials for this wavelength available which are suitable for high laser power. The bone ablation efficiency of the Tm:YAG laser is minor (2μm) but inexpensive silica fibers can be used. The aim of this study was to investigate the bone ablation, using novel diode pumped high power Er:YAG (laser power 40W) and Tm:YAG laser system (60W) and adaptive fiber delivery systems. Expected advantage of these lasers is the longer lifetime of the fibers because of the high repetition rate and low pulse energy compared to the flash lamp pumped laser systems. The bare fiber output ends of a sapphire fiber (Er:YAG laser) and of a silica fiber (Tm:YAG laser) were attached under water and a water filled container including the fixed sample (bovine bone slices) was moved by a computer controlled translation stage. In a second set-up we provided a focusing unit and appropriate water spray unit. The generated cut kerfs were analyzed by light microcopy and laser scanning microscopy. The results show that with the diode pumped Er:YAG laser and sapphire fiber a particular high efficient bone ablation (> 0.16mm2/J) is possible both with bare fiber under water and focusing unit with water spray. The higher power of the Tm:YAG laser also results in high ablation rates but causes enlarged thermal damages. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that efficient bone ablation is possible with both diode pumped laser systems. In terms of efficiency the Er:YAG laser is outstanding. The Tm:YAG laser also allows fast bone ablation, provided that the thermal impact is limited by effective cooling and high movement velocity of the laser spot, for example by using an automatic scanner.

Multi-kW single fiber laser based on an extra large mode area fiber design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Langner, Andreas; Such, Mario; Schötz, Gerhard; Just, Florian; Leich, Martin; Schwuchow, Anka; Grimm, Stephan; Zimer, Hagen; Kozak, Marcin; Wedel, Björn; Rehmann, Georg; Bachert, Charley; Krause, Volker

2012-02-01

The quality of Yb-doped fused bulk silica produced by sintering of Yb-doped fused silica granulates has improved greatly in the past five years [1 - 4]. In particular, the refractive index and doping level homogeneity of such materials are excellent and we achieved excellent background fiber attenuation of the active core material down to about 20 dB/km at 1200 nm. The improvement of the Yb-doped fused bulk silica has enabled the development of multi-kW fiber laser systems based on a single extra large multimode laser fiber (XLMA fiber). When a single active fiber is used in combination with the XLMA multimode fiber of 1200 μm diameter simple and robust high power fiber laser setups without complex fiber coupling and fiber combiner systems become possible. In this papper, we will discuss in detail the development of the core material based on Yb-doped bulk silica and the characterization of Yb-doped fibers with different core compositions. We will also report on the excellent performance of a 4 kW fiber laser based on a single XLMA-fiber and show the first experimental welding results of steel sheets achieved with such a laser.

Update on lasers in urology 2014: current assessment on holmium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Ho:YAG) laser lithotripter settings and laser fibers.

PubMed

Kronenberg, Peter; Traxer, Olivier

2015-04-01

The purpose of the study was to review the existing literature on holmium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser lithotripsy regarding lithotripter settings and laser fibers. An online search of current and past peer-reviewed literature on holmium laser lithotripsy was performed on several databases, including PubMed, SciElo, and Google Scholar. Relevant studies and original articles about lithotripter settings and laser fibers were examined, and the most important information is summarized and presented here. We examine how the choice of lithotripter settings and laser fibers influences the performance of holmium laser lithotripsy. Traditional laser lithotripter settings are analyzed, including pulse energy, pulse frequency, and power levels, as well as newly developed long-pulse modes. The impact of these settings on ablation volume, fragment size, and retropulsion is also examined. Advantages of small- and large-diameter laser fibers are discussed, and controversies are highlighted. Additionally, the influence of the laser fiber is examined, specifically the fiber tip preparation and the lithotripter settings' influence on tip degradation. Many technical factors influence the performance of holmium laser lithotripsy. Knowing and understanding these controllable parameters allows the urologist to perform a laser lithotripsy procedure safely, efficiently, and with few complications.

In-fiber modal interferometer based on multimode and double cladding fiber segments for tunable fiber laser applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prieto-Cortés, P.; Álvarez-Tamayo, R. I.; Durán-Sánchez, M.; Castillo-Guzmán, A.; Salceda-Delgado, G.; Ibarra-Escamilla, B.; Kuzin, E. A.; Barcelata-Pinzón, A.; Selvas-Aguilar, R.

2018-02-01

We report an in-fiber structure based on the use of a multimode fiber segment and a double cladding fiber segment, and its application as spectral filter in an erbium-doped fiber laser for selection and tuning of the laser line wavelength. The output transmission of the proposed device exhibit spectrum modulation of the input signal with free spectral range of 21 nm and maximum visibility enhanced to more than 20 dB. The output spectrum of the in-fiber filter is wavelength displaced by bending application which allows a wavelength tuning of the generated laser line in a range of 12 nm. The use of the proposed in-fiber structure is demonstrated as a reliable, simple, and low-cost wavelength filter for tunable fiber lasers design and optical instrumentation applications.

Lithotripsy Performance of Specially Designed Laser Fiber Tips.

PubMed

Kronenberg, Peter; Traxer, Olivier

2016-05-01

We evaluated and compared a standard laser lithotripsy fiber to laser fibers claimed to have lithotripsy performance enhancing features. A special AccuMax™ 200 polished tip fiber and an AccuTrac™ ball-shaped tip fiber, each with an approximately 240 μm core, were compared to a standard 272 μm core fiber (Rocamed™). The polished and ball-shaped tip fibers were used and reused without preparation. The standard fiber was stripped and cleaved according to manufacturer instructions after each experiment. An automated laser fragmentation testing system was used to perform multiple 30-second laser lithotripsy experiments. To mimic most typical lithotripsy conditions soft and hard stone materials were used with high frequency, low pulse energy (20 Hz and 0.5 J) or with low frequency, high pulse energy (5 Hz and 2.0 J) lithotripter settings. Ablation volumes and laser fiber tip photographs before and after lithotripsy were compared. The standard and ball-shaped tip fibers did not differ in ablation volume (p = 0.72) but they ablated 174% and 188% more stone, respectively, than the polished tip fiber (p <0.0001). The ball-shaped tip showed remarkable fiber tip degradation after short-term use at low frequency, high pulse energy settings. When high pulse energy settings were applied first even for short-term use, the ablation volume achieved by the polished and ball-shaped tip fibers at high frequency, low pulse energy settings decreased more than 20%. The standard laser fiber was as good as and sometimes better than the specially designed fibers. Rapid degradation of the specially designed laser fiber tips strongly limits their general usefulness but ball-shaped tip fibers may be useful in specific situations. Copyright © 2016 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fiber optic laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy sensor for molten material analysis

DOEpatents

Zhang, Hansheng; Rai, Awadesh K.; Singh, Jagdish P.; Yueh, Fang-Yu

2004-07-13

A fiber optic laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) sensor, including a laser light source, a harmonic separator for directing the laser light, a dichroic mirror for reflecting the laser light, a coupling lens for coupling the laser light at an input of a multimode optical fiber, a connector for coupling the laser light from an output of the multimode optical fiber to an input of a high temperature holder, such as a holder made of stainless steel, and a detector portion for receiving emission signal and analyzing LIBS intensities. In one variation, the multimode optical fiber has silica core and silica cladding. The holder includes optical lenses for collimating and focusing the laser light in a molten alloy to produce a plasma, and for collecting and transmitting an emission signal to the multimode optical fiber.

Watt-level short-length holmium-doped ZBLAN fiber lasers at 1.2  μm.

PubMed

Zhu, Xiushan; Zong, Jie; Wiersma, Kort; Norwood, R A; Prasad, Narasimha S; Obland, Michael D; Chavez-Pirson, Arturo; Peyghambarian, N

2014-03-15

In-band core-pumped Ho3+-doped ZBLAN fiber lasers at the 1.2 μm region were investigated with different gain fiber lengths. A 2.4 W 1190 nm all-fiber laser with a slope efficiency of 42% was achieved by using a 10 cm long gain fiber pumped at a maximum available 1150 nm pump power of 5.9 W. A 1178 nm all-fiber laser was demonstrated with an output power of 350 mW and a slope efficiency of 6.5%. High Ho3+ doping in ZBLAN is shown to be effective in producing single-frequency fiber lasers and short-length fiber amplifiers immune from stimulated Brillouin scattering.

Wavelength-tunable, passively mode-locked fiber laser based on graphene and chirped fiber Bragg grating.

PubMed

He, Xiaoying; Liu, Zhi-bo; Wang, D N

2012-06-15

We demonstrate a wavelength-tunable, passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser based on graphene and chirped fiber Bragg grating. The saturable absorber used to enable passive mode-locking in the fiber laser is a section of microfiber covered by graphene film, which allows light-graphene interaction via the evanescent field of the microfiber. The wavelength of the laser can be continuously tuned by adjusting the chirped fiber Bragg grating, while maintaining mode-locking stability. Such a system has high potential in tuning the mode-locked laser pulses across a wide wavelength range.

Tunable narrow linewidth all-fiber thulium-doped fiber laser in a 2 µm-band using two Hi-Bi fiber optical loop mirrors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Posada-Ramírez, B.; Durán-Sánchez, M.; Álvarez-Tamayo, R. I.; Ibarra-Escamilla, B.; Hernández-Arriaga, M. V.; Sánchez-de-la-Llave, D.; Kuzin, E. A.

2017-08-01

We propose an all-fiber Tm-doped fiber laser with a tunable and narrow laser line generated in a wavelength region of 2 µm. A single laser line with a linewidth below 0.05 nm, tunable in a wavelength range of 44.25 nm, is obtained. The laser linewidth and the discrete wavelength tuning range depend on the characteristics of the two fiber optical loop mirrors with high birefringence in the loop that forms the cavity. Dual-wavelength laser operation is also observed at tuning range limits with a wavelength separation of 47 nm. Alternate wavelength switching is also observed.

Picosecond 1064-nm fiber laser with tunable pulse width and low timing jitter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Wenyan; Zhang, Shukui

2018-02-01

We report an all-fiber, linearly polarized, 1.1-W, 1064-nm fiber laser based on a two-stage Ytterbium-doped fiber amplifier seeded by a gain-switched diode laser with tunable pulse width from 21 to 200 ps at repetition rates of 0.5-1.5 GHz. Timing jitter of our 1064-nm fiber laser was measured to be 0.60 ps over 10 Hz-40 MHz when the gain-switched diode laser was operated at a repetition rate of 0.5, 1, and 1.5 GHz. The fiber laser offers an excellent long term power stability of +/- 0.3% and wavelength stability of +/- 0.01 nm over 8 hours

Fiber laser at 2 μm for soft tissue surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Aditi; Pal, Debasis; Sen, Ranjan; Pal, Atasi

2014-11-01

Strong water absorption at 2 μm generated recent interest in lasers at this wavelength for soft tissue surgery. A fiber Bragg grating-based, all-fiber, continuous-wave, cladding pumped, thulium-doped fiber laser at 1.95 μm is configured. The thulium-doped active fiber with octagonal-shaped inner cladding is pumped at 808 nm (total power of 17 W) with six laser diodes through a combiner. The laser power of 3.3 W (after elimination of unabsorbed pump power through a passive fiber) with slope efficiency of 23% (against launched pump power) is achieved. The linear variation of laser power with pump offers scope of further power scaling.

The effect of frequency doubled double pulse Nd:YAG laser fiber proximity to the target stone on transient cavitation and acoustic emission.

PubMed

Fuh, Eric; Haleblian, George E; Norris, Regina D; Albala, W David M; Simmons, Neal; Zhong, Pei; Preminger, Glenn M

2007-04-01

Scant information has been published describing the effect of laser fiber distance from the stone target on the mechanism of calculus fragmentation. Using high speed photography and acoustic emission measurements we characterized the impact of laser fiber proximity on stone comminution. We evaluated the effect of laser fiber distance from the stone target on resultant cavitation bubble formation and shock wave generation. Stone fragmentation was assessed using a FREDDY (frequency doubled double pulse Nd:YAG) (World of Medicine, Orlando, Florida) laser and a holmium laser. The FREDDY laser was operated using a 420 microm fiber at an output energy of 120 and 160 mJ in single and double pulse settings, and a pulse repetition rate of 1 Hz. The holmium laser was operated using a 200 microm fiber at an output energy of 1 to 3 J and a pulse repetition rate of 1 Hz. The surface of a 1 cm square BegoStone (Bego, Bremen, Germany) attached to an X-Y-Z translational stage was aligned perpendicular to the laser fiber, which was immersed in a Lucite tank filled with water at room temperature. An Imacon 200 high speed camera was used to capture transient cavitation bubbles at a framing rate of up to 1,000,000 frames per second. Acoustic emission signals associated with shock waves generated during the rapid expansion and collapse of the cavitation bubble were measured using a 1 MHz focused ultrasound transducer. At laser fiber distances of 3.0 mm or less cavitation bubbles and shock waves were observed with the FREDDY laser. In contrast to the holmium laser, the bubble size and shock wave intensity of the FREDDY laser was inversely related to the fiber-to-stone distance over the range tested (0.5 to 3.0 mm). While bubble size was noted to increase with a larger stone-to-fiber distance using the holmium laser, to consistently generate cavitation bubbles and shock waves using the FREDDY laser the laser fiber should be operated within 3.0 mm of the target stone. These findings have significant implications during clinical laser stone fragmentation.

Hyperthermia treatment of spontaneously occurring oral cavity tumors using a computer-controlled Nd:YAG laser system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panjehpour, Masoud; Overholt, Bergein F.; Frazier, Donita L.; Klebanow, Edward R.

1991-05-01

Conventional hyperthermia treatment of superficial tumors in the oral cavity is difficult due to inability in accessing the lesion. A new hyperthermia technique employing near infrared Nd:YAG irradiation delivered through an optical fiber is introduced for heating oral and nasal tumors in animals. This system consisted of an Nd:YAG laser, a He-Ne laser, a computer controlled optical shutter, an interstitial thermometer, computer and a printer. The tumors were heated via surface illumination of the lesion. A thermocouple implanted in the base of the tumor provided temperature feedback for laser energy regulation. Three spontaneously occurring canine (two squamous cell carcinoma on the gum, one pigmented melanoma on the hard palate) and one feline tumor (squamous cell carcinoma on the nose) have been treated with the Nd:YAG laser-induced hyperthermia delivered following radiation therapy. The tumor temperature was maintained between 43.2-43.5 degree(s)C for one hour. Nd:YAG hyperthermia allowed efficient delivery of heat to veterinary oral and nasal lesions otherwise impossible to treat with conventional heating techniques.

Raman beam combining for laser brightness enhancement

DOEpatents

Dawson, Jay W.; Allen, Graham S.; Pax, Paul H.; Heebner, John E.; Sridharan, Arun K.; Rubenchik, Alexander M.; Barty, Chrisopher B. J.

2015-10-27

An optical source capable of enhanced scaling of pulse energy and brightness utilizes an ensemble of single-aperture fiber lasers as pump sources, with each such fiber laser operating at acceptable pulse energy levels. Beam combining involves stimulated Raman scattering using a Stokes' shifted seed beam, the latter of which is optimized in terms of its temporal and spectral properties. Beams from fiber lasers can thus be combined to attain pulses with peak energies in excess of the fiber laser self-focusing limit of 4 MW while retaining the advantages of a fiber laser system of high average power with good beam quality.

End-pumped 300 W continuous-wave ytterbium-doped all-fiber laser with master oscillator multi-stage power amplifiers configuration.

PubMed

Yin, Shupeng; Yan, Ping; Gong, Mali

2008-10-27

An end-pumped ytterbium-doped all-fiber laser with 300 W output in continuous regime was reported, which was based on master oscillator multi-stage power amplifiers configuration. Monolithic fiber laser system consisted of an oscillator stage and two amplifier stages. Total optical-optical efficiency of monolithic fiber laser was approximately 65%, corresponding to 462 W of pump power coupled into laser system. We proposed a new method to connect power amplifier stage, which was crucial for the application of end-pumped combiner in high power MOPAs all-fiber laser.

2μm all fiber multi-wavelength Tm/Ho co-doped fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Junhong; Jiang, Qiuxia; Wang, Xiaofa

2017-10-01

A 2 μm all fiber multi-wavelength Tm/Ho co-doped fiber laser based on a simple ring cavity is experimentally demonstrated. Compared with other 2 μm multi-wavelength Tm/Ho co-doped fiber lasers, the multi-wavelength fiber laser is obtained by the gain saturation effect and inhomogeneous broadening effect without any frequency selector component, filter component or polarization-dependent component. When the pump power is about 304 mW, the fiber laser enters into single-wavelength working state around 1967.76 nm. Further increasing the pump power to 455 mW, a stable dual-wavelength laser is obtained at room temperature. The bimodal power difference between λ1 and λ2 is 5.528 dB. The fluctuations of wavelength and power are less than 0.03 nm and 0.264 dB in an hour, which demonstrates that the multi-wavelength fiber laser works at a stable state. Furthermore, a research about the relationship between the pump power and the output spectra has been made.

Laser absorption of carbon fiber reinforced polymer with randomly distributed carbon fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Jun; Xu, Hebing; Li, Chao

2018-03-01

Laser processing of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) is a non-traditional machining method which has many prospective applications. The laser absorption characteristics of CFRP are analyzed in this paper. A ray tracing model describing the interaction of the laser spot with CFRP is established. The material model contains randomly distributed carbon fibers which are generated using an improved carbon fiber placement method. It was found that CFRP has good laser absorption due to multiple reflections of the light rays in the material’s microstructure. The randomly distributed carbon fibers make the absorptivity of the light rays change randomly in the laser spot. Meanwhile, the average absorptivity fluctuation is obvious during movement of the laser. The experimental measurements agree well with the values predicted by the ray tracing model.

Exploiting solitons in all-optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atieh, Ahmad K.

Two key components, the pulse generator and optical signal demultiplexer, needed for the implementation of all-optical soliton-based local area and wide area networks are investigated. The technology of generating a bright soliton pulse train from a sinusoidal pulse train produced as the beat signal of two distributed feedback laser diodes passed through a so-called comblike fiber structure is developed. A design methodology for this structure is discussed, and using this approach a soliton pulse source is constructed generating 1553 nm pulses at a repetition rate of 50 GHz, with pulses of full width at half maximum of 2.0 ps. The fiber structure used to generate the bright soliton pulse train employs the lowest average power for the beat signal ever reported in the literature, and the shortest length of fiber. The same structure (with a different design) is also used to produce a 47.6 GHz dark soliton pulse train with a full width at half maximum of 3.8 ps. This is the first reported use of this structure to generate dark solitons. It is shown that the comblike dispersion profile fiber structures may also be exploited for soliton pulse compression producing widths as short as 200 fs. Two approaches to implementation of optical signal demultiplexing are discussed. These are the nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) and the separation of multilevel time division multiplexed signal pulses in the frequency domain by exploiting the relationship between the pulse's energy (i.e. pulse amplitude and width) and the Raman self-frequency shift. A modification of the NOLM scheme is investigated where feedback that adjusts the power of the control signal (by controlling the gain of an erbium-doped fiber amplifier introduced into the control signal input path) is employed to make the structure insensitive to the state of polarization of the signal and control pulses. In order to better understand the physical phenomena exploited in optical fiber soliton transmission and the above schemes, two experiments are conducted to measure the fiber nonlinear ratio (n2/Aeff) and the Raman time constant (TR) in single-mode fibers at 1550 nm. The fiber nonlinear ratio was measured for standard telecommunication fiber, dispersion shifted fiber, and dispersion compensating fiber. A value of 3.0 fs for the Raman time constant was measured and is recommended for soliton pulse propagation modeling in single-mode optical fibers.

Response of feline intradental nerve fibers to tooth cutting by Er:YAG laser.

PubMed

Chaiyavej, S; Yamamoto, H; Takeda, A; Suda, H

2000-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the response of intradental A- and C-fibers during tooth cutting by Er:YAG laser. Bipolar electrical stimulation was applied to the cat's canine to identify functional single nerve fibers of the inferior alveolar nerve. The tip of the canine tooth was cut in 0.5-mm steps until the pulp was exposed. Teeth were alternately cut by using Er:YAG laser (50 mJ, 5 pps) and micromotor under water cooling. The nerve response recorded from the single nerve fibers during laser cutting was compared with that during micromotor cutting. All 26 A-fibers responded to laser cutting with high frequency of nerve firings. The nerve firing rate was significantly higher during laser cutting compared with that during micromotor cutting of superficial dentin (Chi(2) test, P < 0.05) but was not significantly different at deep dentin (P > or = 0. 05). Nine of 11 C-fibers responded to laser cutting when the deep dentin was cut. Among those nine nerve fibers, three also showed a low frequency response to laser cutting of the superficial dentin. During the tooth cutting, Er:YAG laser was more effective in activating intradental A-fibers compared with micromotor and also caused the activation of intradental C-fibers. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Switchable narrow linewidth fiber laser with LP11 transverse mode output

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Ya; Ren, Guobin; Yang, Yuguang; Yao, Shuzhi; Wu, Yue; Jiang, Youchao; Xu, Yao; Jin, Wenxing; Zhu, Bofeng; Jian, Shuisheng

2018-01-01

We experimentally demonstrate a switchable narrow linewidth single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) erbium-doped fiber (EDF) ring laser with LP11 transverse mode output. The laser is based on a mode selective all-fiber fused coupler which is composed of a single-mode fiber (SMF) and a two-mode fiber (TMF). By controlling the polarization state of the output light, the laser can provide narrow linewidth SLM output with LP11 transverse mode at two specific wavelengths, which correspond to two transmission peaks of the chirped moiré fiber grating (CMFBG). The 20 dB linewidth of the fiber laser for each wavelength is approximately 7.2 and 6.4 kHz.

Tunable thulium-doped fiber laser based on an abrupt-tapered in-fiber interferometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernández-Arriaga, M. V.; Durán-Sánchez, M.; Ibarra-Escamilla, B.; Álvarez-Tamayo, R. I.; Santiago-Hernández, H.; Bello-Jiménez, M.; Kuzin, E. A.

2017-11-01

An experimental study of an all-fiber tunable thulium-doped fiber laser based on an abrupt-tapered in-fiber interferometer is presented. A microfiber filter with length of 6 mm and diameter of 20 μm is used to achieve single laser wavelength tuning in a range of 19.4 nm and dual-wavelength laser operation at 1761.8 and 1793.4 nm with a channel spacing of 31.6 nm. The abrupt-tapered structure allows multi-modal interference at the air-cladding interface. The proposed in-fiber interferometer exhibits characteristics of low cost and simple fabrication, making it suitable for practical applications in wavelength filtering and wavelength selection in all-fiber lasers.

Fiber optic laser rod

DOEpatents

Erickson, G.F.

1988-04-13

A laser rod is formed from a plurality of optical fibers, each forming an individual laser. Synchronization of the individual fiber lasers is obtained by evanescent wave coupling between adjacent optical fiber cores. The fiber cores are dye-doped and spaced at a distance appropriate for evanescent wave coupling at the wavelength of the selected dye. An interstitial material having an index of refraction lower than that of the fiber core provides the optical isolation for effective lasing action while maintaining the cores at the appropriate coupling distance. 2 figs.

High-brightness power delivery for fiber laser pumping: simulation and measurement of low-NA fiber guiding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yanson, Dan; Levy, Moshe; Peleg, Ophir; Rappaport, Noam; Shamay, Moshe; Dahan, Nir; Klumel, Genady; Berk, Yuri; Baskin, Ilya

2015-02-01

Fiber laser manufacturers demand high-brightness laser diode pumps delivering optical pump energy in both a compact fiber core and narrow angular content. A pump delivery fiber of a 105 μm core and 0.22 numerical aperture (NA) is typically used, where the fiber NA is under-filled to ease the launch of laser diode emission into the fiber and make the fiber tolerant to bending. At SCD, we have developed multi-emitter fiber-coupled pump modules that deliver 50 W output from a 105 μm, 0.15 NA fiber at 915, 950 and 976 nm wavelengths enabling low-NA power delivery to a customer's fiber laser network. In this work, we address the challenges of coupling and propagating high optical powers from laser diode sources in weakly guiding step-index multimode fibers. We present simulations of light propagation inside the low-NA multimode fiber for different launch conditions and fiber bend diameters using a ray-racing tool and demonstrate how these affect the injection of light into cladding-bounded modes. The mode filling at launch and source NA directly limit the bend radius at which the fiber can be coiled. Experimentally, we measure the fiber bend loss using our 50 W fiber-coupled module and establish a critical bend diameter in agreement with our simulation results. We also employ thermal imaging to investigate fiber heating caused by macro-bends and angled cleaving. The low mode filling of the 0.15 NA fiber by our brightness-enhanced laser diodes allows it to be coiled with diameters down to 70 mm at full operating power despite the low NA and further eliminates the need for mode-stripping at fiber combiners and splices downstream from our pump modules.

Fiber laser coupled optical spark delivery system

DOEpatents

Yalin, Azer [Fort Collins, CO; Willson, Bryan [Fort Collins, CO; Defoort, Morgan [Fort Collins, CO; Joshi, Sachin [Fort Collins, CO; Reynolds, Adam [Fort Collins, CO

2008-03-04

A spark delivery system for generating a spark using a laser beam is provided, and includes a laser light source and a laser delivery assembly. The laser delivery assembly includes a hollow fiber and a launch assembly comprising launch focusing optics to input the laser beam in the hollow fiber. The laser delivery assembly further includes exit focusing optics that demagnify an exit beam of laser light from the hollow fiber, thereby increasing the intensity of the laser beam and creating a spark. Other embodiments use a fiber laser to generate a spark. Embodiments of the present invention may be used to create a spark in an engine. Yet other embodiments include collecting light from the spark or a flame resulting from the spark and conveying the light for diagnostics. Methods of using the spark delivery systems and diagnostic systems are provided.

Strong intensity variations of laser feedback interferometer caused by atmospheric turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Yiyi; Li, Zhiping

2003-05-01

The significant variation of the laser output can be caused by feedback of a small part of laser beam, which is reflected or backscattered by a target at a long distance from laser source, into the laser cavity. This paper describes and analyzes theoretically and experimentally the influence of atmospheric turbulence on interference caused by laser feedback. The influence depends upon both the energy of feedback into the laser cavity and the strength of turbulence over a laser propagation path in the atmosphere. In the case of stronger energy of feedback and weak turbulence variance of fluctuation of the laser output can be enhanced by hundreds to thousands times. From our measurements and theoretical analysis it shows thatthese significant enhancements can result from the change of laser-cavity-modes which can be stimulated simultaneously and from beat oscillations between a variety of frequencies of laser modes. This also can result from optical chaos inside the laser resonator because a non-separable distorted external cavity can become a prerequisite for optical chaos.

High-speed micro-scale laser shock peening using a fiber laser (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chenfei; Deng, Leimin; Sun, Shiding; Lu, Yongfeng

2017-03-01

Laser shock peening using low-energy nanosecond (ns) fiber lasers was investigated in this study to realize high-speed micro-scale laser shock peening on selected positions without causing surface damage. Due to the employment of a fiber laser with high-frequency and prominent environmental adaptability, the laser peening system is able to work with a much higher speed compared to traditional peening systems using Nd:YAG lasers and is promising for in-situ applications in harsh environments. Detailed surface morphology investigations both on sacrificial coatings and Al alloy surfaces after the fiber laser peening revealed the effects of focal position, pulse duration, peak power density, and impact times. Micro-dent arrays were also obtained with different spot-to-spot distances. Obvious micro-hardness improvement was observed inside the laser-peening-induced microdents after the fiber laser shock peening.

Application and the key technology on high power fiber-optic laser in laser weapon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qu, Zhou; Li, Qiushi; Meng, Haihong; Sui, Xin; Zhang, Hongtao; Zhai, Xuhua

2014-12-01

The soft-killing laser weapon plays an important role in photoelectric defense technology. It can be used for photoelectric detection, search, blinding of photoelectric sensor and other devices on fire control and guidance devices, therefore it draws more and more attentions by many scholars. High power fiber-optic laser has many virtues such as small volume, simple structure, nimble handling, high efficiency, qualified light beam, easy thermal management, leading to blinding. Consequently, it may be used as the key device of soft-killing laser weapon. The present study introduced the development of high power fiber-optic laser and its main features. Meanwhile the key technology of large mode area (LMA) optical fiber design, the beam combination technology, double-clad fiber technology and pumping optical coupling technology was stated. The present study is aimed to design high doping LMA fiber, ensure single mode output by increasing core diameter and decrease NA. By means of reducing the spontaneous emission particle absorbed by fiber core and Increasing the power density in the optical fiber, the threshold power of nonlinear effect can increase, and the power of single fiber will be improved. Meantime, high power will be obtained by the beam combination technology. Application prospect of high power fiber laser in photoelectric defense technology was also set forth. Lastly, the present study explored the advantages of high power fiber laser in photoelectric defense technology.

Highly Tm3+ doped germanate glass and its single mode fiber for 2.0 μm laser

PubMed Central

Wen, Xin; Tang, Guowu; Yang, Qi; Chen, Xiaodong; Qian, Qi; Zhang, Qinyuan; Yang, Zhongmin

2016-01-01

Highly Tm3+ doped optical fibers are urgently desirable for 2.0 μm compact single-frequency fiber laser and high-repetition-rate mode-locked fiber laser. Here, we systematically investigated the optical parameters, energy transfer processes and thermal properties of Tm3+ doped barium gallo-germanate (BGG) glasses. Highly Tm3+ doped BGG glass single mode (SM) fibers were fabricated by the rod-in-tube technique. The Tm3+ doping concentration reaches 7.6 × 1020 ions/cm3, being the reported highest level in Tm3+ doped BGG SM fibers. Using ultra short (1.6 cm) as-drawn highly Tm3+ doped BGG SM fiber, a single-frequency fiber laser at 1.95 μm has been demonstrated with a maximum output power of 35 mW when in-band pumped by a home-made 1568 nm fiber laser. Additionally, a multilongitudinal-mode fiber laser at 1.95 μm has also been achieved in a 10 cm long as-drawn active fiber, yielding a maximum laser output power of 165 mW and a slope efficiency of 17%. The results confirm that the as-drawn highly Tm3+ doped BGG SM fibers are promising in applications that require high gain and high power from a short piece of active optical fiber. PMID:26828920

Numerical analysis of 2.7 μm lasing in Er3+-doped tellurite fiber lasers

PubMed Central

Wang, Weichao; Li, Lixiu; Chen, Dongdan; Zhang, Qinyuan

2016-01-01

The laser performance of Er3+-doped tellurite fiber lasers operating at 2.7 μm due to 4I11/2 → 4I13/2 transition has been theoretically studied by using rate equations and propagation equations. The effects of pumping configuration and fiber length on the output power, slope efficiency, threshold, and intracavity pump and laser power distributions have been systematically investigated to optimize the performance of fiber lasers. When the pump power is 20 W, the maximum slope efficiency (27.62%), maximum output power (5.219 W), and minimum threshold (278.90 mW) are predicted with different fiber lengths (0.05–5 m) under three pumping configurations. It is also found that reasonable output power is expected for fiber loss below 2 dB/ m. The numerical modeling on the two- and three-dimensional laser field distributions are further analyzed to reveal the characteristics of this multimode step-index tellurite fiber. Preliminary simulation results show that this Er3+-doped tellurite fiber is an excellent alternative to conventional fluoride fiber for developing efficient 2.7 μm fiber lasers. PMID:27545663

Femtosecond Fiber Lasers Based on Dissipative Processes for Nonlinear Microscopy.

PubMed

Wise, Frank W

2012-01-01

Recent progress in the development of femtosecond-pulse fiber lasers with parameters appropriate for nonlinear microscopy is reviewed. Pulse-shaping in lasers with only normal-dispersion components is briefly described, and the performance of the resulting lasers is summarized. Fiber lasers based on the formation of dissipative solitons now offer performance competitive with that of solid-state lasers, but with the benefits of the fiber medium. Lasers based on self-similar pulse evolution in the gain section of a laser also offer a combination of short pulse duration and high pulse energy that will be attractive for applications in nonlinear bioimaging.

Investigation of laser induced parametric interactions in optical waveguides and fibers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yu, C.

1978-01-01

Experimental and theoretical aspects of the laser pump depletion characteristics in an optical fiber due to stimulated Raman scattering, and stimulated Brillouin scattering were studied. A review is presented of research in fiber transmission accompanied by stimulated scattering. Results of experimental work with tunable dye lasers and argon lasers are presented. The spectral profiles of the laser pump and its transmitted light through the fiber are given.

High power, high signal-to-noise ratio single-frequency 1μm Brillouin all-fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jing; Hou, Yubin; Zhang, Qian; Jin, Dongchen; Sun, Ruoyu; Shi, Hongxing; Liu, Jiang; Wang, Pu

2016-03-01

We demonstrate a high-power, high signal-to-noise ratio single-frequency 1 μm Brillouin all-fiber laser with high slope efficiency. The Brillouin laser system consists of a high-power single-frequency fiber laser and a single-pass Brillouin ring cavity. The high-power single-frequency fiber laser is one-stage master-oscillator power amplifier with the maximum output power of 10.33 W, the signal-to-noise ratio of 50 dB and the slope efficiency of 46%. The Brillouin fiber laser is pumped by the amplified laser with a linewidth of 33 kHz and an output power of 2.61 W limited by the damage threshold of the optical isolator. By optimizing the length of the Brillouin ring cavity to 10 m, stable singlefrequency Brillouin fiber laser is obtained with 3 kHz linewidth owing to the linewidth narrowing effect. At the launched pump power of 2.15 W, the Brillouin fiber laser generates maximum output power of 1.4 W with a slope efficiency of 79% and the optical signal-to-noise ratio of 77 dB.

All-fiber linearly polarized high power 2-μm single mode Tm-fiber laser for plastic processing and Ho-laser pumping applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scholle, K.; Schäfer, M.; Lamrini, S.; Wysmolek, M.; Steinke, M.; Neumann, J.; Fuhrberg, P.

2018-02-01

In this paper we present a high power, polarized 2 μm Thulium-doped fiber laser with high beam quality. Such laser systems are ideally suited for the processing of plastic materials which are highly transparent in the visible and 1 μm wavelength range and for the pumping of laser sources for the mid-IR wavelength region. For most applications polarized lasers are beneficial, as they can be easily protected from back reflections and combined with other laser sources or power scaled by polarization combining. The Tm-doped fiber laser is pumped in an all-fiber configuration by using a fiber coupled pump diode emitting around 790 nm. This pumping scheme allows the exploitation of the crossrelaxation process to populate the upper laser level. A compact and robust laser configuration was achieved by using an all-fiber configuration with single mode fibers and fiber Bragg gratings (FBG). Different FBG pairs with wavelength around 2 μm were tested. To achieve stable polarized output power the fibers with the FBG were 90° twisted at the splices. Stable linearly polarized output power up to 38 W with an extinction ratio of up to 50:1 was observed. With respect to the diode output power an optical-to-optical efficiency of 51 % was reached with a correspondent slope efficiency of 52 %. The emission linewidth at maximum power was measured to be < 0.3 nm which is well suitable for Ho-laser pumping. First tests of the precise processing of highly transparent plastic materials demonstrate the potentials of these laser systems.

Cost-effective wavelength-tunable fiber laser using self-seeding Fabry-Perot laser diode.

PubMed

Yeh, Chien-Hung; Shih, Fu Y; Wang, Chia H; Chow, Chi W; Chi, Sien

2008-01-07

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a continuous wave (CW) tunable-wavelength fiber laser using self-seeding Fabry-Perot laser diode (FP-LD) without optical amplifier inside gain cavity. By employing a tunable bandpass filter (TBF) and a fiber reflected mirror (FRM) within a gain cavity, the fiber laser can lase a single-longitudinal wavelength due to the self-seeding operation. The proposed tunable wavelength laser has a good performance of the output power (> -15 dBm) and optical side-mode suppression ratio (> 40 dB) in the wavelength tuning range of 1533.75 to 1560.95 nm. In addition, the output stabilities of the fiber laser are also investigated.

Design and optimization of a flexible high-peak-power laser-to-fiber coupled illumination system used in digital particle image velocimetry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robinson, Ronald A.; Ilev, Ilko K.

We present a study on the design and parameter optimization of a flexible high-peak-power fiber-optic laser delivery system using commercially available solid-core silica fibers and an experimental glass hollow waveguide (HW). The fiber-optic delivery system provides a flexible, safe, and easily and precisely positioned laser irradiation for many applications including uniform illumination for digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV). The delivery fibers, when coupled through a line-generating lens, produce a uniform thin laser sheet illumination for accurate and repeatable DPIV two-dimensional velocity measurements. We report experimental results on homogenizing the laser beam profile using various mode-mixing techniques. Furthermore, because a fundamentalmore » problem for fiber-optic-based high-peak-power laser delivery systems is the possible damage effects of the fiber material, we determine experimentally the peak power density damage threshold of various delivery fibers designed for the visible spectral range at a typical DPIV laser wavelength of 532 nm. In the case of solid-core silica delivery fibers using conventional lens-based laser-to-fiber coupling, the damage threshold varies from 3.7 GW/cm{sup 2} for a 100-{mu}m-core-diameter high-temperature fiber to 3.9 GW/cm{sup 2} for a 200-{mu}m-core-diameter high-power delivery fiber, with a total output laser energy delivered of at least 3-10 mJ for those respective fibers. Therefore, these fibers are marginally suitable for most macro-DPIV applications. However, to improve the high-power delivery capability for close-up micro-DPIV applications, we propose and validate an experimental fiber link with much higher laser power delivery capability than the solid-core fiber links. We use an uncoated grazing-incidence-based tapered glass funnel coupled to a glass HW with hollow air-core diameter of 700 {mu}m, a low numerical aperture of 0.05, and a thin inside cladding of cyclic olefin polymer coating for optimum transmission at 532 nm. Because of the mode homogenizing effect and lower power density, the taper-waveguide laser delivery technique ensured high damage threshold for the delivery HW, and as a result, no damage occurred at the maximum measured input laser energy of 33 mJ used in this study.« less

Impact of fiber ring laser configuration on detection capabilities in FBG based sensor systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osuch, Tomasz; Kossek, Tomasz; Markowski, Konrad

2014-11-01

In this paper fiber ring lasers (FRL) as interrogation units for distributed fiber Bragg grating (FBG) based sensor networks are studied. In particular, two configurations of the fiber laser with erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) and semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) as gain medium were analyzed. In the case of EDFA-based fiber interrogation systems, CW as well as active-mode locking operation were taken into account. The influence of spectral overlapping of FBGs spectra on detection capabilities of examined FRLs are presented. Experimental results show that the SOA-based fiber laser interrogation unit can operate as a multi-parametric sensing system. In turn, using an actively mode-locked fiber ring laser with an EDFA, an electronically switchable FBG based sensing system can be realized.

A low cost hermetic packaging for high power industry fiber lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Jianwu; Liu, Jinhui

2018-02-01

For water-cooled fiber lasers, humidity and the resulting water-condensation has always been the biggest threat for laser reliability or power degradation, especially when used in harsh industrial environment. Here we present an innovative fiber laser packaging method featuring cast aluminum frame and an almost screw-free exterior packaging. A CW fiber laser with 1.5KW laser output power in such a compact and light-weight package has been demonstrated with an excellent beam quality and power stability for industry applications.

High Average Power Raman Conversion in Diamond: ’Eyesafe’ Output and Fiber Laser Conversion

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-19

Eyesafe’ output and fiber laser conversion 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER FA2386-12-1-4055 5b. GRANT NUMBER Grant 12RSZ077_124055 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT...generating 380 W was demonstrated using a 630 W Ybdoped fiber laser system. In each case the performance was unsaturated and limited by the available pump...converter for conventional high power laser technologies including Nd doped lasers and Yb-doped fiber lasers. Diamond’s power handling capability now

Image-guided smart laser system for precision implantation of cells in cartilage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katta, Nitesh; Rector, John A.; Gardner, Michael R.; McElroy, Austin B.; Choy, Kevin C.; Crosby, Cody; Zoldan, Janet; Milner, Thomas E.

2017-03-01

State-of-the-art treatment for joint diseases like osteoarthritis focus on articular cartilage repair/regeneration by stem cell implantation therapy. However, the technique is limited by a lack of precision in the physician's imaging and cell deposition toolkit. We describe a novel combination of high-resolution, rapid scan-rate optical coherence tomography (OCT) alongside a short-pulsed nanosecond thulium (Tm) laser for precise cell seeding in cartilage. The superior beam quality of thulium lasers and wavelength of operation 1940 nm offers high volumetric tissue removal rates and minimizes the residual thermal footprint. OCT imaging enables targeted micro-well placement, precise cell deposition, and feature contrast. A bench-top system is constructed using a 15 W, 1940 nm, nanosecond-pulsed Tm fiber laser (500 μJ pulse energy, 100 ns pulse duration, 30kHz repetition rate) for removing tissue, and a swept source laser (1310 ± 70 nm, 100 kHz sweep rate) for OCT imaging, forming a combined Tm/OCT system - a "smart laser knife". OCT assists the smart laser knife user in characterizing cartilage to inform micro-well placement. The Tm laser creates micro-wells (2.35 mm diameter length, 1.5 mm width, 300 μm deep) and micro-incisions (1 mm wide, 200 μm deep) while OCT image-guidance assists and demonstrates this precision cutting and cell deposition with real-time feedback. To test micro-well creation and cell deposition protocol, gelatin phantoms are constructed mimicking cartilage optical properties and physiological structure. Cell viability is then assessed to illustrate the efficacy of the hydrogel deposition. Automated OCT feedback is demonstrated for cutting procedures to avoid important surface/subsurface structures. This bench-top smart laser knife system described here offers a new image-guided approach to precise stem cell seeding that can enhance the efficacy of articular cartilage repair.

Fiber optic coupling of a microlens conditioned, stacked semiconductor laser diode array

DOEpatents

Beach, Raymond J.; Benett, William J.; Mills, Steven T.

1997-01-01

The output radiation from the two-dimensional aperture of a semiconductor laser diode array is efficiently coupled into an optical fiber. The two-dimensional aperture is formed by stacking individual laser diode bars on top of another in a "rack and stack" configuration. Coupling into the fiber is then accomplished using individual microlenses to condition the output radiation of the laser diode bars. A lens that matches the divergence properties and wavefront characteristics of the laser light to the fiber optic is used to focus this conditioned radiation into the fiber.

Material processing with fiber based ultrafast pulse delivery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baumbach, S.; Stockburger, R.; Führa, B.; Zoller, S.; Thum, S.; Moosmann, J.; Maier, D.; Kanal, F.; Russ, S.; Kaiser, E.; Budnicki, A.; Sutter, D. H.; Pricking, S.; Killi, A.

2018-02-01

We report on TRUMPF's ultrafast laser systems equipped with industrialized hollow core fiber laser light cables. Beam guidance in general by means of optical fibers, e.g. for multi kilowatt cw laser systems, has become an integral part of laser-based material processing. One advantage of fiber delivery, among others, is the mechanical separation between laser and processing head. An equally important benefit is given by the fact that the fiber end acts as an opto-mechanical fix-point close to successive optical elements in the processing head. Components like lenses, diffractive optical elements etc. can thus be designed towards higher efficiency which results in better material processing. These aspects gain increasing significance when the laser system operates in fundamental mode which is usually the case for ultrafast lasers. Through the last years beam guidance of ultrafast laser pulses by means of hollow core fiber technology established very rapidly. The combination of TRUMPF's long-term stable ultrafast laser sources, passive fiber coupling, connector and packaging forms a flexible and powerful system for laser based material processing well suited for an industrial environment. In this article we demonstrate common material processing applications with ultrafast lasers realized with TRUMPF's hollow core fiber delivery. The experimental results are contrasted and evaluated against conventional free space propagation in order to illustrate the performance of flexible ultrafast beam delivery.

Impact of the Curve Diameter and Laser Settings on Laser Fiber Fracture.

PubMed

Haddad, Mattieu; Emiliani, Esteban; Rouchausse, Yann; Coste, Frederic; Doizi, Steeve; Berthe, Laurent; Butticé, Salvatore; Somani, Bhaskar; Traxer, Olivier

2017-09-01

To analyze the risk factors for laser fiber fractures when deflected to form a curve, including laser settings, size of the laser fiber, and the fiber bending diameter. Single-use 272 and 365 μm fibers (Rocamed ® , Monaco) were employed along with a holmium laser (Rocamed). Five different fiber curve diameters were tested: 9, 12, 15, 18, and 20 mm. Fragmentation and dusting settings were used at a theoretical power of 7.5 W. The laser was activated for 5 minutes and the principal judgment criterion was fiber fracture. Every test for each parameter, bending diameter, and fiber size combinations was repeated 10 times. With dusting settings, fibers broke more frequently at a curved diameter of 9 mm for both 272 and 365 μm fibers (p = 0.037 and 0.006, respectively). Using fragmentation settings, fibers broke more frequently at 12 mm for 272 μm and 15 mm for 365 μm (p = 0.007 and 0.033, respectively). Short pulse and high energy were significant risk factors for fiber fracture using the 365 μm fibers (p = 0.02), but not for the 272 μm fibers (p = 0.35). Frequency was not a risk factor for fiber rupture. Fiber diameters also seemed to be involved in the failure with a higher number of broken fibers for the 365 μm fibers, but this was not statistically significant when compared with the 272 μm fibers (p > 0.05). Small-core fibers are more resistant than large-core fibers as lower bending diameters (<9 mm) are required to break smaller fibers. In acute angles, the use of small-core fibers, at a low energy and long-pulse (dusting) setting, will reduce the risk of fiber rupture.

The truth about laser fiber diameters.

PubMed

Kronenberg, Peter; Traxer, Olivier

2014-12-01

To measure the various diameters of laser fibers from various manufacturers and compare them with the advertised diameter. Fourteen different unused laser fibers from 6 leading manufacturers with advertised diameters of 200, 270, 272, 273, 365, and 400 μm were measured by light microscopy. The outer diameter (including the fiber coating, cladding, and core), cladding diameter (including the cladding and the fiber core), and core diameter were measured. Industry representatives of the manufacturers were interviewed about the diameter of their fibers. For all fibers, the outer and cladding diameters differed significantly from the advertised diameter (P <.00001). The outer diameter, which is of most practical relevance for urologists, exhibited a median increase of 87.3% (range, 50.7%-116.7%). The outer, cladding, and core diameters of fibers with equivalent advertised diameters differed by up to 180, 100, and 78 μm, respectively. Some 200-μm fibers had larger outer diameters than the 270- to 273-μm fibers. All packaging material and all laser fibers lacked clear and precise fiber diameter information labels. Of 12 representatives interviewed, 8, 3, and 1 considered the advertised diameter to be the outer, the cladding, and the core diameter, respectively. Representatives within the same company frequently gave different answers. This study suggests that, at present, there is a lack of uniformity between laser fiber manufacturers, and most of the information conveyed to urologists regarding laser fiber diameter may be incorrect. Because fibers larger than the advertised laser fibers are known to influence key interventional parameters, this misinformation can have surgical repercussions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fiber Lasers and Amplifiers for Space-based Science and Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yu, Anthony W.; Krainak, Michael A.; Stephen, Mark A.; Chen, Jeffrey R.; Coyle, Barry; Numata, Kenji; Camp, Jordan; Abshire, James B.; Allan, Graham R.; Li, Steven X.;

Evaluation of six holmium:YAG optical fibers for ureteroscopy: What's new in 2009?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knudsen, Bodo E.; Teichman, Joel M. H.

2010-02-01

The holmium:yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) laser is the gold standard laser for intracorporeal lithotripsy.1 Optical fibers are utilized to transmit laser energy to the surface of a stone for fragmentation via a predominant photothermal mechanism.2 Previous work has demonstrated that performance characteristics of holmium:YAG optical fibers used for laser lithotripsy varies. Performance may difference not only between fibers made by different manufacturers but also between individual fibers produced by the same manufacturer.3,4 Fiber failure with bending, such as during lower pole ureterorenoscopy, can lead to catastrophic endoscope damage resulting in costly repair. Manufacturers continue to develop new holmium:YAG optical fibers. In this study we evaluate a series of newly commercially available fibers using a previously designed testing protocol. This study was designed to determine the performance and threshold for failure of six newly available holmium:YAG laser fibers from Cook Medical and Fibertech Gmbh. We hypothesize that fiber performance will continue to vary amongst different holmium:YAG optical fibers.

Holmium:YAG (lambda=2120nm) vs. Thulium fiber (lambda=1908nm) laser for high-power vaporization of canine prostate tissue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casperson, Andrew L.; Barton, Robert A.; Scott, Nicholas J.; Fried, Nathaniel M.

2008-02-01

Direct studies comparing different lasers for treatment of BPH are lacking. This preliminary study compares continuous-wave (CW) vs. pulsed prostate tissue vaporization for the Thulium fiber laser and Holmium:YAG laser, both operating near the 1940 nm water absorption peak in tissue. A 50-W Thulium fiber laser (λ= 1908 nm) delivered CW laser radiation through a 600-μm silica fiber in non-contact mode with a 5-mm-diameter spot at the tissue surface. A Holmium:YAG laser (λ= 2120 nm) operated with an energy of 2 J, pulse rate of 25 Hz, and average power of 50 W, and delivered pulsed laser radiation through a 600-μm silica fiber with a 5-mm-diameter laser spot to achieve similar irradiances at the tissue surface. Tissue vaporization was performed in air with the prostate kept hydrated in saline. Tissue vaporization efficiency of both lasers was compared (n = 10 canine prostates for each laser group). Mean vaporization efficiency measured 5.30 +/- 0.48 kJ/g vs. 4.13 +/- 0.46 kJ/g for Thulium fiber and Holmium lasers (P < 0.05). Tissue vaporization rates measured 0.57 +/- 0.05 g/min vs. 0.73 +/- 0.07 g/min (P < 0.05). The Holmium:YAG laser vaporizes prostate tissue at a higher rate than the Thulium fiber laser, for the same average power delivered to the tissue. Both the Thulium fiber laser and Holmium:YAG lasers are capable of vaporizing prostate tissue at a rate > 1 g/min if operated at the high powers (100-W) typically used in the clinic.

Characterization of the Los Alamos IPG YLR-6000 fiber laser using multiple optical paths and laser focusing optics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Milewski, John O; Bernal, John E

2009-01-01

Fiber laser technology has been identified as the replacement power source for the existing Los Alamos TA-55 production laser welding system. An IPG YLR-6000 fiber laser was purchased, installed at SM-66 R3, and accepted in February 2008. No characterization of the laser and no welding was performed in the Feb 2008 to May 2009 interval. T. Lienert and J. Bernal (Ref. 1, July 2009) determined the existing 200 mm Rofin collimator and focus heads used with the Rofin diode pumped lasers were inadequate for use with the IPG laser due to clipping of the IPG laser beam. Further efforts inmore » testing of the IPG laser with Optoskand fiber delivery optics and a Rofin 120 mm collimator proved problematic due to optical fiber damage. As a result, IPG design optical fibers were purchased as replacements for subsequent testing. Within the same interval, an IPG fiber-to-fiber (F2F) connector, custom built for LANL, (J. Milewski, S. Gravener, Ref.2) was demonstrated and accepted at IPG Oxford, MA in August 2009. An IPG service person was contracted to come to LANL to assist in the installation, training, troubleshooting and characterization of the multiple beam paths and help perform laser head optics characterization. The statement of work is provided below: In summary the laser system, optical fibers, F2F connector, Precitec head, and a modified Rofin type (w/120mm Optoskand collimator) IWindowIBoot system focus head (Figure 1) were shown to perform well at powers up to 6 kW CW. Power measurements, laser spot size measurements, and other characterization data and lessons learned are contained within this report. In addition, a number of issues were identified that will require future resolution.« less

High Power Spark Delivery System Using Hollow Core Kagome Lattice Fibers

PubMed Central

Dumitrache, Ciprian; Rath, Jordan; Yalin, Azer P.

2014-01-01

This study examines the use of the recently developed hollow core kagome lattice fibers for delivery of high power laser pulses. Compared to other photonic crystal fibers (PCFs), the hollow core kagome fibers have larger core diameter (~50 µm), which allows for higher energy coupling in the fiber while also maintaining high beam quality at the output (M2 = 1.25). We have conducted a study of the maximum deliverable energy versus laser pulse duration using a Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm. Pulse energies as high as 30 mJ were transmitted for 30 ns pulse durations. This represents, to our knowledge; the highest laser pulse energy delivered using PCFs. Two fiber damage mechanisms were identified as damage at the fiber input and damage within the bulk of the fiber. Finally, we have demonstrated fiber delivered laser ignition on a single-cylinder gasoline direct injection engine. PMID:28788155

Measuring optical fiber length by use of a short-pulse optical fiber ring laser in a self-injection seeding scheme.

PubMed

Wang, Yi-Ping; Wang, Dong Ning; Jin, Wei

2006-09-01

A method for measuring the length of an optical fiber by use of an optical fiber ring laser pulse source is proposed and demonstrated. The key element of the optical fiber ring laser is a gain-switched Fabry-Perot laser diode operated in a self-injection seeding scheme. This method is especially suitable for measuring a medium or long fiber, and a resolution of 0.1 m is experimentally achieved. The measurement is implemented by accurately determining the pulse frequency that can maximize the output power of the fiber ring laser. The measurement results depend only on the refractive index of the fiber corresponding to this single wavelength, instead of the group index of the fiber, which represents a great advantage over both optical time-domain reflectometry and optical low-coherence reflectometry methods.

Photonic Crystal Fibers

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-12-01

passive and active versions of each fiber designed under this task. Crystal Fibre shall provide characteristics of the fiber fabricated to include core...passive version of multicore fiber iteration 2. 15. SUBJECT TERMS EOARD, Laser physics, Fibre Lasers, Photonic Crystal, Multicore, Fiber Laser 16...9 00* 0 " CRYSTAL FIBRE INT ODUCTION This report describes the photonic crystal fibers developed under agreement No FA8655-o5-a- 3046. All

Ultrafast fiber lasers based on self-similar pulse evolution: a review of current progress

PubMed Central

Chong, Andy; Wright, Logan G; Wise, Frank W

2016-01-01

Self-similar fiber oscillators are a relatively new class of mode-locked lasers. In these lasers, the self-similar evolution of a chirped parabolic pulse in normally-dispersive passive, active, or dispersion-decreasing fiber (DDF) is critical. In active (gain) fiber and DDF, the novel role of local nonlinear attraction makes the oscillators fundamentally different from any mode-locked lasers considered previously. In order to reconcile the spectral and temporal expansion of a pulse in the self-similar segment with the self-consistency required by a laser cavity's periodic boundary condition, several techniques have been applied. The result is a diverse range of fiber oscillators which demonstrate the exciting new design possibilities based on the self-similar model. Here, we review recent progress on self-similar oscillators both in passive and active fiber, and extensions of self-similar evolution for surpassing the limits of rare-earth gain media. We discuss some key remaining research questions and important future directions. Self-similar oscillators are capable of exceptional performance among ultrashort pulsed fiber lasers, and may be of key interest in the development of future ultrashort pulsed fiber lasers for medical imaging applications, as well as for low-noise fiber-based frequency combs. Their uniqueness among mode-locked lasers motivates study into their properties and behaviors and raises questions about how to understand mode-locked lasers more generally. PMID:26496377

Ultrafast fiber lasers based on self-similar pulse evolution: a review of current progress.

PubMed

Chong, Andy; Wright, Logan G; Wise, Frank W

2015-11-01

Self-similar fiber oscillators are a relatively new class of mode-locked lasers. In these lasers, the self-similar evolution of a chirped parabolic pulse in normally-dispersive passive, active, or dispersion-decreasing fiber (DDF) is critical. In active (gain) fiber and DDF, the novel role of local nonlinear attraction makes the oscillators fundamentally different from any mode-locked lasers considered previously. In order to reconcile the spectral and temporal expansion of a pulse in the self-similar segment with the self-consistency required by a laser cavity's periodic boundary condition, several techniques have been applied. The result is a diverse range of fiber oscillators which demonstrate the exciting new design possibilities based on the self-similar model. Here, we review recent progress on self-similar oscillators both in passive and active fiber, and extensions of self-similar evolution for surpassing the limits of rare-earth gain media. We discuss some key remaining research questions and important future directions. Self-similar oscillators are capable of exceptional performance among ultrashort pulsed fiber lasers, and may be of key interest in the development of future ultrashort pulsed fiber lasers for medical imaging applications, as well as for low-noise fiber-based frequency combs. Their uniqueness among mode-locked lasers motivates study into their properties and behaviors and raises questions about how to understand mode-locked lasers more generally.

Researching the 915 nm high-power and high-brightness semiconductor laser single chip coupling module

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xin; Wang, Cuiluan; Wu, Xia; Zhu, Lingni; Jing, Hongqi; Ma, Xiaoyu; Liu, Suping

2017-02-01

Based on the high-speed development of the fiber laser in recent years, the development of researching 915 nm semiconductor laser as main pumping sources of the fiber laser is at a high speed. Because the beam quality of the laser diode is very poor, the 915 nm laser diode is generally based on optical fiber coupling module to output the laser. Using the beam-shaping and fiber-coupling technology to improve the quality of output beam light, we present a kind of high-power and high-brightness semiconductor laser module, which can output 13.22 W through the optical fiber. Based on 915 nm GaAs semiconductor laser diode which has output power of 13.91 W, we describe a thoroughly detailed procedure for reshaping the beam output from the semiconductor laser diode and coupling the beam into the optical fiber of which the core diameter is 105 μm and the numerical aperture is 0.18. We get 13.22 W from the output fiber of the module at 14.5 A, the coupling efficiency of the whole module is 95.03% and the brightness is 1.5 MW/cm2 -str. The output power of the single chip semiconductor laser module achieves the advanced level in the domestic use.

Passively stabilized 215-W monolithic CW LMA-fiber laser with innovative transversal mode filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stutzki, Fabian; Jauregui, Cesar; Voigtländer, Christian; Thomas, Jens U.; Limpert, Jens; Nolte, Stefan; Tünnermann, Andreas

2010-02-01

We report on the development of a high power monolithic CW fiber oscillator with an output power of 215 W in a 20μm core diameter few-mode Large Mode Area fiber (LMA). The key parameters for stable operation are reviewed. With these optimizations the root mean square of the output power fluctuations can be reduced to less than 0.5 % on a timescale of 20 s, which represents an improvement of more than a factor 5 over a non-optimized fiber laser. With a real-time measurement of the mode content of the fiber laser it can be shown that the few-mode nature of LMA fibers is the main factor for the residual instability of our optimized fiber laser. The root of the problem is that Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) written in multimode fibers exhibit a multi-peak reflexion spectrum in which each resonance corresponds to a different transversal mode. This reflectivity spectrum stimulates multimode laser operation, which results in power and pointing instabilities due to gain competition between the different transversal modes . To stabilize the temporal and spatial behavior of the laser output, we propose an innovative passive in-fiber transversal mode filter based on modified FBG-Fabry Perot structure. This structure provides different reflectivities to the different transversal modes according to the transversal distribution of their intensity profile. Furthermore, this structure can be completely written into the active fiber using fs-laser pulses. Moreover, this concept scales very well with the fiber core diameter, which implies that there is no performance loss in fibers with even larger cores. In consequence this structure is inherently power scalable and can, therefore, be used in kW-level fiber laser systems.

All-fiber nonlinearity- and dispersion-managed dissipative soliton nanotube mode-locked laser

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Z.; Nanjing University of Posts and Communications, Nanjing 210003; Popa, D., E-mail: dp387@cam.ac.uk

We report dissipative soliton generation from an Yb-doped all-fiber nonlinearity- and dispersion-managed nanotube mode-locked laser. A simple all-fiber ring cavity exploits a photonic crystal fiber for both nonlinearity enhancement and dispersion compensation. The laser generates stable dissipative solitons with large linear chirp in the net normal dispersion regime. Pulses that are 8.7 ps long are externally compressed to 118 fs, outperforming current nanotube-based Yb-doped fiber laser designs.

40nm tunable multi-wavelength fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Qingsong; Wang, Tianshu; Zhang, Peng; Dong, Keyan; Jiang, Huilin

2014-12-01

A Brillouin-Erbium multi-wavelength tunable fiber laser at C-band is demostrated. A 10 km long singlemode fiber(SMF), a 6 m long Erbium-doped fiber, two couplers, a wavelength division multiplexer, a isolator, an optical circulator, a 980nm pump laser and a narrow linewidth tunable laser are included in the structure. A segment of 10 km-long single-mode fiber (SMF) between the two ports of a 1×2 coupler is used as Brillouin gain. Ebiumdoped fiber amplifier (EDFA) consists of a segment of 6m er-doped fiber pumped by 980nm laser dioder . A narrow linewidth tunable laser from 1527 to 1607 nm as Brillouin bump, At the Brillouin pump power of 8mW and the 980 nm pump power of 400 mw, 16 output channels with 0.08 nm spacing and tuning range of 40 nm from 1527 nm to 1567 nm are achieved. We realize the tunable output of wavelength by adjusting the 980 nm pump power and the Brillouin pump wavelength. Stability of the multiwavelength fiber laser is also observed.

Reconfiguration of the multiwavelength operation of optical fiber ring lasers by the modifiable intra-cavity induced losses of an in-fiber tip probe modal Michelson interferometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salceda-Delgado, G.; Martinez-Rios, A.; Sierra-Hernandez, J. M.; Rodríguez-Carreón, V. C.; Toral-Acosta, D.; Selvas-Aguilar, R.; Álvarez-Tamayo, R. I.; Castillo-Guzman, A. A.; Rojas-Laguna, R.

2018-03-01

A straightforward and versatile method for switching from single to different multiwavelength laser emission in ring cavity fiber lasers is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. The method is based on using the changeable interference pattern from an optical fiber modal Michelson interferometer as a wavelength selective filter into the ring cavity laser. The interferometer is constructed using a bi-conical tapered fiber and a single-mode fiber segment, with these being spliced together to form an optical fiber tip probe. When the length of the single-mode fiber piece is modified, the phase difference between the interfering modes of the interferometer causes a change in the interferometer free spectral range. As a consequence, the laser intra-cavity losses lead to gain competition, which allows us to adjust the number of simultaneously generated laser lines. A multiwavelength reconfiguration of the laser from one up to a maximum of eight emission lines was obtained, with a maximum SNR of around 47 dBm.

Quantitative Species Measurements in Microgravity Combustion Flames using Near-Infrared Diode Lasers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Silver, Joel A.

1999-01-01

Understanding the physical phenomena controlling the ignition and spread of flames in microgravity has importance for space safety as well as for characterizing dynamical and chemical combustion processes which are normally masked by buoyancy and other gravity-related effects. Unfortunately, combustion is highly complicated by fluid mechanical and chemical kinetic processes, requiring the use of numerical modeling to compare with carefully designed experiments. More sophisticated diagnostic methods are needed to provide the kind of quantitative data necessary to characterize the properties of microgravity combustion as well as provide accurate feedback to improve the predictive capabilities of the models. Diode lasers are a natural choice for use under the severe conditions of low gravity experiments. Reliable, simple solid state operation at low power satisfies the operational restrictions imposed by drop towers, aircraft and space-based studies. Modulation wavelength absorption spectroscopy (WMS) provides a means to make highly sensitive and quantitative measurements of local gas concentration and, in certain cases, temperature. With near-infrared diode lasers, detection of virtually all major combustion species with extremely rapid response time is possible in an inexpensive package. Advancements in near-infrared diode laser fabrication technology and concurrent development of optical fibers for these lasers led to their use in drop towers. Since near-infrared absorption line strengths for overtone and combination vibrational transitions are weaker than the mid-infrared fundamental bands, WMS techniques are applied to increase detection sensitivity and allow measurement of the major combustion gases. In the first microgravity species measurement, Silver et al. mounted a fiber-coupled laser at the top of the NASA 2.2-sec drop tower and piped the light through a single-mode fiber to the drop rig. A fiber splitter divided the light into eight channels that directed the laser beam across a methane or propane diffusion jet flame. The light beams were recaptured by a set of gradient index lenses, coupled back into separate fiber optic lines, and transmitted back to detectors and electronics in the instrument package. In these experiments a 6-mm od fiber cable (containing the nine optical fibers) fell with the drop rig. Using separate detection and demodulation channels, spatial and temporal (up to 20 Hz) maps of water vapor and methane concentrations were obtained at differing heights in the flames. While this apparatus was useful from a demonstration standpoint, several drawbacks needed attention before useful scientific measurements could be obtained. First, eight lines of sight are somewhat insufficient for detailing the spatial profiles of the gas. Second, multiple detection channels operating in parallel are both expensive and present a challenge for accurate calibration. As a result, a newer scanning system was developed in our first contract under this program. The primary characteristic of this system is that it contains a single detection channel and achieves "continuous" spatial resolution by scanning the laser beam across the flame region, then directing this beam onto a single detector. Thus spatial measurements are converted to a temporal series of data. The true spatial resolution is limited only by the beam diameter and width of the sweep. In these experiments the beam is focused to about 1-mm diameter and scans across a region up to 4-cm wide.

Femtosecond Fiber Lasers Based on Dissipative Processes for Nonlinear Microscopy

PubMed Central

Wise, Frank W.

2012-01-01

Recent progress in the development of femtosecond-pulse fiber lasers with parameters appropriate for nonlinear microscopy is reviewed. Pulse-shaping in lasers with only normal-dispersion components is briefly described, and the performance of the resulting lasers is summarized. Fiber lasers based on the formation of dissipative solitons now offer performance competitive with that of solid-state lasers, but with the benefits of the fiber medium. Lasers based on self-similar pulse evolution in the gain section of a laser also offer a combination of short pulse duration and high pulse energy that will be attractive for applications in nonlinear bioimaging. PMID:23869163

Carbon dioxide laser laparoscopy performed with a flexible fiber in humans.

PubMed

Baggish, M S; Baltoyannis, P; Badawy, S; Laurey, D

1987-11-01

A flexible carbon dioxide laser fiber delivery system was used in conjunction with the laparoscope to treat 12 women. The 77 by 2 mm hollow fiber could subtend an arc of 90 degrees without significant loss of power or unfavorably affecting the delivery mode. As many as 20 W of power was transmitted through the fiber; however, carbon dioxide gas flow rates as high as 2000 cc/min reduced power by approximately 25%. Replaceable tips preserved fiber integrity to the extent that a single fiber could be reused repeatedly and gas sterilized without jeopardizing laser transmission. Of the 12 cases, endometriotic implants were vaporized in eight women, adhesiolysis was performed in four women, endometrial cysts were drained in two women, and vaporization of myomata was accomplished in two patients. The fiber was also used as a manipulating instrument and could be internally bent with a grasping forceps to better site the laser beam on a lesion. No complications related to the use of the carbon dioxide laser fiber were observed. The safety aspects of carbon dioxide laser fiber technology are not inconsiderable and could provide laser laparoscopy with an extra margin of security.

Fiber lasers and amplifiers for science and exploration at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krainak, Michael A.; Abshire, James; Allan, Graham R.; Stephen Mark

2005-01-01

We discuss present and near-term uses for high-power fiber lasers and amplifiers for NASA- specific applications including planetary topography and atmospheric spectroscopy. Fiber lasers and amplifiers offer numerous advantages for both near-term and future deployment of instruments on exploration and science remote sensing orbiting satellites. Ground-based and airborne systems provide an evolutionary path to space and a means for calibration and verification of space-borne systems. We present experimental progress on both the fiber transmitters and instrument prototypes for ongoing development efforts. These near-infrared instruments are laser sounders and lidars for measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide, oxygen, water vapor and methane and a pseudo-noise (PN) code laser ranging system. The associated fiber transmitters include high-power erbium, ytterbium, neodymium and Raman fiber amplifiers. In addition, we will discuss near-term fiber laser and amplifier requirements and programs for NASA free space optical communications, planetary topography and atmospheric spectroscopy.

Optical fiber switch

DOEpatents

Early, James W.; Lester, Charles S.

2002-01-01

Optical fiber switches operated by electrical activation of at least one laser light modulator through which laser light is directed into at least one polarizer are used for the sequential transport of laser light from a single laser into a plurality of optical fibers. In one embodiment of the invention, laser light from a single excitation laser is sequentially transported to a plurality of optical fibers which in turn transport the laser light to separate individual remotely located laser fuel ignitors. The invention can be operated electro-optically with no need for any mechanical or moving parts, or, alternatively, can be operated electro-mechanically. The invention can be used to switch either pulsed or continuous wave laser light.

Monolithic fiber laser oscillator with record high power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Baolai; Shi, Chen; Zhang, Hanwei; Ye, Qing; Pi, Haoyang; Tao, Rumao; Wang, Xiaolin; Ma, Pengfei; Leng, Jinyong; Chen, Zilun; Zhou, Pu; Xu, Xiaojun; Chen, Jinbao; Liu, Zejin

2018-07-01

With an increasing output power, the power scaling of monolithic fiber laser oscillators faces the severe limitations of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and the transverse mode instability (TMI) effect. In this work, we report a high power monolithic fiber laser oscillator with a maximum output power of 5.2 kW, which is realized with a trade-off design between the SRS and TMI. The monolithic fiber laser oscillator is constructed with ytterbium-doped fiber with a core/inner cladding diameter of 25/400 µm and corresponding home-made FBG. High-power 915 nm laser diodes are employed as a pump source and are distributed in a bidirectional-pump configuration. By optimizing the bidirectional pump proportion, the monolithic fiber laser oscillator is scaled up to 5.2 kW with a slope efficiency of ~63%. Operating at 5.2 kW, the intensity of the Raman stokes light is ~22 dB below the signal laser and the beam quality (M2-factor) is ~2.2. To the best of our knowledge, this is a record high power for monolithic fiber laser oscillators.

Fiber-Based Lasers as an Option for GRACE Follow-On Light Source

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Camp, Jordan

2010-01-01

Fiber based lasers offer a number of attractive characteristics for space application: state of the art laser technology, leverage of design and reliability from the substantial investments of the telecon industry, and convenient redundancy of higher risk components through fiber splicing. At NASA/Goddard we are currently investigating three GFO fiber-based laser options: a fiber oscillator built in our laboratory; an effort to space qualify a commercial design that uses a proprietary high-gain fiber cavity; and the space qualification of a promising new commercial external cavity laser, notable for its low-mass, compact design. In my talk I will outline these efforts, and suggest that the GFO Project may soon have the option of a US laser vendor for its light source.

Study of distributed fiber-optic laser-ultrasound generation based on ghost-mode of tilted fiber Bragg gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Jiajun; Zhang, Qi; Han, Ming

2013-05-01

Fiber-optic ultrasonic transducers are an important component of an active ultrasonic testing system for structural health monitoring. Fiber-optic transducers have several advantages such as small size, light weight, and immunity to electromagnetic interference that make them much more attractive than the current available piezoelectric transducers, especially as embedded and permanent transducers in active ultrasonic testing for structural health monitoring. In this paper, a distributed fiber-optic laser-ultrasound generation based on the ghost-mode of tilted fiber Bragg gratings is studied. The influences of the laser power and laser pulse duration on the laser-ultrasound generation are investigated. The results of this paper are helpful to understand the working principle of this laser-ultrasound method and improve the ultrasonic generation efficiency.

High-Reliability Pump Module for Non-Planar Ring Oscillator Laser

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Duncan T.; Qiu, Yueming; Wilson, Daniel W.; Dubovitsky, Serge; Forouhar, Siamak

2007-01-01

We propose and have demonstrated a prototype high-reliability pump module for pumping a Non-Planar Ring Oscillator (NPRO) laser suitable for space missions. The pump module consists of multiple fiber-coupled single-mode laser diodes and a fiber array micro-lens array based fiber combiner. The reported Single-Mode laser diode combiner laser pump module (LPM) provides a higher normalized brightness at the combined beam than multimode laser diode based LPMs. A higher brightness from the pump source is essential for efficient NPRO laser pumping and leads to higher reliability because higher efficiency requires a lower operating power for the laser diodes, which in turn increases the reliability and lifetime of the laser diodes. Single-mode laser diodes with Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) stabilized wavelength permit the pump module to be operated without a thermal electric cooler (TEC) and this further improves the overall reliability of the pump module. The single-mode laser diode LPM is scalable in terms of the number of pump diodes and is capable of combining hundreds of fiber-coupled laser diodes. In the proof-of-concept demonstration, an e-beam written diffractive micro lens array, a custom fiber array, commercial 808nm single mode laser diodes, and a custom NPRO laser head are used. The reliability of the proposed LPM is discussed.

High-Power Fiber Lasers Using Photonic Band Gap Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DiDomenico, Leo; Dowling, Jonathan

2005-01-01

High-power fiber lasers (HPFLs) would be made from photonic band gap (PBG) materials, according to the proposal. Such lasers would be scalable in the sense that a large number of fiber lasers could be arranged in an array or bundle and then operated in phase-locked condition to generate a superposition and highly directed high-power laser beam. It has been estimated that an average power level as high as 1,000 W per fiber could be achieved in such an array. Examples of potential applications for the proposed single-fiber lasers include welding and laser surgery. Additionally, the bundled fibers have applications in beaming power through free space for autonomous vehicles, laser weapons, free-space communications, and inducing photochemical reactions in large-scale industrial processes. The proposal has been inspired in part by recent improvements in the capabilities of single-mode fiber amplifiers and lasers to produce continuous high-power radiation. In particular, it has been found that the average output power of a single strand of a fiber laser can be increased by suitably changing the doping profile of active ions in its gain medium to optimize the spatial overlap of the electromagnetic field with the distribution of active ions. Such optimization minimizes pump power losses and increases the gain in the fiber laser system. The proposal would expand the basic concept of this type of optimization to incorporate exploitation of the properties (including, in some cases, nonlinearities) of PBG materials to obtain power levels and efficiencies higher than are now possible. Another element of the proposal is to enable pumping by concentrated sunlight. Somewhat more specifically, the proposal calls for exploitation of the properties of PBG materials to overcome a number of stubborn adverse phenomena that have impeded prior efforts to perfect HPFLs. The most relevant of those phenomena is amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), which causes saturation of gain and power at undesirably low levels, and scattering of light from dopants. In designing a given fiber laser for reduced ASE, care must be taken to maintain a correct fiber structure for eventual scaling to an array of many such lasers such that the interactions among all the members of the array would cause them to operate in phase lock. Hence, the problems associated with improving a single-fiber laser are not entirely separate from the bundling problem, and some designs for individual fiber lasers may be better than others if the fibers are to be incorporated into bundles. Extensive calculations, expected to take about a year, must be performed in order to determine design parameters before construction of prototype individual and fiber lasers can begin. The design effort can be expected to include calculations to optimize overlaps between the electromagnetic modes and the gain media and calculations of responses of PBG materials to electromagnetic fields. Design alternatives and physical responses that may be considered include simple PBG fibers with no intensity-dependent responses, PBG fibers with intensity- dependent band-gap shifting (see figure), and broad-band pumping made possible by use of candidate broad-band pumping media in place of the air or vacuum gaps used in prior PBG fibers.

Fiber-optic technologies in laser-based therapeutics: threads for a cure.

PubMed

Wang, Zheng; Chocat, Noémie

2010-06-01

In the past decade, novel fiber structures and material compositions have led to the introduction of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools. We review the structure, the material composition and the fabrication processes behind these novel fiber systems. Because of their structural flexibility, their compatibility with endoscopic appliances and their efficiency in laser delivery, these fiber systems have greatly extended the reach of a wide range of surgical lasers in minimally invasive procedures. Much research in novel fiber-optics delivery systems has been focused on the accommodation of higher optical powers and the extension to a broader wavelength range. Until recently, CO2 laser surgery, renowned for its precision and efficiency, was limited to open surgeries by the lack of delivery fibers. Hollow-core photonic bandgap fibers are assessed for their ability to transmit CO2 laser at surgical power level and for their applications in a range of clinical areas. Current fiber-delivery technologies for a number of laser surgery modalities and wavelengths are compared.

Coilable single crystal fibers of doped-YAG for high power laser applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maxwell, Gisele; Soleimani, Nazila; Ponting, Bennett; Gebremichael, Eminet

2013-05-01

Single crystal fibers are an intermediate between laser crystals and doped glass fibers. They can combine the advantages of both by guiding laser light and matching the efficiencies found in bulk crystals, making them ideal candidates for high-power laser and fiber laser applications. In particular, a very interesting feature of single crystal fiber is that they can generate high power in the eye-safe range (Er:YAG) with a high efficiency, opening new possibilities for portable directed energy weapons. This work focuses on the growth of a flexible fiber with a core of dopant (Er, Nd, Yb, etc…) that will exhibit good waveguiding properties. Direct growth or a combination of growth and cladding experiments are described. We have, to date, demonstrated the growth of a flexible foot long 45 microns doped YAG fiber. Scattering loss measurements at visible wavelengths along with dopant profile characterization are also presented. Laser characterization for these fibers is in progress.

1-kilowatt CW all-fiber laser oscillator pumped with wavelength-beam-combined diode stacks.

PubMed

Xiao, Y; Brunet, F; Kanskar, M; Faucher, M; Wetter, A; Holehouse, N

2012-01-30

We have demonstrated a monolithic cladding-pumped ytterbium-doped single all-fiber laser oscillator generating 1 kW of CW signal power at 1080 nm with 71% slope efficiency and near diffraction-limited beam quality. Fiber components were highly integrated on "spliceless" passive fibers to promote laser efficiency and alleviate non-linear effects. The laser was pumped through a 7:1 pump combiner with seven 200-W 91x nm fiber-pigtailed wavelength-beam-combined diode-stack modules. The signal power of such a single all-fiber laser oscillator showed no evidence of roll-over, and the highest output was limited only by available pump power.

In situ FBG inscription during fiber laser operation.

PubMed

Leich, Martin; Fiebrandt, Julia; Jetschke, Sylvia; Rothhardt, Manfred; Jäger, Matthias

2013-03-01

We demonstrate the inscription of a 266 nm UV femtosecond pulse-induced fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in an Yb-doped fiber during optical pumping at 976 nm and the initiation of lasing with increasing grating reflectivity. Output spectra show the emission of the pumped fiber changing from the broad-ranged amplified spontaneous emission in the nonlasing case to the narrow-range laser operation due to the enhancement of FBG reflectivity during inscription. The proposed technique enables the direct characterization and control of FBG performance in fiber lasers. After FBG fabrication, we investigate the spectral characteristics of the fiber laser for different laser powers and study the influence of a thermal treatment of the FBG.

Highly stable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber linear laser based on modal interference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herrera-Piad, L. A.; Jauregui-Vazquez, D.; Lopez-Dieguez, Y.; Estudillo-Ayala, J. M.; Hernandez-Garcia, J. C.; Sierra-Hernandez, J. M.; Bianchetti, M.; Rojas-Laguna, R.

2018-03-01

We report a linear fiber laser cavity based on an all-fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer and bi-tapered optical fiber for multi-wavelength emission generation. Curvature and strain are used to operate the laser system and the number of lines as well, the emission regions are stronger related to the physical effect applied, due to the phase alteration between the multiple fiber optic modes involved. The original laser emissions present zero wavelength variations, minimal power fluctuations and small spacing mode (1 nm). Additionally, a nonlinear fiber was employed trying to improve the performance of the multiple lasing lines. This system offers a low implementation cost, compactness and good laser parameters.

Fabrication of versatile cladding light strippers and fiber end-caps with CO2 laser radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinke, M.; Theeg, T.; Wysmolek, M.; Ottenhues, C.; Pulzer, T.; Neumann, J.; Kracht, D.

2018-02-01

We report on novel fabrication schemes of versatile cladding light strippers and end-caps via CO2 laser radiation. We integrated cladding light strippers in SMA-like connectors for reliable and stable fiber-coupling of high-power laser diodes. Moreover, the application of cladding light strippers in typical fiber geometries for high-power fiber lasers was evaluated. In addition, we also developed processes to fuse end-caps to fiber end faces via CO2 laser radiation and inscribe the fibers with cladding light strippers near the end-cap. Corresponding results indicate the great potential of such devices as a monolithic and low-cost alternative to SMA connectors.

Method and apparatus for monitoring the power of a laser beam

DOEpatents

Paris, R.D.; Hackel, R.P.

1996-02-06

A method for monitoring the power of a laser beam in real time is disclosed. At least one optical fiber is placed through the laser beam, where a portion of light from the laser beam is coupled into the optical fiber. The optical fiber may be maintained in a stationary position or moved periodically over a cross section of the laser beam to couple light from each area traversed. Light reaching both fiber ends is monitored according to frequency and processed to determine the power of the laser beam. 6 figs.

Method and apparatus for monitoring the power of a laser beam

DOEpatents

Paris, Robert D.; Hackel, Richard P.

1996-01-01

A method for monitoring the power of a laser beam in real time is disclosed. At least one optical fiber is placed through the laser beam, where a portion of light from the laser beam is coupled into the optical fiber. The optical fiber may be maintained in a stationary position or moved periodically over a cross section of the laser beam to couple light from each area traversed. Light reaching both fiber ends is monitored according to frequency and processed to determine the power of the laser beam.

Beam-guidance optics for high-power fiber laser systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohring, Bernd; Tassini, Leonardo; Protz, Rudolf; Zoz, Jürgen

2013-05-01

The realization of a high-energy laser weapon system by coupling a large number of industrial high-power fiber lasers is investigated. To perform the combination of the individual beams of the different fiber lasers within the optical path of the laser weapon, a special optical set-up is used. Each optical component is realized either as reflective component oras refractive optics. Both possibilities were investigated by simulations and experiments. From the results, the general aspects for the layout of the beam-guidance optics for a high-power fiber laser system are derived.

1-kW monolithic narrow linewidth linear-polarized fiber laser at 1030 nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Yang; Fang, Qiang; Cui, Xuelong; Hou, Bowen; Fu, Shijie; Xie, Zhaoxin; Shi, Wei

2018-02-01

We demonstrate an all-fiberized, linear-polarized, narrow spectral linewidth laser system with kilowatts-level output power at 1030 nm in master oscillator-power amplifier (MOPA) configuration. The laser system consists of a linear-polarized, narrow linewidth ( 28 GHz) fiber laser oscillator and two stages of linear-polarized fiber amplifiers. A 925 W linear-polarized fiber laser with a polarization extinction ratio (PER) of 15.2 dB and a spectral width of 60 GHz at the central wavelength of 1030.1 nm is achieved. Owing to the setting of the appropriate parameters for the laser, no indication of Stimulate Brillouin Scattering (SBS) is observed in the system. Moreover, thanks to the excellent quantum efficiency of the laser and the thightly coiling of the active fiber in the main amplifier, the mode instability (MI) is successfully avoided. As a result, the near diffraction-limited beam quality (M2<1.3) is achieved.

Regimes of external optical feedback in 5.6 μm distributed feedback mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jumpertz, L., E-mail: louise.jumpertz@telecom-paristech.fr; Alcatel Thales III-V Lab, Campus de Polytechnique, 1 avenue Augustin Fresnel, 91767 Palaiseau; Carras, M.

2014-09-29

External optical feedback is studied experimentally in mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers. These structures exhibit a dynamical response close to that observed in interband lasers, with threshold reduction and optical power enhancement when increasing the feedback ratio. The study of the optical spectrum proves that the laser undergoes five distinct regimes depending on the phase and amplitude of the reinjected field. These regimes are mapped in the plane of external cavity length and feedback strength, revealing unstable behavior only for a very narrow range of operation, making quantum cascade lasers much more stable than their interband counterparts.

Period locking due to delayed feedback in a laser with saturable absorber.

PubMed

Carr, T W

2003-08-01

We consider laser with saturable absorber operating in the pulsating regime that is subject to delayed feedback. Alone, both the saturable absorber and delayed feedback cause the clockwise output to become unstable to periodic output via Hopf bifurcations. The delay feedback causes the laser pulse period to lock to an integer fraction of the feedback time. We derive a map from the original model to describe the periodic pulsations of the laser. Equations for the period of the laser predict the occurrence of the different locking states as well as the value of the pump when there is a switch between the locked states.

Vector dissipative solitons in graphene mode locked fiber lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Han; Tang, Dingyuan; Zhao, Luming; Bao, Qiaoliang; Loh, Kian Ping

2010-09-01

Vector soliton operation of erbium-doped fiber lasers mode locked with atomic layer graphene was experimentally investigated. Either the polarization rotation or polarization locked vector dissipative solitons were experimentally obtained in a dispersion-managed cavity fiber laser with large net cavity dispersion, while in the anomalous dispersion cavity fiber laser, the phase locked nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) solitons and induced NLSE soliton were experimentally observed. The vector soliton operation of the fiber lasers unambiguously confirms the polarization insensitive saturable absorption of the atomic layer graphene when the light is incident perpendicular to its 2-dimentional (2D) atomic layer.

Fiber lasers and their applications [Invited].

PubMed

Shi, Wei; Fang, Qiang; Zhu, Xiushan; Norwood, R A; Peyghambarian, N

2014-10-01

Fiber lasers have seen progressive developments in terms of spectral coverage and linewidth, output power, pulse energy, and ultrashort pulse width since the first demonstration of a glass fiber laser in 1964. Their applications have extended into a variety of fields accordingly. In this paper, the milestones of glass fiber laser development are briefly reviewed and recent advances of high-power continuous wave, Q-switched, mode-locked, and single-frequency fiber lasers in the 1, 1.5, 2, and 3 μm regions and their applications in such areas as industry, medicine, research, defense, and security are addressed in detail.

Fiber optic coupling of a microlens conditioned, stacked semiconductor laser diode array

DOEpatents

Beach, R.J.; Benett, W.J.; Mills, S.T.

1997-04-01

The output radiation from the two-dimensional aperture of a semiconductor laser diode array is efficiently coupled into an optical fiber. The two-dimensional aperture is formed by stacking individual laser diode bars on top of another in a ``rack and stack`` configuration. Coupling into the fiber is then accomplished using individual microlenses to condition the output radiation of the laser diode bars. A lens that matches the divergence properties and wavefront characteristics of the laser light to the fiber optic is used to focus this conditioned radiation into the fiber. 3 figs.

Fiber-ring laser-based intracavity photoacoustic spectroscopy for trace gas sensing.

PubMed

Wang, Qiang; Wang, Zhen; Chang, Jun; Ren, Wei

2017-06-01

We demonstrated a novel trace gas sensing method based on fiber-ring laser intracavity photoacoustic spectroscopy. This spectroscopic technique is a merging of photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) with a fiber-ring cavity for sensitive and all-fiber gas detection. A transmission-type PAS gas cell (resonant frequency f₀=2.68  kHz) was placed inside the fiber-ring laser to fully utilize the intracavity laser power. The PAS signal was excited by modulating the laser wavelength at f₀/2 using a custom-made fiber Bragg grating-based modulator. We used this spectroscopic technique to detect acetylene (C₂H₂) at 1531.6 nm as a proof of principle. With a low Q-factor (4.9) of the PAS cell, our sensor achieved a good linear response (R²=0.996) to C₂H₂ concentration and a minimum detection limit of 390 ppbv at 2-s response time.

Spatial-mode switchable ring fiber laser based on low mode-crosstalk all-fiber mode MUX/DEMUX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Fang; Yu, Jinyi; Wang, Jianping

2018-05-01

We report an all-fiber ring laser that emits linearly polarized (LP) modes based on the intracavity all-fiber mode multiplexer/demultiplexer (MUX/DEMUX). Multiple LP modes in ring fiber laser are generated by taking advantage of mode MUX/DEMUX. The all-fiber mode MUX/DEMUX are composed of cascaded mode-selective couplers (MSCs). The output lasing mode of the ring fiber laser can be switched among the three lowest-order LP modes by employing combination of a mode MUX and a simple N × 1 optical switch. The slope efficiencies, optical spectra and mode profiles are measured.

Novel high-brightness fiber coupled diode laser device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haag, Matthias; Köhler, Bernd; Biesenbach, Jens; Brand, Thomas

2007-02-01

High brightness becomes more and more important in diode laser applications for fiber laser pumping and materials processing. For OEM customers fiber coupled devices have great advantages over direct beam modules: the fiber exit is a standardized interface, beam guiding is easy with nearly unlimited flexibility. In addition to the transport function the fiber serves as homogenizer: the beam profile of the laser radiation emitted from a fiber is symmetrical with highly repeatable beam quality and pointing stability. However, efficient fiber coupling requires an adaption of the slow-axis beam quality to the fiber requirements. Diode laser systems based on standard 10mm bars usually employ beam transformation systems to rearrange the highly asymmetrical beam of the laser bar or laser stack. These beam transformation systems (prism arrays, lens arrays, fiber bundles etc.) are expensive and become inefficient with increasing complexity. This is especially true for high power devices with small fiber diameters. On the other hand, systems based on single emitters are claimed to have good potential in cost reduction. Brightness of the inevitable fiber bundles, though, is limited due to inherent fill-factor losses. At DILAS a novel diode laser device has been developed combining the advantages of diode bars and single emitters: high brightness at high reliability with single emitter cost structure. Heart of the device is a specially tailored laser bar (T-Bar), which epitaxial and lateral structure was designed such that only standard fast- and slow-axis collimator lenses are required to couple the beam into a 200μm fiber. Up to 30 of these T-Bars of one wavelength can be combined to reach a total of > 500W ex fiber in the first step. Going to a power level of today's single emitter diodes even 1kW ex 200μm fiber can be expected.

Growing Crystaline Sapphire Fibers By Laser Heated Pedestal Techiques

DOEpatents

Phomsakha, Vongvilay; Chang, Robert S. F.; Djeu, Nicholas I.

1997-03-04

An improved system and process for growing crystal fibers comprising a means for creating a laser beam having a substantially constant intensity profile through its cross sectional area, means for directing the laser beam at a portion of solid feed material located within a fiber growth chamber to form molten feed material, means to support a seed fiber above the molten feed material, means to translate the seed fiber towards and away from the molten feed material so that the seed fiber can make contact with the molten feed material, fuse to the molten feed material and then be withdrawn away from the molten feed material whereby the molten feed material is drawn off in the form of a crystal fiber. The means for creating a laser beam having a substantially constant intensity profile through its cross sectional area includes transforming a previously generated laser beam having a conventional gaussian intensity profile through its cross sectional area into a laser beam having a substantially constant intensity profile through its cross sectional area by passing the previously generated laser beam through a graded reflectivity mirror. The means for directing the laser beam at a portion of solid feed material is configured to direct the laser beam at a target zone which contains the molten feed material and a portion of crystal fiber drawn off the molten feed material by the seed fiber. The means to support the seed fiber above the molten feed material is positioned at a predetermined height above the molten feed material. This predetermined height provides the seed fiber with sufficient length and sufficient resiliency so that surface tension in the molten feed material can move the seed fiber to the center of the molten feed material irrespective of where the seed fiber makes contact with the molten feed material. The internal atmosphere of the fiber growth chamber is composed substantially of Helium gas.

All-Fiber Laser Curvature Sensor Using an In-Fiber Modal Interferometer Based on a Double Clad Fiber and a Multimode Fiber Structure

PubMed Central

Durán-Sánchez, Manuel; Prieto-Cortés, Patricia; Salceda-Delgado, Guillermo; Castillo-Guzmán, Arturo A.; Selvas-Aguilar, Romeo; Ibarra-Escamilla, Baldemar; Kuzin, Evgeny A.

2017-01-01

An all-fiber curvature laser sensor by using a novel modal interference in-fiber structure is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The in-fiber device, fabricated by fusion splicing of multimode fiber and double-clad fiber segments, is used as wavelength filter as well as the sensing element. By including a multimode fiber in an ordinary modal interference structure based on a double-clad fiber, the fringe visibility of the filter transmission spectrum is significantly increased. By using the modal interferometer as a curvature sensitive wavelength filter within a ring cavity erbium-doped fiber laser, the spectral quality factor Q is considerably increased. The results demonstrate the reliability of the proposed curvature laser sensor with advantages of robustness, ease of fabrication, low cost, repeatability on the fabrication process and simple operation. PMID:29182527

All-Fiber Laser Curvature Sensor Using an In-Fiber Modal Interferometer Based on a Double Clad Fiber and a Multimode Fiber Structure.

PubMed

Álvarez-Tamayo, Ricardo I; Durán-Sánchez, Manuel; Prieto-Cortés, Patricia; Salceda-Delgado, Guillermo; Castillo-Guzmán, Arturo A; Selvas-Aguilar, Romeo; Ibarra-Escamilla, Baldemar; Kuzin, Evgeny A

2017-11-28

An all-fiber curvature laser sensor by using a novel modal interference in-fiber structure is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The in-fiber device, fabricated by fusion splicing of multimode fiber and double-clad fiber segments, is used as wavelength filter as well as the sensing element. By including a multimode fiber in an ordinary modal interference structure based on a double-clad fiber, the fringe visibility of the filter transmission spectrum is significantly increased. By using the modal interferometer as a curvature sensitive wavelength filter within a ring cavity erbium-doped fiber laser, the spectral quality factor Q is considerably increased. The results demonstrate the reliability of the proposed curvature laser sensor with advantages of robustness, ease of fabrication, low cost, repeatability on the fabrication process and simple operation.

Fiber coupled optical spark delivery system

DOEpatents

Yalin, Azer; Willson, Bryan; Defoort, Morgan

2008-08-12

A spark delivery system for generating a spark using a laser beam is provided, the spark delivery system including a laser light source and a laser delivery assembly. The laser delivery assembly includes a hollow fiber and a launch assembly comprising launch focusing optics to input the laser beam in the hollow fiber. In addition, the laser delivery assembly includes exit focusing optics that demagnify an exit beam of laser light from the hollow fiber, thereby increasing the intensity of the laser beam and creating a spark. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, the assembly may be used to create a spark in a combustion engine. In accordance with other embodiments of the present invention, a method of using the spark delivery system is provided. In addition, a method of choosing an appropriate fiber for creating a spark using a laser beam is also presented.

Diode-Pumped Thulium (Tm)/Holmium (Ho) Composite Fiber 2.1-Micrometers Laser

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

composite fiber laser of holmium-core and thulium-doped cladding . The composite fiber was optically pumped by an 803-nm fiber coupled diode source and was...4 odd and 5 even modes were exclusive to the core and first cladding . As the Tm laser modes are excluded from lasing in the second (undoped...of the Tm-doped clad /Ho-doped core fiber laser . In particular, calculations of the model overlap of the cladding modes with the core have been

Thulium fiber laser lithotripsy using tapered fibers.

PubMed

Blackmon, Richard L; Irby, Pierce B; Fried, Nathaniel M

2010-01-01

The Thulium fiber laser has recently been tested as a potential alternative to the Holmium:YAG laser for lithotripsy. This study explores use of a short taper for expanding the Thulium fiber laser beam at the distal tip of a small-core fiber. Thulium fiber laser radiation with a wavelength of 1,908 nm, 10 Hz pulse rate, 70 mJ pulse energy, and 1-millisecond pulse duration was delivered through a 2-m-length fiber with 150-microm-core-input-end, 300-microm-core-output-end, and 5-mm-length taper, in contact with human uric acid (UA) and calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) stones, ex vivo (n = 10 each). Stone mass loss, stone crater depths, fiber transmission losses, fiber burn-back, irrigation rates, and deflection through a flexible ureteroscope were measured for the tapered fiber and compared with conventional fibers. After delivery of 1,800 pulses through the tapered fiber, mass loss measured 12.7+/-2.6 mg for UA and 7.2+/-0.8 mg COM stones, comparable to conventional 100-microm-core fibers (12.6+/-2.5 mg for UA and 6.8+/-1.7 mg for COM stones). No transmission losses or burn-back occurred for the tapered fiber after 36,000 pulses, while a conventional 150-microm fiber experienced significant tip degradation after only 1,800 pulses. High irrigation rates were measured with the tapered fiber inserted through the working port of a flexible ureteroscope without hindering its deflection, mimicking that of a conventional 150 microm fiber. The short tapered distal fiber tip allows expansion of the laser beam, resulting in decreased fiber tip damage compared to conventional small-core fibers, without compromising fiber bending, stone vaporization efficiency, or irrigation rates.

Endoluminal laser delivery mode and wavelength effects on varicose veins in an ex vivo model.

PubMed

Massaki, Ane B M N; Kiripolsky, Monika G; Detwiler, Susan P; Goldman, Mitchel P

2013-02-01

Endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) has been shown to be effective for the elimination of saphenous veins and associated reflux. Mechanism is known to be heat related, but precise way in which heat causes vein ablation is not completely known. This study aimed to determine the effects of various endovenous laser wavelengths and delivery modes on ex vivo human vein both macroscopically and microscopically. We also evaluated whether protected-tip fibers, consisting of prototype silica fibers with a metal tube over the distal end, reduced vein wall perforations compared with non-protected-tip fibers. An ex vivo EVLA model with human veins harvested during ambulatory phlebectomy procedures was used. Six laser fiber combinations were tested: 810 nm continuous wave (CW) diode laser with a flat tip fiber, 810 CW diode laser with a protected tip fiber, 1,320 nm pulsed Nd:YAG laser, 1,310 nm CW diode laser, 1,470 nm CW diode laser, and 2,100 nm pulsed Ho:YAG laser. Perforation or full thickness necrosis of a portion of the vein wall was observed in 5/11 (45%), 0/11 (0%), 3/22 (14%), 7/11 (64%), 4/6 (67%), and 5/10 (50%) of cross-sections of veins treated with the 810 nm CW diode laser with a flat tip fiber, the 810 CW diode laser with a protected tip fiber, the 1,320 nm pulsed Nd:YAG laser, the 1,310 nm CW diode laser, the 1,470 nm CW diode laser, and the 2,100 nm pulsed Ho:YAG laser, respectively. Our results have shown that the delivery mode, pulsed Nd:YAG versus CW, may be just as important as the wavelength. Therefore, the 1,310 nm CW laser may not be equivalent to the 1,320 nm pulsed laser. In addition, protected 810 nm fibers may be less likely to yield wall perforations than their non-protected counterparts. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Development of fiber lasers and devices for coherent Raman scattering microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamb, Erin Stranford

As ultrafast laser technology has found expanding application in machining, spectroscopy, microscopy, surgery, and numerous other areas, the desire for inexpensive and robust laser sources has grown. Until recently, nonlinear effects in fiber systems due to the tight confinement of the light in the core have limited their performance. However, with advances in managing nonlinearity through pulse propagation physics and the use of large core fibers, the performance of fiber lasers can compete with that of their solid-state counterparts. As specific applications, such as coherent Raman scattering microscopy, emerge that stand to benefit from fiber technology, new performance challenges in areas such as laser noise are anticipated. This thesis studies nonlinear pulse propagation in fiber lasers and fiber parametric devices. Applications of dissipative solitons and self-similar pulse propagation to low-repetition rate oscillators that have the potential to simplify short-pulse amplification schemes will be examined. The rest of this thesis focuses on topics relevant to fiber laser development for coherent Raman scattering microscopy sources. Coherent pulse division and recombination inside the laser cavity will be introduced as an energy-scaling mechanism and demonstrated for a fiber soliton laser. The relative intensity noise properties of mode-locked fiber lasers, with a particular emphasis on normal dispersion lasers, will be explored in simulation and experiment. A fiber optical parametric oscillator will be studied in detail for low noise frequency conversion of picosecond pulses, and its utility for coherent Raman imaging will be demonstrated. Spectral compression of femtosecond pulses is used to generate picosecond pulses to pump this device, and this technique provides a route to future noise reduction in the system. Furthermore, this device forms a multimodal source capable of providing the picosecond pulses for coherent Raman scattering microscopy and the high energy femtosecond pulses for other multiphoton imaging techniques. Finally, ideas for future extensions of this work will be discussed.

High-efficiency, 154  W CW, diode-pumped Raman fiber laser with brightness enhancement.

PubMed

Glick, Yaakov; Fromzel, Viktor; Zhang, Jun; Ter-Gabrielyan, Nikolay; Dubinskii, Mark

2017-01-20

We demonstrate a high-power, high-efficiency Raman fiber laser pumped directly by laser diode modules at 978 nm. 154 W of CW power were obtained at a wavelength of 1023 nm with an optical to optical efficiency of 65%. A commercial graded-index (GRIN) core fiber acts as the Raman fiber in a power oscillator configuration, which includes spectral selection to prevent generation of the second Stokes. In addition, brightness enhancement of the pump beam by a factor of 8.4 is attained due to the Raman gain distribution profile in the GRIN fiber. To the best of our knowledge this is the highest power and highest efficiency Raman fiber laser demonstrated in any configuration allowing brightness enhancement (i.e., in either cladding-pumped configuration or with GRIN fibers, excluding step-index core pumped), regardless of pumping scheme (i.e., either diode pumped or fiber laser pumped).

Quantification of holmium:YAG optical tip degradation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mues, Adam C.; Teichman, Joel M. H.; Knudsen, Bodo E.

2009-02-01

The holmium:yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) laser is the gold standard laser for intracorporeal lithotripsy. Optical fibers are utilized to transmit laser energy to the surface of a stone for fragmentation. During lithotripsy, fiber tip degradation (burn back) can occur. The exact mechanism for tip degradation and related factors are not completely understood, and have not been investigated. This characteristic is important because fiber burn back may affect diminish fragmentation efficiency, increase operative time, and increase cost due to the need for fiber replacement. We hypothesize that fiber tip degradation (burn back) varies amongst different commercially available holmium:YAG laser fibers.

The SMAT fiber laser for industrial applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Jianwu; Liu, Jinghui; Wei, Xi; Xu, Jun

2017-02-01

With the increased adoption of high power fiber laser for various industrial applications, the downtime and the reliability of fiber lasers become more and more important. Here we present our approach toward a more reliable and more intelligent laser source for industrial applications: the SMAT fiber laser with the extensive sensor network and multi-level protection mechanism, the mobile connection and the mobile App, and the Smart Cloud. The proposed framework is the first IoT (Internet of Things) approach integrated in an industrial laser not only prolongs the reliability of an industrial laser but open up enormous potential for value-adding services by gathering and analyzing the Big data from the connected SMAT lasers.

kW-level commercial Yb-doped aluminophosphosilicate ternary laser fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Shihao; Zhan, Huan; Li, Yuwei; Liu, Shuang; Jiang, Jiali; Peng, Kun; Wang, Yuying; Ni, Li; Wang, Xiaolong; Jiang, Lei; Yu, Juan; Liu, Gang; Lu, Pengfei; Wang, Jianjun; Jing, Feng; Lin, Aoxiang

2018-03-01

Based on a master oscillator power amplifier configuration, laser performance of commercial Nufern-20/400-8M Ybdoped aluminophosphosilicate ternary laser fiber was investigated. Pumped by 976 nm laser diodes, 982 W laser output power was obtained with a slope efficiency of 84.9%. Spectrum of output was centered at 1066.56nm with 3dB bandwidth less than 0.32 nm, and the nonlinearity suppression ratio was more than 39dB. Beam quality of Mx2 and M2y were 1.55 and 1.75 at 982 W, respectively. The laser performance indicated that Nufern-20/400-8M Yb-doped aluminophosphosilicate ternary laser fiber is highly competitive for industry fiber laser use.

Modeling of mode-locked fiber lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaulov, Gary

This thesis presents the results of analytical and numerical simulations of mode-locked fiber lasers and their components: multiple quantum well saturable absorbers and nonlinear optical loop mirrors. Due to the growing interest in fiber lasers as a compact source of ultrashort pulses there is a need to develop a full understanding of the advantages and limitations of the different mode-locked techniques. The mode-locked fiber laser study performed in this thesis can be used to optimize the design and performance of mode-locked fiber laser systems. A group at Air Force Research Laboratory reported a fiber laser mode-locked by multiple quantum well (MQW) saturable absorber with stable pulses generated as short as 2 ps [21]. The laser cavity incorporates a chirped fiber Bragg grating as a dispersion element; our analysis showed that the laser operates in the soliton regime. Soliton perturbation theory was applied and conditions for stable pulse operation were investigated. Properties of MQW saturable absorbers and their effect on cavity dynamics were studied and the cases of fast and slow saturable absorbers were considered. Analytical and numerical results are in a good agreement with experimental data. In the case of the laser cavity with a regular fiber Bragg grating, the properties of MQW saturable absorbers dominate the cavity dynamics. It was shown that despite the lack of a soliton shaping mechanism, there is a regime in parameter space where stable or quasi-stable solitary waves solutions can exist. Further a novel technique of fiber laser mode-locking by nonlinear polarization rotation was proposed. Polarization rotation of vector solitons was simulated in a birefringent nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) and the switching characteristics of this device was studied. It was shown that saturable absorber-like action of NOLM allows mode-locked operation of the two fiber laser designs. Laser cavity designs were proposed: figure-eight-type and sigma-type cavity.

Thulium fiber laser ablation of kidney stones using a 50-μm-core silica optical fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blackmon, Richard L.; Hutchens, Thomas C.; Hardy, Luke A.; Wilson, Christopher R.; Irby, Pierce B.; Fried, Nathaniel M.

2015-01-01

Our laboratory is currently studying the experimental thulium fiber laser (TFL) as a potential alternative laser lithotripter to the gold standard, clinical Holmium:YAG laser. We have previously demonstrated the efficient coupling of TFL energy into fibers as small as 100-μm-core-diameter without damage to the proximal end. Although smaller fibers have a greater tendency to degrade at the distal tip during lithotripsy, fiber diameters (≤200 μm) have been shown to increase the saline irrigation rates through the working channel of a flexible ureteroscope, to maximize the ureteroscope deflection, and to reduce the stone retropulsion during laser lithotripsy. In this study, a 50-μm-core-diameter, 85-μm-outer-diameter, low-OH silica fiber is characterized for TFL ablation of human calcium oxalate monohydrate urinary stones, ex vivo. The 50-μm-core fiber consumes approximately 30 times less cross-sectional area inside the single working channel of a ureteroscope than the standard 270-μm-core fiber currently used in the clinic. The ureteroscope working channel flow rate, including the 50-μm fiber, decreased by only 10% with no impairment of ureteroscope deflection. The fiber delivered up to 15.4±5.9 W under extreme bending (5-mm-radius) conditions. The stone ablation rate measured 70±22 μg/s for 35-mJ-pulse-energy, 500-μs-pulse-duration, and 50-Hz-pulse-rate. Stone retropulsion and fiber burnback averaged 201±336 and 3000±2600 μm, respectively, after 2 min. With further development, thulium fiber laser lithotripsy using ultra-small, 50-μm-core fibers may introduce new integration and miniaturization possibilities and potentially provide an alternative to conventional Holmium:YAG laser lithotripsy using larger fibers.

Characteristics of Nd:YAG sculptured contact probes after prolonged laser application.

PubMed

Barroso, E G; Haklin, M F; Staren, E D

1995-01-01

This study analyzed the functional and structural characteristics of cone, hemisphere, and modified sculptured contact fibers (1,000 microns) after 1 hour of continuous Nd:YAG laser application. Continuous laser application was performed on live porcine tissue using 20 watts of power. The fiber's appearance under a microscope as well as the power output was recorded after 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, 45, and 60 minutes of continuous laser application. (N = 3 for each fiber). At time 0, all fibers transmitted from 49 to 56% of the initial 20 watts (W); power transmission decreased to less than 9% relative power transmission after 20 minutes and then plateaued. The fibers exhibited severe distortion and carbonization of the surface where laser had been applied with evidence of quartz melting and shattering after only 10 minutes. By 30 minutes of laser application, all three fibers were fractured and essentially indistinguishable from one another; moreover, the fibers exhibited similar power transmission, and cutting and coagulation activity, as determined by a panel of independent, double-blinded surgeons. These data lead us to conclude that 1) Nd:YAG contact laser effects result from thermal heating of the fiber tip with subsequent tissue injury, 2) the unique structural configuration of the fiber's sculptured tip are lost after several minutes of laser application without appreciable change in functional integrity, and 3) fibers may be manually fractured allowing for multiple uses without significant sacrifice of power transmission or surgical utility.

Packaging of wavelength stabilized 976nm 100W 105µm 0.15 NA fiber coupled diode lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Xiaochen; Liu, Rui; Gao, Yanyan; Zhang, Tujia; He, Xiaoguang; Zhu, Jing; Zhang, Qiang; Yang, Thomas; Zhang, Cuipeng

2016-03-01

Fiber coupled diode lasers are widely used in many fields now especially as pumps in fiber laser systems. In many fiber laser applications, high brightness pumps are essential to achieve high brightness fiber lasers. Furthermore, 976nm wavelength absorption band is narrow with Yb3+ doped fiber lasers which is more challenging for controlling wavelength stabilized in diode laser modules. This study designed and implemented commercial available high brightness and narrow wavelength width lasers to be able to use in previous mentioned applications. Base on multiple single emitters using spatial and polarization beam combining as well as fiber coupling techniques, we report a wavelength stabilized, 105μm NA 0.15 fiber coupled diode laser package with 100W of optical output power at 976 nm, which are 14 emitters inside each multiple single emitter module. The emitting aperture of the combined lasers output are designed and optimized for coupling light into a 105μm core NA 0.15 fiber. Volume Bragg grating technology has been used to improve spectral characteristics of high-power diode lasers. Mechanical modular design and thermal simulation are carried out to optimize the package. The spectral width is roughly 0.5 nm (FWHM) and the wavelength shift per °C < 0.02nm. The output spectrum is narrowed and wavelength is stabilized using Volume Bragg gratings (VBGs). The high brightness package has an electrical to optical efficiency better than 45% and power enclosure more than 90% within NA 0.12. Qualification tests have been included on this kind of package. Mechanical shock, vibration and accelerated aging tests show that the package is reliability and the MTTF is calculated to be more than 100k hours at 25°C.

Continuous-wave supercontinuum laser based on an erbium-doped fiber ring cavity incorporating a highly nonlinear optical fiber.

PubMed

Lee, Ju Han; Takushima, Yuichi; Kikuchi, Kazuro

2005-10-01

We experimentally demonstrate a novel erbium-doped fiber based continuous-wave (cw) supercontinuum laser. The laser has a simple ring-cavity structure incorporating an erbium-doped fiber and a highly nonlinear dispersion-shifted fiber (HNL-DSF). Differently from previously demonstrated cw supercontinuum sources based on single propagation of a strong Raman pump laser beam through a highly nonlinear fiber, erbium gain inside the cavity generates a seed light oscillation, and the oscillated light subsequently evolves into a supercontinuum by nonlinear effects such as modulation instability and stimulated Raman scattering in the HNL-DSF. High quality of the depolarized supercontinuum laser output with a spectral bandwidth larger than 250 nm is readily achieved.

Experimental Performance of a Single-Mode Ytterbium-doped Fiber Ring Laser with Intracavity Modulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Numata, Kenji; Camp, Jordan

2012-01-01

We have developed a linearly polarized Ytterbium-doped fiber ring laser with a single longitudinal mode output at 1064 run. A fiber-coupled intracavity phase modulator ensured mode-hop free operation and allowed fast frequency tuning. The fiber laser was locked with high stability to an iodine-stabilized laser, showing a frequency noise suppression of a factor approx 10 (exp 5) at 1 mHz

Carbon dioxide laser fiber for the excision of oral leukoplakia.

PubMed

Chee, Michael; Sasaki, Clarence

2013-09-01

We compared the efficacies of cold knife excision and carbon dioxide (CO2) laser fiber excision of oral cavity leukoplakia. Between August 2009 and June 2011,45 patients who underwent excision of oral cavity leukoplakia were assessed for operative time, use of bipolar cautery, blood loss, and number of intraoperative margins needed. Patients were assigned randomly to either a cold knife group (23 procedures) or a CO2 laser fiber group (24 procedures) at the time of the procedure. The times of excision were similar in the CO2 laser fiber group (1.64 min/cm2) and the cold knife group (1.70 min/cm2). There were large differences between the CO2 laser fiber group and the cold knife group in the categories of bipolar cautery uses per square centimeter (0.34 uses versus 3.32 uses) and blood loss (0.19 g/cm2 versus 2.55 g/cm2). The average number of margins needed to clear a specimen by frozen section was 1.21 for the CO2 laser fiber group and 1.83 for the cold knife group. The CO2 laser fiber did not show an advantage in operative time. The CO2 laser fiber did show better outcomes in the areas of blood loss, bipolar cautery use, and intraoperative margins needed.

Observation of stimulated emission from a single Fe-doped AlN triangular fiber at room temperature

PubMed Central

Jiang, Liangbao; Jin, Shifeng; Wang, Wenjun; Zuo, Sibin; Li, Zhilin; Wang, Shunchong; Zhu, Kaixing; Wei, Zhiyi; Chen, Xiaolong

2015-01-01

Aluminum nitride (AlN) is a well known wide-band gap semiconductor that has been widely used in fabricating various ultraviolet photo-electronic devices. Herein, we demonstrate that a fiber laser can be achieved in Fe-doped AlN fiber where Fe is the active ion and AlN fiber is used as the gain medium. Fe-doped single crystal AlN fibers with a diameter of 20–50 μm and a length of 0.5–1 mm were preparated successfully. Stimulated emission (peak at about 607 nm and FWHM ~0.2 nm) and a long luminescence lifetime (2.5 ms) were observed in the fibers by a 532nm laser excitation at room temperature. The high quality long AlN fibers are also found to be good optical waveguides. This kind of fiber lasers may possess potential advantages over traditional fiber lasers in enhancing power output and extending laser wavelengths from infrared to visible regime. PMID:26647969

Opto-electronic oscillator: moving toward solutions based on polymer materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyên, Lâm Duy; Journet, Bernard; Zyss, Joseph

2008-02-01

Optoelectronic oscillators have been studied since many years now, their high spectral purity being one of their most interesting quality for photonics signal processing, communication or radio over fiber systems. One part of the structure is a long fiber optic feedback loop acting as a delay line. Different techniques have been introduced such as multiple loops in order to get very narrow spectral lines and large mode spacing. One of the problems due to long fiber loops is the size and the requirement of temperature control. In order to go toward integrated solutions it is also possible to introduce optical resonators instead of a delay line structure (as for classical electronic oscillators). But such resonators should present very high quality factor. In this paper we demonstrate solutions using resonators based on polymer materials such as PMMA-DCM. Structures such as micro-rings, micro-disks or stadium-shaped resonator have been realized at the laboratory. Quality factor of 6000 have already been achieved leading to an equivalent fiber loop of 19 m for an oscillator at 10 GHz. But it has been already theoretically proved that quality factor greater than one thousand hundred could be obtained. These resonators can be directly implemented with Mach-Zehnder optical modulators based on electro-optic polymer such as PMMA-DR1 leading to integrated solutions. And in the future it should be also possible to add a laser made with polymer material, with a structure as stadium-shape polymer micro-laser. The fully integrated photonic chip is not so far. The last important function to be implemented is the tuning of the oscillation frequency.

A 15 W 1152 nm Raman fiber laser with 6 nm spectral width for Ho3+-doped crystal's pumping source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xiuyan; Jiang, Huawei

2016-12-01

A 11.5 W 1152 nm Raman fiber laser with 6 nm spectral width was demonstrated based on the resonator constructed with one fiber loop mirror and one fiber Bragg grating. By mans of experimental measurement and theoretical calculation, the reflectivity of the fiber loop mirror was confirmed as 0.93. The Yb3+-doped 1090 nm fiber length was about 5 m. When the maximum pumping power of 976 nm laser was 54.8 W, 32.2 W 1090 nm laser was obtained and the optical to optical conversion efficiency from 1090 nm to 1152 nm light was 48%. Finally, the 1152 nm Raman fiber laser was used for pumping Ho3+:LLF crystal, and the 1194 nm fluorescence emission peak was detected for the first time.

Fabrication and researching of weathering resistant double cladding power delivery fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rong, Liang; Ren, Junjiang; Li, Rundong; Wang, Lianping; Zou, Huan

2016-01-01

A novel well weathering resistant power delivery fiber which is of double cladding and high optical energy transmitting ability is developed via fluoroplastic out sheath extruding process. The fiber has been comprehensively evaluated including optical performance, mechanical performance, environmental suitability and laser transmitting property. It is shown that the fiber has not only low attenuation, high numerical aperture and better mechanical bending performance, but also outstanding weathering resistance and high power laser transmitting performance, which implies the qualification of the fiber for various kinds of applying situations, such as laser ignition, laser induced expanding sound underwater, ship-based and airborne laser weapon.

Pump-Induced, Dual-Frequency Switching in a Short-Cavity, Ytterbium-Doped Fiber Laser

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guan, W.; Marciante, J.R.

2008-07-23

Using a short linear cavity composed of a section of highly ytterbium-doped fiber surrounded by two fiber Bragg gratings, dual frequency switching is achieved by tuning the pump power of the laser. The dual-frequency switching is generated by the thermal effects of the absorbed pump in the ytterbium-doped fiber. At each frequency, the laser shows single-longitudinal-mode behavior. In each single-mode regime, the optical signal-to-noise ratio of the laser is greater than 50 dB. The dual-frequency, switchable, fiber laser can be designed for various applications by the careful selection of the two gratings.

Tunable optofluidic microring laser based on a tapered hollow core microstructured optical fiber.

PubMed

Li, Zhi-Li; Zhou, Wen-Yuan; Luo, Ming-Ming; Liu, Yan-Ge; Tian, Jian-Guo

2015-04-20

A tunable optofluidic microring dye laser within a tapered hollow core microstructured optical fiber was demonstrated. The fiber core was filled with a microfluidic gain medium plug and axially pumped by a nanosecond pulse laser at 532 nm. Strong radial emission and low-threshold lasing (16 nJ/pulse) were achieved. Lasing was achieved around the surface of the microfluidic plug. Laser emission was tuned by changing the liquid surface location along the tapered fiber. The possibility of developing a tunable laser within the tapered simplified hollow core microstructured optical fiber presents opportunities for developing liquid surface position sensors and biomedical analysis.

Investigation of optical fibers for gas-phase, ultraviolet laser-induced-fluorescence (UV-LIF) spectroscopy.

PubMed

Hsu, Paul S; Kulatilaka, Waruna D; Jiang, Naibo; Gord, James R; Roy, Sukesh

2012-06-20

We investigate the feasibility of transmitting high-power, ultraviolet (UV) laser pulses through long optical fibers for laser-induced-fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy of the hydroxyl radical (OH) and nitric oxide (NO) in reacting and non-reacting flows. The fundamental transmission characteristics of nanosecond (ns)-duration laser pulses are studied at wavelengths of 283 nm (OH excitation) and 226 nm (NO excitation) for state-of-the-art, commercial UV-grade fibers. It is verified experimentally that selected fibers are capable of transmitting sufficient UV pulse energy for single-laser-shot LIF measurements. The homogeneous output-beam profile resulting from propagation through a long multimode fiber is ideal for two-dimensional planar-LIF (PLIF) imaging. A fiber-coupled UV-LIF system employing a 6 m long launch fiber is developed for probing OH and NO. Single-laser-shot OH- and NO-PLIF images are obtained in a premixed flame and in a room-temperature NO-seeded N(2) jet, respectively. Effects on LIF excitation lineshapes resulting from delivering intense UV laser pulses through long fibers are also investigated. Proof-of-concept measurements demonstrated in the current work show significant promise for fiber-coupled UV-LIF spectroscopy in harsh diagnostic environments such as gas-turbine test beds.

1940 nm all-fiber Q-switched fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmadi, P.; Estrada, A.; Katta, N.; Lim, E.; McElroy, A.; Milner, T. E.; Mokan, V.; Underwood, M.

2017-02-01

We present development of a nanosecond Q-switched Tm3+-doped fiber laser with 16 W average power and 4.4 kW peak power operating at 1940 nm. The laser has a master oscillator power amplifier design, and uses large mode area Tm3+-doped fibers as the gain medium. Special techniques are used to splice Tm3+-doped fibers to minimize splice loss. The laser design is optimized to reduce non-linear effects, including modulation instability. Pulse width broadening due to high gain is observed and studied in detail. Medical surgery is a field of application where this laser may be able to improve clinical practice. The laser together with scanning galvanometer mirrors is used to cut precisely around small footprint vessels in tissue phantoms without leaving any visible residual thermal damage. These experiments provide proof-of-principle that this laser has promising potential in the laser surgery application space.

Vector similariton erbium-doped all-fiber laser generating sub-100-fs nJ pulses at 100 MHz.

PubMed

Olivier, Michel; Piché, Michel

2016-02-08

Erbium-doped mode-locked fiber lasers with repetition rates comparable to those of solid-state lasers and generating nJ pulses are required for many applications. Our goal was to design a fiber laser that would meet such requirements, that could be built at relatively low cost and that would be reliable and robust. We thus developed a high-fundamental-repetition-rate erbium-doped all-fiber laser operating in the amplifier similariton regime. Experimental characterization shows that this laser, which is mode-locked by nonlinear polarization evolution, emits 76-fs pulses with an energy of 1.17 nJ at a repetition rate of 100 MHz. Numerical simulations support the interpretation of self-similar evolution of the pulse in the gain fiber. More specifically we introduce the concept of vector similariton in fiber lasers. The coupled x- and y- polarization components of such a pulse have a pulse profile with a linear chirp and their combined power profile evolves self-similarly when the nonlinear asymptotic regime is reached in the gain fiber.

Low-NA fiber laser pumps powered by high-brightness single emitters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yanson, Dan; Levy, Moshe; Peleg, Ophir; Rappaport, Noam; Shamay, Moshe; Dahan, Nir; Klumel, Genady; Berk, Yuri; Baskin, Ilya

2015-03-01

Fiber laser manufacturers demand high-brightness laser diode pumps delivering optical pump energy in both a compact fiber core and narrow angular content. A pump delivery fiber of a 105 μm core and 0.22 numerical aperture (NA) is typically used, where the fiber NA is under-filled to ease the launch of laser diode emission into the fiber and make the fiber tolerant to bending. At SCD, we have developed high-brightness NEON multi-emitter fiber-coupled pump modules that deliver 50 W output from a 105 μm, 0.15 NA fiber enabling low-NA power delivery to a customer's fiber laser network. Brightness-enhanced single emitters are engineered with ultra-low divergence for compatibility with the low-NA delivery fiber, with the latest emitters delivering 14 W with 95% of the slow-axis energy contained within an NA of 0.09. The reduced slow-axis divergence is achieved with an optimized epitaxial design, where the peak optical intensity is reduced to both lessen filamentation within the laser cavity and reduce the power density on the output facet thus increasing the emitter reliability. The low mode filling of the fiber allows it to be coiled with diameters down to 70 mm at full operating power despite the small NA and further eliminates the need for mode-stripping at fiber combiners and splices downstream from our pump modules. 50W fiber pump products at 915, 950 and 975 nm wavelengths are presented, including a wavelengthstabilized version at 976 nm.

Fiber optic cables for transmission of high-power laser pulses in spaceflight applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomes, W. J.; Ott, M. N.; Chuska, R. F.; Switzer, R. C.; Blair, D. E.

2017-11-01

Lasers with high peak power pulses are commonly used in spaceflight missions for a wide range of applications, from LIDAR systems to optical communications. Due to the high optical power needed, the laser has to be located on the exterior of the satellite or coupled through a series of free space optics. This presents challenges for thermal management, radiation resistance, and mechanical design. Future applications will require multiple lasers located close together, which further complicates the design. Coupling the laser energy into a fiber optic cable allows the laser to be relocated to a more favorable position on the spacecraft. Typical fiber optic termination procedures are not sufficient for injection of these high-power laser pulses without catastrophic damage to the fiber endface. In the current study, we will review the causes of fiber damage during high-power injection and discuss our new manufacturing procedures that overcome these issues to permit fiber use with high reliability in these applications. We will also discuss the proper methods for launching the laser pulses into the fiber to avoid damage and how this is being implemented for current spaceflight missions.

Fiber Optic Cables for Transmission of High-Power Laser Pulses in Spaceflight Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomes, W. J., Jr.; Ott, M. N.; Chuska, R. F.; Switzer, R. C.; Blair, D. E.

2010-01-01

Lasers with high peak power pulses are commonly used in spaceflight missions for a wide range of applications, from LIDAR systems to optical communications. Due to the high optical power needed, the laser has to be located on the exterior of the satellite or coupled through a series of free space optics. This presents challenges for thermal management, radiation resistance, and mechanical design. Future applications will require multiple lasers located close together, which further complicates the design. Coupling the laser energy into a fiber optic cable allows the laser to be relocated to a more favorable position on the spacecraft. Typical fiber optic termination procedures are not sufficient for injection of these high-power laser pulses without catastrophic damage to the fiber endface. In the current study, we will review the causes of fiber damage during high-power injection and discuss our new manufacturing procedures that overcome these issues to permit fiber use with high reliability in these applications. We will also discuss the proper methods for launching the laser pulses into the fiber to avoid damage and how this is being implemented for current spaceflight missions.

2.05-μm Holmium-doped all-fiber continuous-wave laser at in-core diode-pumping at 1.125 μm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kir'yanov, Alexander V.; Barmenkov, Yuri O.

2017-08-01

We report a Holmium-doped all-fiber laser oscillating in continuous-wave at 2.05 μm, at in-core pumping by a 1.125-μm laser diode. The active fibers employed are alumino-germano-silicate fibers doped with Ho3+ at concentrations of 1.2×1019 and 1.8×1019 cm-3. The laser is implemented in non-optimized Fabry-Perot cavity's geometry, composed of a couple of fiber Bragg gratings with reflectivity of 99 and 90%. When using the lower doped Holmium-doped fiber of proper length (1.4 m), low threshold ( 370 mW) and moderate slope efficiency ( 13%) of 2.05-μm lasing were obtained. High-brightness (laser line's width is 60 pm) and good noise-to-signal ratio (<0.006) are the laser's attractivities. In case of the heavier doped fiber of optimal length (1.2 m), the laser output (threshold of 430 mW, slope efficiency of 9%, output power of 9 mW, laser line's width of 110 pm, noise-to-signal ratio of <0.009) is worse, with a probable reason being deteriorating Ho3+ concentration effects.

Atmospheric CH 4 and H 2 O Monitoring With Near-Infrared InGaAs Laser Diodes by the SDLA, a Balloonborne Spectrometer for Tropospheric and Stratospheric In Situ Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durry, Georges; Megie, Gerard

1999-12-01

The Spectrom tre Diodes Laser Accordables (SDLA), a balloonborne spectrometer devoted to the in situ measurement of CH 4 and H 2 O in the atmosphere that uses commercial distributed-feedback InGaAs laser diodes in combination with differential absorption spectroscopy, is described. Absorption spectra of CH 4 (in the 1.653- m region) and H 2 O (in the 1.393- m region) are simultaneously sampled at 1-s intervals by coupling with optical fibers of two near-infrared laser diodes to a Herriott multipass cell open to the atmosphere. Spectra of methane and water vapor in an altitude range of 1 to 31 km recorded during the recent balloon flights of the SDLA are presented. Mixing ratios with a precision error ranging from 5% to 10% are retrieved from the atmospheric spectra by a nonlinear least-squares fit to the spectral line shape in conjunction with in situ simultaneous pressure and temperature measurements.

Polarization dependence of laser interaction with carbon fibers and CFRP.

PubMed

Freitag, Christian; Weber, Rudolf; Graf, Thomas

2014-01-27

A key factor for laser materials processing is the absorptivity of the material at the laser wavelength, which determines the fraction of the laser energy that is coupled into the material. Based on the Fresnel equations, a theoretical model is used to determine the absorptivity for carbon fiber fabrics and carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). The surface of each carbon fiber is considered as multiple layers of concentric cylinders of graphite. With this the optical properties of carbon fibers and their composites can be estimated from the well-known optical properties of graphite.

Guided transmission for 10 micron tunable lasers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yu, C.; Sabzali, A.; Yekrangian, A.

1986-01-01

Performance characteristics are reported for two types of IR tunable laser guided transmission, one of which incorporates a CO2 laser, metallic piping or fiber-optics, and a detector system, while the other employs a tunable diode laser, fiber-optics, and a detector system. While existing technology furnishes low loss, rugged, near-single mode piping, fiber-optics exhibits appreciably higher loss, and its multimode fibers are fragile and chemically unstable. Studies have accordingly concentrated on such relevant fiber parameters as loss, toxicity, hygroscopicity, refractive index, flexibility, and thermal behavior at low temperature.

Photonic crystal fibre for industrial laser delivery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Driscoll, E. J.; McDonald, J.; Morgan, S.; Simpson, G.; Sidhu, J.; Baggett, J. C.; Hayes, J. R.; Petrovich, M. N.; Finazzi, V.; Polletti, F.; Richardson, D. J.; Horley, R.; Harker, A.; Grunewald, P.; Allott, R.; Judd, E.

2006-12-01

Fiber delivery of intense laser radiation is important for a broad range of application sectors, from medicine through to industrial laser processing of materials, and offers many practical system benefits relative to free space solutions. In recent years, photonic crystal fiber technology has revolutionized the dynamic field of optical fibers, bringing with them a wide range of novel optical properties that make them ideally suited to power delivery with unparalleled control over the beam properties. The DTI funded project: Photonic Fibers for Industrial beam DELivery (PFIDEL), aims to develop novel fiber geometries for use as a delivery system for high power industrial lasers and to assess their potential in a range of "real" industrial applications. In this paper we review, from an industrial laser user perspective, the advantages of each of the fibers studied under PFIDEL. We present results of application demonstrations and discuss how these fibers can positively impact the field of industrial laser systems and processes, in particular for direct write and micromachining applications.

Completely monolithic linearly polarized high-power fiber laser oscillator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belke, Steffen; Becker, Frank; Neumann, Benjamin; Ruppik, Stefan; Hefter, Ulrich

2014-03-01

We have demonstrated a linearly polarized cw all-in-fiber oscillator providing 1 kW of output power and a polarization extinction ratio (PER) of up to 21.7 dB. The design of the laser oscillator is simple and consists of an Ytterbium-doped polarization maintaining large mode area (PLMA) fiber and suitable fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) in matching PLMA fibers. The oscillator has nearly diffraction-limited beam quality (M² < 1.2). Pump power is delivered via a high power 6+1:1 pump coupler. The slope efficiency of the laser is 75 %. The electro/optical efficiency of the complete laser system is ~30 % and hence in the range of Rofin's cw non-polarized fiber lasers. Choosing an adequate bending diameter for the Yb-doped PLMA fiber, one polarization mode as well as higher order modes are sufficiently supressed1. Resulting in a compact and robust linearly polarized high power single mode laser without external polarizing components. Linearly polarized lasers are well established for one dimensional cutting or welding applications. Using beam shaping optics radially polarized laser light can be generated to be independent from the angle of incident to the processing surface. Furthermore, high power linearly polarized laser light is fundamental for nonlinear frequency conversion of nonlinear materials.

The development of novel Ytterbium fiber lasers and their applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Bai

The aim of my Ph.D. research is to push the fundamental limits holding back the development of novel Yb fiber lasers with high pulse energy and short pulse duration. The purpose of developing these lasers is to use them for important applications such as multiphoton microscopy and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. My first project was to develop a short-pulse high-energy ultrafast fiber laser for multiphoton microscopy. To achieve high multiphoton efficiency and depth resolved tissue imaging, ultrashort pulse duration and high pulse energy are required. In order to achieve this, an all-normal dispersion cavity design was adopted. Output performances of the built lasers were investigated by varying several cavity parameters, such as pump laser power, fiber length and intra-cavity spectral filter bandwidth. It was found that the length of the fiber preceding the gain fiber is critical to the laser performance. Generally, the shorter the fiber is, the broader the output spectrum is. The more interesting parameter is the intra-cavity spectral filter bandwidth. Counter intuitively, laser cavities using narrower bandwidth spectral filters generated much broader spectra. It was also found that fiber lasers with very narrow spectral filters produced laser pulses with parabolic profile, which are referred to as self-similar pulses or similaritons. This type of pulse can avoid wave-breaking and is an optimal approach to generate pulses with high pulse energy and ultrashort pulse duration. With a 3nm intra-cavity spectral filter, output pulses with about 20 nJ pulse energy were produced and compressed to about 41 fs full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) pulse duration. Due to the loss in the compression device, the peak power of the compressed pulses is about 250 kW. It was the highest peak power generated from a fiber oscillator when this work was published. This laser was used for multiphoton microscopy on living tissues like Drosophila larva and fruit fly wings. Several imaging methods, such as two-photon-excited fluorescence, second harmonic generation, and third harmonic generation, were performed. Not only were single layers of thin tissue imaged, but also depth resolved imaging of thick samples was tested, and three-dimensional image reconstruction was demonstrated. The other project was to develop a simple fiber oscillator for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Laser pulses with high energy, high ablation efficiency and low ablation threshold are desirable for this application. We built a fiber laser using up to 200 m long fiber and scaled the output pulse energy up to 450 nJ. This laser was operated in an unusual mode-locking regime and produced noise-like pulses, which have a picosecond long pulse envelope containing multiple irregular femtosecond sub-pulses. This type of pulse was mostly ignored by many earlier researchers. Intra-cavity spectral filters did not affect the laser performance as much as in the similariton lasers and were removed from the laser cavity. Characteristics of our noise-like laser, such as MHz repetition rate, broad spectrum, and picosecond-long pulse envelope containing multiple femtosecond sub-pulses, were found to meet the requirement of an ideal laser source for LIBS. A simple LIBS setup using our laser was demonstrated and atomic emission spectra with very good signal-to-noise ratio were obtained. Composition detection, qualitative concentration determination, and trace detection were also tested. These tests show that our noise-like fiber laser is an ideal laser source for a low-cost and portable LIBS system.

Dynamics of long ring Raman fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sukhanov, Sergey V.; Melnikov, Leonid A.; Mazhirina, Yulia A.

2016-04-01

The numerical model for dynamics of long fiber ring Raman laser is proposed. The model is based on the transport equations and Courant-Isaacson-Rees numerical method. Different regimes of a long ring fiber Raman laser are investigated.

Tunable multi-wavelength fiber lasers based on an Opto-VLSI processor and optical amplifiers.

PubMed

Xiao, Feng; Alameh, Kamal; Lee, Yong Tak

2009-12-07

A multi-wavelength tunable fiber laser based on the use of an Opto-VLSI processor in conjunction with different optical amplifiers is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The Opto-VLSI processor can simultaneously select any part of the gain spectrum from each optical amplifier into its associated fiber ring, leading to a multiport tunable fiber laser source. We experimentally demonstrate a 3-port tunable fiber laser source, where each output wavelength of each port can independently be tuned within the C-band with a wavelength step of about 0.05 nm. Experimental results demonstrate a laser linewidth as narrow as 0.05 nm and an optical side-mode-suppression-ratio (SMSR) of about 35 dB. The demonstrated three fiber lasers have excellent stability at room temperature and output power uniformity less than 0.5 dB over the whole C-band.

Fiber laser refractometer based on tunable bandpass filter tailored FBG reflection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Junfa; Wang, Juan; Zhang, Cheng; Xu, Wei; Sun, Xiaodong; Bai, Hua; Chen, Liying

2018-02-01

A fiber laser refractometer based on single-mode-no-core-single-mode (SNS) structure cascaded with a FBG is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The output wavelength of the fiber laser keeps constant because the oscillating wavelength is only determined by the central wavelength of the FBG which is insensitive to the surrounding refractive index (SRI). However, the output power is sensitive to the SRI because the intracavity loss of the fiber laser varies with the SRI. A cost-effective power detection refractometer with reflective operation can be realized through measuring the variation of the fiber laser's output power. The refractometer has a sensitivity of 195.52 dB/RIU and 365.52 dB/RIU in the RI range of 1.3330-1.3687 and 1.3687-1.4135, respectively. Moreover, the refractometer can also be used for temperature measurement through discriminating the output wavelength of the fiber laser.

Ultra-short wavelength operation in Thulium-doped silica fiber laser with bidirectional pumping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Xusheng; Guo, Haitao; Yan, Zhijun; Wang, Hushan; Xu, Yantao; Lu, Min; Wang, Yishan; Peng, Bo

2017-02-01

An ultra-short wavelength operation of Tm-doped all fiber laser based on fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) was developed. A bi-directional pump configuration for the ultra-short wavelength operation was designed and investigated for the first time. the laser yielded 3.15W of continuous-wave output at 1706.75nm with a narrow-linewidth of 50pm and a maximum slope efficiency of 42.1%. The dependencies of the slope efficiencies and pump threshold of the laser versus the length of active fiber and reflectivity of the output mirror (FBG) were investigated in detail. An experimental comparative study between two Thulium-doped fiber lasers (TDFLs) with two different pumping configuration(forward unidirectional pumping and bidirectional pumping) was presented. It is indisputable that the development of 1.7μm silicate fiber lasers with Watt-level output power open up a number of heart-stirring and tempting application windows.

Continuous-wave laser-induced glass fiber generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishioka, Nobuyasu; Hidai, Hirofumi; Matsusaka, Souta; Chiba, Akira; Morita, Noboru

2017-09-01

Pulsed-laser-induced glass fiber generation has been reported. We demonstrate a novel glass fiber generation technique by continuous-wave laser illumination and reveal the generation mechanism. In this technique, borosilicate glass, metal foil, and a heat insulator are stacked and clamped by a jig as the sample. Glass fibers are ejected from the side surface of the borosilicate glass by laser illumination of the sample from the borosilicate glass side. SEM observation shows that nanoparticles are attached on the glass fibers. High-speed imaging reveals that small bubbles are formed at the side surface of the borosilicate glass and the bursting of the bubble ejects the fibers. The temperature at the fiber ejection point is estimated to be 1220 K. The mechanism of the fiber ejection includes the following steps: the metal thin foil heated by the laser increases the temperature of the surrounding glass by heat conduction. Since the absorption coefficient of the glass is increased by increasing the temperature, the glass starts to absorb the laser irradiation. The heated glass softens and bubbles form. When the bubble bursts, molten glass and gas inside the bubble scatter into the air to generate the glass fibers.

High Average Power Diode Pumped Solid State Lasers: Power Scaling With High Spectral and Spatial Coherence

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-30

seeded with 15 W of single-frequency laser light at 1064 nm and cladding -pumped of 700 W in the forward direction and 300 W in the opposite direction...57-W single-mode phosphate fiber laser Our early studies of phosphate fiber lasers taught us that adding an air-hole to the inner cladding and... cladding -pumped with a fiber-coupled laser diode at 977 nm through a dichroic beam splitter placed on the OC side. The fiber ends were cooled using the

Time stretch dispersive Fourier transform based single-shot pulse-by-pulse spectrum measurement using a pulse-repetition-frequency-variable gain-switched laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furukawa, Hideaki; Makino, Takeshi; Wang, Xiaomin; Kobayashi, Tetsuya; Asghari, Mohammad H.; Trinh, Paul; Jalali, Bahram; Man, Wai Sing; Tsang, Kwong Shing; Wada, Naoya

2018-02-01

The time stretch dispersive Fourier Transform (TS-DFT) technique based on a fiber chromatic dispersion is a powerful tool for pulse-by-pulse single-shot spectrum measurement for highrepetition rate optical pulses. The distributed feedback laser diode (DFB-LD) with the gain switch operation can flexibly change the pulse repetition frequency (PRF). In this paper, we newly introduce a semiconductor gain-switched DFB-LD operating from 1 MHz up to 1 GHz PRF into the TS-DFT based spectrum measurement system to improve the flexibility and the operability. The pulse width can be below 2 ps with a pulse compression technique. We successfully measure the spectrum of each optical pulse at 1 GHz, 100 MHz, and 10 MHz PRF, and demonstrate the flexibility of the measurement system.

Fabrication of novel bundled fiber and performance assessment for clinical applications.

PubMed

Kim, Changhwan; Jeon, Myung Jin; Jung, Jin Hyang; Yang, Jung Dug; Park, Hoyong; Kang, Hyun Wook; Lee, Ho

2014-11-01

During laser vaporization of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), high precision of optical fiber handling is pivotal to minimize any post-operative complications. The aim of the study was to evaluate the feasible applications of a bundled fiber to treat BPH by directionally and selectively manipulating laser light onto the targeted tissue. A bundled optical fiber, consisting of four side-firing fibers, was fabricated to selectively emit laser beams in from one to four directions. Both transmission efficiency and light distribution were qualitatively and quantitatively characterized on the bundled fiber. In terms of interstitial application of the proposed fiber with 1064 nm on porcine liver tissue, the extent of thermal denaturation was estimated and compared at various laser parameterizations and for different directions of light. From the laser source to the fiber tip, the fabricated fiber device demonstrated a total light transmission of 52%. Due to internal light reflection, a secondary beam was emitted backward from the fiber tip and was responsible for 25% of the transmission loss. According to tissue testing, the extent of tissue denaturation generally increased with laser power, irradiation time, and number of light directions. The geometrical shape of thermal coagulation correlated well with the direction of light emission. Thermal damage to the glass tube occurred during excessive heat accumulation generated by continuous irradiation. The proposed fiber can be beneficial for laser vaporization of BPH by providing a selective light direction irradiation along with minimal thermal damage. Further studies will extend the applicability of the bundled fiber to treat tubular tissue structure. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Coherence transfer of subhertz-linewidth laser light via an 82-km fiber link

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Chaoqun; Wu, Lifei; Jiang, Yanyi; Yu, Hongfu; Bi, Zhiyi; Ma, Longsheng

2015-12-01

We demonstrate optical coherence transfer of subhertz-linewidth laser light through fiber links by actively compensating random fiber phase noise induced by environmental perturbations. The relative linewidth of laser light after transferring through a 32-km urban fiber link is suppressed within 1 mHz (resolution bandwidth limited), and the absolute linewidth of the transferred laser light is less than 0.36 Hz. For an 82-km fiber link, a repeater station is constructed between a 32-km urban fiber and a 50-km spooled fiber to recover the spectral purity. A relative linewidth of 1 mHz is also demonstrated for light transferring through the 82-km cascaded fiber. Such an optical signal distribution network based on repeater stations allows optical coherence and synchronization available over spatially separated places.

Power and Efficiency Scaling of Fiber OPO Around 700 to 850 nm and Power-scaling of High Coherence Fiber Raman Amplifiers

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-01

sources and on a fiber OPO at red wavelengths. The fiber Raman laser reached 20 W of output power at 1019 nm, pulsed operation at 835 nm, and M2 = 2 at...1019 nm from a double-clad fiber Raman laser . These three results are all world records or world firsts. It was also found that the fiber OPO suffers...power multimode diode sources and on a fiber OPO at red wavelengths. With the fiber Raman laser we reach 20 W of output power at 1019 nm, pulsed

300-mW narrow-linewidth deep-ultraviolet light generation at 193 nm by frequency mixing between Yb-hybrid and Er-fiber lasers.

PubMed

Xuan, Hongwen; Zhao, Zhigang; Igarashi, Hironori; Ito, Shinji; Kakizaki, Kouji; Kobayashi, Yohei

2015-04-20

A narrow-linewidth, high average power deep-ultraviolet (DUV) coherent laser emitting at 193 nm is demonstrated by frequency mixing a Yb-hybrid laser with an Er-fiber laser. The Yb-hybrid laser consists of Yb-fiber lasers and an Yb:YAG amplifier. The average output power of the 193 nm laser is 310 mW at 6 kHz, which corresponds to a pulse energy of 51 μJ. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest average power and pulse energy ever reported for a narrow-linewidth 193 nm light generated by a combination of solid-state and fiber lasers with frequency mixing. We believe this laser will be beneficial for the application of interference lithography by seeding an injection-locking ArF eximer laser.

Optical diagnostics integrated with laser spark delivery system

DOEpatents

Yalin, Azer [Fort Collins, CO; Willson, Bryan [Fort Collins, CO; Defoort, Morgan [Fort Collins, CO; Joshi, Sachin [Fort Collins, CO; Reynolds, Adam [Fort Collins, CO

2008-09-02

A spark delivery system for generating a spark using a laser beam is provided, and includes a laser light source and a laser delivery assembly. The laser delivery assembly includes a hollow fiber and a launch assembly comprising launch focusing optics to input the laser beam in the hollow fiber. The laser delivery assembly further includes exit focusing optics that demagnify an exit beam of laser light from the hollow fiber, thereby increasing the intensity of the laser beam and creating a spark. Other embodiments use a fiber laser to generate a spark. Embodiments of the present invention may be used to create a spark in an engine. Yet other embodiments include collecting light from the spark or a flame resulting from the spark and conveying the light for diagnostics. Methods of using the spark delivery systems and diagnostic systems are provided.

Ultra-high brightness wavelength-stabilized kW-class fiber coupled diode laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Robin K.; Chann, Bien; Glenn, John D.

2011-03-01

TeraDiode has produced a fiber-coupled direct diode laser with a power level of 1,040 W from a 200 μm core diameter, 0.18 numerical aperture (NA) output fiber at a single center wavelength. This was achieved with a novel beam combining and shaping technique using COTS diode lasers. The fiber-coupled output corresponds to a Beam Parameter Product (BPP) of 18 mm-mrad and is the lowest BPP kW-class direct diode laser yet reported. The laser has been used to demonstrate laser cutting and welding of steel sheet metal up to 6.65 mm thick. Further advances of these ultra-bright lasers are also projected.

220 microJ Monolithic Single-Frequency Q-switched Fiber Laser at 2 micrometers by Using Highly Tm-doped Germanate Fibers

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-15

actively Q-switching all-fiber lasers include mag- netostriction modulation of fiber Bragg gratings ( FBGs ), stretching of FBGs with piezoelectric...report an all- fiber single-frequency actively Q-switched laser operat- ing at ∼1920 nm by using a piezo to press the fiber in the FBG cavity based on...fusion-spliced between two FBGs as shown in Fig. 1. One FBG has a high reflectivity (HR) grating imprinted on a non-PM silica fiber. The other FBG

Chaotic LIDAR for Naval Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-08-29

Perot Fiber Laser PD ^^ /- x —► -(YDF\\ {SMFV X — FBG 1 0 r utput FBG 70 Fabry-Perot Laser Output Pump Power (mW) Fig 2. Fabry-Perot...chaotic fiber laser. Left: Block diagram of the laser. Right: Output power versus pump power. (PD: Pump Diode; FBG : Fiber Braggs Grating; YDF: Ytterbium

Emergence of resonant mode-locking via delayed feedback in quantum dot semiconductor lasers.

PubMed

Tykalewicz, B; Goulding, D; Hegarty, S P; Huyet, G; Erneux, T; Kelleher, B; Viktorov, E A

2016-02-22

With conventional semiconductor lasers undergoing external optical feedback, a chaotic output is typically observed even for moderate levels of the feedback strength. In this paper we examine single mode quantum dot lasers under strong optical feedback conditions and show that an entirely new dynamical regime is found consisting of spontaneous mode-locking via a resonance between the relaxation oscillation frequency and the external cavity repetition rate. Experimental observations are supported by detailed numerical simulations of rate equations appropriate for this laser type. The phenomenon constitutes an entirely new mode-locking mechanism in semiconductor lasers.

Experimental investigation of an inhomogeneous loss and its influence on multiwavelength fiber lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Qing; Liu, Xiaoming; Xing, Lei; Feng, Xue; Zhou, Bingkun

2005-11-01

Inhomogeneous loss generated by multimode laser linewidth broadening in an optical fiber is experimentally studied. With this mechanism, multiwavelength lasing is achieved by use of either fiber Raman gain or erbium-doped fiber gain. Through various pump powers and optical filter bandwidths, the relationship between inhomogeneous loss and the performance of a multiwavelength fiber laser is studied, and a physical explanation is provided.

Crystal fibers for high power lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, W.; Florea, C.; Gibson, D.; Peele, J.; Askins, C.; Shaw, B.; Bowman, S.; O'Connor, S.; Bayya, S.; Aggarwal, I.; Sanghera, J. S.

2013-02-01

In this paper, we present our recent progress in developing single crystal fibers for high power single frequency fiber lasers. The optical, spectral and morphological properties as well as the loss and gain measured from these crystal fibers drawn by Laser Heated Pedestal Growth (LHPG) system are also discussed. Results on application of various cladding materials on the crystal core and the methods of fiber end-face polishing are also presented.

Polarized millijoule fiber laser system with high beam quality and pulse shaping ability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Rui; Tian, Xiaocheng; Xu, Dangpeng; Zhou, Dandan; Zong, Zhaoyu; Li, Hongxun; Fan, Mengqiu; Huang, Zhihua; Zhu, Na; Su, Jingqin; Zhu, Qihua; Jing, Feng

2017-05-01

The coherent amplification network (CAN) aims at developing a laser system based on the coherent combination of multiple laser beams, which are produced through a network of high beam quality optical fiber amplifiers. The scalability of the CAN laser facilitates the development of many novel applications, such as fiber-based acceleration, orbital debris removal and inertial confinement fusion energy. According to the requirements of CAN and the front end of high-power laser facilities, a millijoule polarized fiber laser system was studied in this paper. Using polarization maintaining Ytterbium-fiber laser system as the seed, and 10-μm core Yb-doped fiber amplifier as the first power amplifier and 40-μm core polarizing (PZ) photonic crystal fiber (PCF) as the second power amplifier, the all-fiber laser system outputs 1.06-mJ energy at 10 ns and diffraction limited mode quality. Using 85-μm rod-type PCF as the third power amplifiers, 2.5-mJ energy at 10-ns pulse width was obtained with better than 500:1 peak-to-foot pulse shaping ability and fundamental mode beam quality. The energy fluctuation of the system is 1.3% rms with 1-mJ output in one hour. When using phase-modulated pulse as the seed, the frequency modulation to amplitude modulation (FM-to-AM) conversion ratio of the system is better than 5%. This fiber laser system has the advantages of high beam quality, high beam shaping ability, good stability, small volume and free of maintenance, which can be used in many applications.

NASA Tech Briefs, January 2003

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

Topics covered include: Optoelectronic Tool Adds Scale Marks to Photographic Images; Compact Interconnection Networks Based on Quantum Dots; Laterally Coupled Quantum-Dot Distributed-Feedback Lasers; Bit-Serial Adder Based on Quantum Dots; Stabilized Fiber-Optic Distribution of Reference Frequency; Delay/Doppler-Mapping GPS-Reflection Remote-Sensing System; Ladar System Identifies Obstacles Partly Hidden by Grass; Survivable Failure Data Recorders for Spacecraft; Fiber-Optic Ammonia Sensors; Silicon Membrane Mirrors with Electrostatic Shape Actuators; Nanoscale Hot-Wire Probes for Boundary-Layer Flows; Theodolite with CCD Camera for Safe Measurement of Laser-Beam Pointing; Efficient Coupling of Lasers to Telescopes with Obscuration; Aligning Three Off-Axis Mirrors with Help of a DOE; Calibrating Laser Gas Measurements by Use of Natural CO2; Laser Ranging Simulation Program; Micro-Ball-Lens Optical Switch Driven by SMA Actuator; Evaluation of Charge Storage and Decay in Spacecraft Insulators; Alkaline Capacitors Based on Nitride Nanoparticles; Low-EC-Content Electrolytes for Low-Temperature Li-Ion Cells; Software for a GPS-Reflection Remote-Sensing System; Software for Building Models of 3D Objects via the Internet; "Virtual Cockpit Window" for a Windowless Aerospacecraft; CLARAty Functional-Layer Software; Java Library for Input and Output of Image Data and Metadata; Software for Estimating Costs of Testing Rocket Engines; Energy-Absorbing, Lightweight Wheels; Viscoelastic Vibration Dampers for Turbomachine Blades; Soft Landing of Spacecraft on Energy-Absorbing Self-Deployable Cushions; Pneumatically Actuated Miniature Peristaltic Vacuum Pumps; Miniature Gas-Turbine Power Generator; Pressure-Sensor Assembly Technique; Wafer-Level Membrane-Transfer Process for Fabricating MEMS; A Reactive-Ion Etch for Patterning Piezoelectric Thin Film; Wavelet-Based Real-Time Diagnosis of Complex Systems; Quantum Search in Hilbert Space; Analytic Method for Computing Instrument Pointing Jitter; and Semiselective Optoelectronic Sensors for Monitoring Microbes.

Fiber Coupled Laser Diodes with Even Illumination Pattern

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, Richard T. (Inventor)

2007-01-01

An optical fiber for evenly illuminating a target. The optical fiber is coupled to a laser emitting diode and receives laser light. The la ser light travels through the fiber optic and exits at an exit end. T he exit end has a diffractive optical pattern formed thereon via etch ing, molding or cutting, to reduce the Gaussian profile present in co nventional fiber optic cables The reduction of the Gaussian provides an even illumination from the fiber optic cable.

Diode-Pumped Narrow Linewidth Multi-kW Metalized Yb Fiber Amplifier

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-01

multi-kW Yb fiber amplifier in a bi-directional pumping configuration. Each pump outputs 2 kW in a 200 µm, 0.2 NA multi-mode fiber. Gold -coated...multi-mode instability, with 90% O-O efficiency 12 GHz Linewidth and M2 < 1.15. OCIS codes: (140.3510) Lasers , fiber; (140.3615) Lasers , ytterbium...060.2430) Fibers, single-mode. 1. INTRODUCTION Yb-doped fiber laser has experienced exponential growth over the past decade. The output power

InP-based monolithically integrated 1310/1550nm diplexer/triplexer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silfvenius, C.; Swillo, M.; Claesson, J.; Forsberg, E.; Akram, N.; Chacinski, M.; Thylén, L.

2008-11-01

Multiple streams of high definition television (HDTV) and improved home-working infrastructure are currently driving forces for potential fiber to the home (FTTH) customers [1]. There is an interest to reduce the cost and physical size of the FTTH equipment. The current fabrication methods have reached a cost minimum. We have addressed the costchallenge by developing 1310/(1490)/1550nm bidirectional diplexers, by monolithic seamless integration of lasers, photodiodes and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) couplers into one single InP-based device. A 250nm wide optical gain profile covers the spectrum from 1310 to 1550nm and is the principal building block. The device fabrication is basically based on the established configuration of using split-contacts on continuos waveguides. Optical and electrical cross-talks are further addressed by using a Y-configuration to physically separate the components from each other and avoid inline configurations such as when the incoming signal travels through the laser component or vice versa. By the eliminated butt-joint interfaces which can reflect light between components or be a current leakage path and by leaving optically absorbing (unpumped active) material to surround the components to absorb spontaneous emission and nonintentional reflections the devices are optically and electrically isolated from each other. Ridge waveguides (RWG) form the waveguides and which also maintain the absorbing material between them. The WDM functionality is designed for a large optical bandwidth complying with the wide spectral range in FTTH applications and also reducing the polarization dependence of the WDM-coupler. Lasing is achieved by forming facet-free, λ/4-shifted, DFB (distributed feedback laser) lasers emitting directly into the waveguide. The photodiodes are waveguide photo-diodes (WGPD). Our seamless technology is also able to array the single channel diplexers to 4 to 12 channel diplexer arrays with 250μm fiber port waveguide spacing to comply with fiber optic ribbons. This is an important feature in central office applications were small physical space is important.

Intravital multiphoton fluorescence imaging and optical manipulation of spinal cord in mice, using a compact fiber laser system.

PubMed

Oshima, Yusuke; Horiuch, Hideki; Honkura, Naoki; Hikita, Atsuhiko; Ogata, Tadanori; Miura, Hiromasa; Imamura, Takeshi

2014-09-01

Near-infrared ultrafast lasers are widely used for multiphoton excited fluorescence microscopy in living animals. Ti:Sapphire lasers are typically used for multiphoton excitation, but their emission wavelength is restricted below 1,000 nm. The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of a compact Ytterbium-(Yb-) fiber laser at 1,045 nm for multiphoton excited fluorescence microscopy in spinal cord injury. In this study, we employed a custom-designed microscopy system with a compact Yb-fiber laser and evaluated the performance of this system in in vivo imaging of brain cortex and spinal cord in YFP-H transgenic mice. For in vivo imaging of brain cortex, sharp images of basal dendrites, and pyramidal cells expressing EYFP were successfully captured using the Yb-fiber laser in our microscopy system. We also performed in vivo imaging of axon fibers of spinal cord in the transgenic mice. The obtained images were almost as sharp as those obtained using a conventional ultrafast laser system. In addition, laser ablation and multi-color imaging could be performed simultaneously using the Yb-fiber laser. The high-peak pulse Yb-fiber laser is potentially useful for multimodal bioimaging methods based on a multiphoton excited fluorescence microscopy system that incorporates laser ablation techniques. Our results suggest that microscopy systems of this type could be utilized in studies of neuroscience and clinical use in diagnostics and therapeutic tool for spinal cord injury in the future. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

High brightness laser-diode device emitting 160 watts from a 100 μm/NA 0.22 fiber.

PubMed

Yu, Junhong; Guo, Linui; Wu, Hualing; Wang, Zhao; Tan, Hao; Gao, Songxin; Wu, Deyong; Zhang, Kai

2015-11-10

A practical method of achieving a high-brightness and high-power fiber-coupled laser-diode device is demonstrated both by experiment and ZEMAX software simulation, which is obtained by a beam transformation system, free-space beam combining, and polarization beam combining based on a mini-bar laser-diode chip. Using this method, fiber-coupled laser-diode module output power from the multimode fiber with 100 μm core diameter and 0.22 numerical aperture (NA) could reach 174 W, with equalizing brightness of 14.2  MW/(cm2·sr). By this method, much wider applications of fiber-coupled laser-diodes are anticipated.

High-power highly stable passively Q-switched fiber laser based on monolayer graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Hanshuo; Song, Jiaxin; Wu, Jian; Xu, Jiangming; Xiao, Hu; Leng, Jinyong; Zhou, Pu

2018-03-01

We demonstrate a monolayer graphene-based passively Q-switched fiber laser with three-stage amplifiers that can deliver an average power of over 80 W at 1064 nm. The highest average power achieved is 84.1 W, with a pulse energy of 1.67 mJ. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of a high-power passively Q-switched fiber laser in the 1 µm range. More importantly, the Q-switched fiber laser operated stably during a week of tests for a few hours per day, which proves the stability and practical application potential of graphene in high-power pulsed fiber lasers.

High-temperature-resistant distributed Bragg reflector fiber laser written in Er/Yb co-doped fiber.

PubMed

Guan, Bai-Ou; Zhang, Yang; Wang, Hong-Jun; Chen, Da; Tam, Hwa-Yaw

2008-03-03

We present a high-temperature-resistant distributed Bragg reflector fiber laser photowritten in Er/Yb codoped phosphosilicate fiber that is capable of long-term operation at 500 degrees C. Highly saturated Bragg gratings are directly inscribed into the Er/Yb fiber without hydrogen loading by using a 193 nm excimer laser and phase mask method. After annealing at elevated temperature, the remained gratings are strong enough for laser oscillation. The laser operates in robust single mode with output power more than 1 dBm and signal-to-noise ratio better than 70 dB over the entire temperature range from room temperature to 500 degrees C.

Multiwavelength L-band fiber laser with bismuth-oxide EDF and photonic crystal fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramzia Salem, A. M.; Al-Mansoori, M. H.; Hizam, H.; Mohd Noor, S. B.; Abu Bakar, M. H.; Mahdi, M. A.

2011-05-01

A multiwavelength laser comb using a bismuth-based erbium-doped fiber and 50 m photonic crystal fiber is demonstrated in a ring cavity configuration. The fiber laser is solely pumped by a single 1455 nm Raman pump laser to exploit its higher power delivery compared to that of a single-mode laser diode pump. At 264 mW Raman pump power and 1 mW Brillouin pump power, 38 output channels in the L-band have been realized with an optical signal-to-noise ratio above 15 dB and a Stokes line spacing of 0.08 nm. The laser exhibits a tuning range of 12 nm and produces stable Stokes lines across the tuning range between Brillouin pump wavelengths of 1603 nm and 1615 nm.

Phase-locked, erbium-fiber-laser-based frequency comb in the near infrared.

PubMed

Washburn, Brian R; Diddams, Scott A; Newbury, Nathan R; Nicholson, Jeffrey W; Yan, Man F; Jørgensen, Carsten G

2004-02-01

A phase-locked frequency comb in the near infrared is demonstrated with a mode-locked, erbium-doped, fiber laser whose output is amplified and spectrally broadened in dispersion-flattened, highly nonlinear optical fiber to span from 1100 to >2200 nm. The supercontinuum output comprises a frequency comb with a spacing set by the laser repetition rate and an offset by the carrier-envelope offset frequency, which is detected with the standard f-to-2f heterodyne technique. The comb spacing and offset frequency are phase locked to a stable rf signal with a fiber stretcher in the laser cavity and by control of the pump laser power, respectively. This infrared comb permits frequency metrology experiments in the near infrared in a compact, fiber-laser-based system.

All-fiber laser at 1.94 µm: effect on soft tissue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pal, Atasi; Pal, Debasis; Das Chowdhury, Sourav; Sen, Ranjan

2017-02-01

A focused laser beam at wavelength of strong water absorption at 1.94 μm can be a good scalpel for precision soft tissue surgery. A fiber Bragg grating-based, all-fiber, continuous-wave as well as modulated, cladding pumped, thulium-doped fiber laser at 1.94 μm has been configured to deliver up to 10 W of laser power under pumping at 793 nm having an efficiency of 32 %. The laser was exposed to freshly sacrificed chicken breast at different power level and exposure time. The formalin-fixed samples were examined by microscopy to identify the ablation region, carbonization and necrosis region for laser parameter optimization.

Fiber fuse behavior in kW-level continuous-wave double-clad field laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jun-Yi, Sun; Qi-Rong, Xiao; Dan, Li; Xue-Jiao, Wang; Hai-Tao, Zhang; Ma-Li, Gong; Ping, Yan

2016-01-01

In this study, original experimental data for fiber fuse in kW-level continuous-wave (CW) high power double-clad fiber (DCF) laser are reported. The propagating velocity of the fuse is 9.68 m/s in a 3.1-kW Yb-doped DCF laser. Three other cases in Yb-doped DCF are also observed. We think that the ignition of fiber fuse is caused by thermal mechanism, and the formation of bullet-shaped tracks is attributed to the optical discharge and temperature gradient. The inducements of initial fuse and formation of bullet-shaped voids are analyzed. This investigation of fiber fuse helps better understand the fiber fuse behavior, in order to avoid the catastrophic destruction caused by fiber fuse in high power fiber laser. Project supported by the Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on High Energy Laser and China Academy of Engineering Physics (Grant No. 2014HEL02) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61307057).

Femtosecond laser inscription of asymmetric directional couplers for in-fiber optical taps and fiber cladding photonics.

PubMed

Grenier, Jason R; Fernandes, Luís A; Herman, Peter R

2015-06-29

Precise alignment of femtosecond laser tracks in standard single mode optical fiber is shown to enable controllable optical tapping of the fiber core waveguide light with fiber cladding photonic circuits. Asymmetric directional couplers are presented with tunable coupling ratios up to 62% and bandwidths up to 300 nm at telecommunication wavelengths. Real-time fiber monitoring during laser writing permitted a means of controlling the coupler length to compensate for micron-scale alignment errors and to facilitate tailored design of coupling ratio, spectral bandwidth and polarization properties. Laser induced waveguide birefringence was harnessed for polarization dependent coupling that led to the formation of in-fiber polarization-selective taps with 32 dB extinction ratio. This technology enables the interconnection of light propagating in pre-existing waveguides with laser-formed devices, thereby opening a new practical direction for the three-dimensional integration of optical devices in the cladding of optical fibers and planar lightwave circuits.

Pump absorption in coiled and twisted double-clad hexagonal fiber: effect of launching conditions and core location

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalidet, Romain; Peterka, Pavel; Doya, Valérie; Aubrecht, Jan; Koška, Pavel

2018-02-01

Ever extending applications of fiber lasers require energy efficient, high-power, small footprint and reliable fiber lasers and laser wavelength versatility. To meet these demands, next generation of active fibers for high-power fiber lasers is coming out that will eventually offer tailored spectroscopic properties, high robustness and reduced cooling requirements and improved efficiency through tailored pump absorption. We report on numerical modelling of the efficiency of the pump absorption in double clad active fibers with hexagonal shape of the inner cladding cross section and rare-earth-doped core. We analyze both the effect of different radii of the spool on which the fiber is coiled and different fiber twisting rates. Two different launching conditions were investigated: the Gaussian input pump beam and a speckle pattern that mimics the output of the pump laser diode pigtail. We have found that by asymmetric position of the rare-earth-doped core we can significantly improve the pump absorption.

Laser peening with fiber optic delivery

DOEpatents

Friedman, Herbert W.; Ault, Earl R.; Scheibner, Karl F.

2004-11-16

A system for processing a workpiece using a laser. The laser produces at least one laser pulse. A laser processing unit is used to process the workpiece using the at least one laser pulse. A fiber optic cable is used for transmitting the at least one laser pulse from the laser to the laser processing unit.

Numerical investigation on high power mid-infrared supercontinuum fiber lasers pumped at 3 µm.

PubMed

Wei, Chen; Zhu, Xiushan; Norwood, Robert A; Song, Feng; Peyghambarian, N

2013-12-02

High power mid-infrared (mid-IR) supercontinuum (SC) laser sources in the 3-12 µm region are of great interest for a variety of applications in many fields. Although various mid-IR SC laser sources have been proposed and investigated experimentally and theoretically in the past several years, power scaling of mid-IR SC lasers beyond 3 μm with infrared edges extending beyond 7 μm are still challenges because the wavelengths of most previously used pump sources are below 2 μm. These problems can be solved with the recent development of mode-locked fiber lasers at 3 μm. In this paper, high power mid-IR SC laser sources based on dispersion engineered tellurite and chalcogenide fibers and pumped by ultrafast lasers at 3 µm are proposed and investigated. Our simulation results show that, when a W-type tellurite fiber with a zero dispersion wavelength (ZDW) of 2.7 µm is pumped at 2.78 μm, the power proportion of the SC laser beyond 3 µm can exceed 40% and the attainable SC output power of the proposed solid-cladding tellurite fiber is one order of magnitude higher than that of existing microstructured tellurite fibers. Our calculation also predicts that a very promising super-broadband mid-IR SC fiber laser source covering two atmospheric windows and molecules' "fingerprint" region can be obtained with a microstructured As₂Se₃ chalcogenide fiber pumped at 2.78 μm.

Fundamental Studies of Ignition Process in Large Natural Gas Engines Using Laser Spark Ignition

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Azer Yalin; Bryan Willson

Past research has shown that laser ignition provides a potential means to reduce emissions and improve engine efficiency of gas-fired engines to meet longer-term DOE ARES (Advanced Reciprocating Engine Systems) targets. Despite the potential advantages of laser ignition, the technology is not seeing practical or commercial use. A major impediment in this regard has been the 'open-path' beam delivery used in much of the past research. This mode of delivery is not considered industrially practical owing to safety factors, as well as susceptibility to vibrations, thermal effects etc. The overall goal of our project has been to develop technologies andmore » approaches for practical laser ignition systems. To this end, we are pursuing fiber optically coupled laser ignition system and multiplexing methods for multiple cylinder engine operation. This report summarizes our progress in this regard. A partial summary of our progress includes: development of a figure of merit to guide fiber selection, identification of hollow-core fibers as a potential means of fiber delivery, demonstration of bench-top sparking through hollow-core fibers, single-cylinder engine operation with fiber delivered laser ignition, demonstration of bench-top multiplexing, dual-cylinder engine operation via multiplexed fiber delivered laser ignition, and sparking with fiber lasers. To the best of our knowledge, each of these accomplishments was a first.« less

Surface treatment of CFRP composites using femtosecond laser radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliveira, V.; Sharma, S. P.; de Moura, M. F. S. F.; Moreira, R. D. F.; Vilar, R.

2017-07-01

In the present work, we investigate the surface treatment of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites by laser ablation with femtosecond laser radiation. For this purpose, unidirectional carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy matrix composites were treated with femtosecond laser pulses of 1024 nm wavelength and 550 fs duration. Laser tracks were inscribed on the material surface using pulse energies and scanning speeds in the range 0.1-0.5 mJ and 0.1-5 mm/s, respectively. The morphology of the laser treated surfaces was investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy. We show that, by using the appropriate processing parameters, a selective removal of the epoxy resin can be achieved, leaving the carbon fibers exposed. In addition, sub-micron laser induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) are created on the carbon fibers surface, which may be potentially beneficial for the improvement of the fiber to matrix adhesion in adhesive bonds between CFRP parts.

Q-switched oscillation in thulium-doped fiber lasers using preloaded dynamic microbending technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakata, H.; Takahashi, N.; Ushiro, Y.

2018-01-01

We demonstrate Q-switched pulse generation in thulium-doped fiber lasers by introducing piezoelectric-driven microbend with preloaded stress. We employed a pair of corrugated chips each attached on piezoelectric actuators (PAs) to clamp the fiber in a ring laser resonator. The thulium-doped fiber is pumped by a laser diode emitting at 1.63 μm and generates the Q-switched laser pulses at around 1.9 μm by switching off the PAs. The laser pulse performance is improved by optimizing the preload and switch-off period for the PAs. The Q-switched pulses with a peak power of 2.8 W and a pulsewidth of 900 ns are observed for a launched pump power of 161 mW. We expect that the in-fiber Q-switching technique will provide efficient laser systems for environmental sensing and medical applications.

Dual-wavelength, mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser employing a graphene/polymethyl-methacrylate saturable absorber.

PubMed

Lau, K Y; Abu Bakar, M H; Muhammad, F D; Latif, A A; Omar, M F; Yusoff, Z; Mahdi, M A

2018-05-14

Mode-locked fiber laser incorporating a saturable absorber is an attractive configuration due to its stability and simple structure. In this work, we demonstrate a dual-wavelength passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser employing a graphene/polymethyl-methacrylate saturable absorber. A laser resonator is developed based on dual cavity architecture with unidirectional signal oscillation, which is connected by a fiber branch sharing a common gain medium and saturable absorber. Dual wavelength mode-locked fiber lasers are observed at approximately 1530 and 1560 nm with 22.6 mW pump power threshold. Soliton pulse circulates in the laser cavity with pulse duration of 900 and 940 fs at shorter and longer wavelengths, respectively. This work presents a viable option in developing a low threshold mode-locked laser source with closely spaced dual wavelength femtosecond pulses in the C-band wavelength region.

A narrow linewidth tunable single longitudinal mode Ga-EDF fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohamed Halip, N. H.; Abu Bakar, M. H.; Latif, A. A.; Muhd-Yasin, S. Z.; Zulkifli, M. I.; Mat-Sharif, K. A.; Omar, N. Y. M.; Mansoor, A.; Abdul-Rashid, H. A.; Mahdi, M. A.

2018-05-01

A tunable ring cavity single longitudinal mode (SLM) fiber laser incorporating Gallium-Erbium co-doped fiber (Ga-EDF) gain medium and several mode filtration techniques is demonstrated. With Ga-EDF, high emission power was accorded in short fiber length, allowing shorter overall cavity length and wider free spectral range. Tunable bandpass filter, sub-ring structure, and cascaded dissimilar fiber taper were utilized to filter multi-longitudinal modes. Each of the filter mechanism was tested individually within the laser cavity to assess its performance. Once the performance of each filter was obtained, all of them were deployed into the laser system. Ultimately, the 1561.47 nm SLM laser achieved a narrow linewidth laser, optical signal-to-noise ratio, and power fluctuation of 1.19 kHz, 61.52 dB and 0.16 dB, respectively. This work validates the feasibility of Ga-EDF to attain a stable SLM output in simple laser configuration.

Probe And Enhancement Of SBS Based Phonons In Infrared Fibers Using Waveguide Coupled External Radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Chung; Chong, Yat C.; Fong, Chee K.

1989-06-01

Interaction of GHz and MHz radiation with CO2 laser propagation in a silver halide fiber using sBs based phonon coupling is furthet investigated. The external signal serves to both probe and enhance laser generated sBs phonons in the fiber. Efficient coupling of microwave radiation into the fiber is accomplished by placing the fiber in a hollow metallic waveguide, designed and constructed to transmit the dominant mode in the 0.9-2.0 GHz band. MHz radiation is conveniently coupled into the fiber using the guided microwave radiation as carrier. Phonon emissions from the fiber under CO2 laser pumping are first established on a spectrum analyzer; low frequency generators ale then tuned to match these frequencies and their maximum interaction recorded. Such interactions are systematically studied by monitoring the amplitude and waveform of the reflected and transmitted laser pulse at various power levels and frequencies of the externally coupled radiation. A plot of reflected laser power versus incident laser power reveals a distinct sBs generated phonon threshold. Variouslaunch directions of the GHz and MHz radiation with respect to the direction of laser propagation are realized to verify theory governing sBs interactions. The MHz radiation and its associated phonons in the fiber are convenient tools for probing sBs related phenomenon in infrared fibers.

Hollow steel tips for reducing distal fiber burn-back during thulium fiber laser lithotripsy.

PubMed

Hutchens, Thomas C; Blackmon, Richard L; Irby, Pierce B; Fried, Nathaniel M

2013-07-01

The use of thulium fiber laser (TFL) as a potential alternative laser lithotripter to the clinical holmium:YAG laser is being studied. The TFL's Gaussian spatial beam profile provides efficient coupling of higher laser power into smaller core fibers without proximal fiber tip degradation. Smaller fiber diameters are more desirable, because they free up space in the single working channel of the ureteroscope for increased saline irrigation rates and allow maximum ureteroscope deflection. However, distal fiber tip degradation and "burn-back" increase as fiber diameter decreases due to both excessive temperatures and mechanical stress experienced during stone ablation. To eliminate fiber tip burn-back, the distal tip of a 150-μm core silica fiber was glued inside 1-cm-long steel tubing with fiber tip recessed 100, 250, 500, 1000, or 2000 μm inside the steel tubing to create the hollow-tip fiber. TFL pulse energy of 34 mJ with 500-μs pulse duration and 150-Hz pulse rate was delivered through the hollow-tip fibers in contact with human calcium oxalate monohydrate urinary stones during ex vivo studies. Significant fiber tip burn-back and degradation was observed for bare 150-μm core-diameter fibers. However, hollow steel tip fibers experienced minimal fiber burn-back without compromising stone ablation rates. A simple, robust, compact, and inexpensive hollow fiber tip design was characterized for minimizing distal fiber burn-back during the TFL lithotripsy. Although an increase in stone retropulsion was observed, potential integration of the hollow fiber tip into a stone basket may provide rapid stone vaporization, while minimizing retropulsion.

All-optical fiber anemometer based on laser heated fiber Bragg gratings.

PubMed

Gao, Shaorui; Zhang, A Ping; Tam, Hwa-Yaw; Cho, L H; Lu, Chao

2011-05-23

A fiber-optic anemometer based on fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) is presented. A short section of cobalt-doped fiber was utilized to make a fiber-based "hot wire" for wind speed measurement. Fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) were fabricated in the cobalt-doped fiber using 193 nm laser pulses to serve as localized temperature sensors. A miniature all-optical fiber anemometer is constructed by using two FBGs to determine the dynamic thermal equilibrium between the laser heating and air flow cooling through monitoring the FBGs' central wavelengths. It was demonstrated that the sensitivity of the sensor can be adjusted through the power of pump laser or the coating on the FBG. Experimental results reveal that the proposed FBG-based anemometer exhibits very good performance for wind speed measurement. The resolution of the FBG-based anemometer is about 0.012 m/s for wind speed range between 2.0 m/s and 8.0 m/s.

Nd- And Er-Doped Phosphate Glass For Fiber Laser.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamashita, Toshiharu T.

1990-02-01

Laser fibers prepared from Nd- and Er-doped phosphate glass possessing a large stimulated emission cross section have been investigated both in a single fiber and in a fiber bundle. In the single fiber, continuous wave oscillations were successfully obtained at 1.054 p.m and 1.366 µm on a high Nd-doped single-mode fiber of 10 mm in length and also at 1.535 pm in a Er-doped single-mode fiber, sensitized by Nd, Yb. Especially, a low threshold of 1 mw and a high slope-efficiency of 50% were achieved in 1.054 pm laser oscillation on a Nd-doped fiber, end-pumped with a laser diode. A fiber bundle of phosphate glass doped with 8 wt% Nd2O3 yielded an average output power of 100 W at 50 pps where the bundle was 4.6 mm in diameter and was side-pumped with flash lamps.

Multi-focus beam shaping of high power multimode lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laskin, Alexander; Volpp, Joerg; Laskin, Vadim; Ostrun, Aleksei

2017-08-01

Beam shaping of powerful multimode fiber lasers, fiber-coupled solid-state and diode lasers is of great importance for improvements of industrial laser applications. Welding, cladding with millimetre scale working spots benefit from "inverseGauss" intensity profiles; performance of thick metal sheet cutting, deep penetration welding can be enhanced when distributing the laser energy along the optical axis as more efficient usage of laser energy, higher edge quality and reduction of the heat affected zone can be achieved. Building of beam shaping optics for multimode lasers encounters physical limitations due to the low beam spatial coherence of multimode fiber-coupled lasers resulting in big Beam Parameter Products (BPP) or M² values. The laser radiation emerging from a multimode fiber presents a mixture of wavefronts. The fiber end can be considered as a light source which optical properties are intermediate between a Lambertian source and a single mode laser beam. Imaging of the fiber end, using a collimator and a focusing objective, is a robust and widely used beam delivery approach. Beam shaping solutions are suggested in form of optics combining fiber end imaging and geometrical separation of focused spots either perpendicular to or along the optical axis. Thus, energy of high power lasers is distributed among multiple foci. In order to provide reliable operation with multi-kW lasers and avoid damages the optics are designed as refractive elements with smooth optical surfaces. The paper presents descriptions of multi-focus optics as well as examples of intensity profile measurements of beam caustics and application results.

Infrared glass fiber cables for CO laser medical applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arai, Tsunenori; Mizuno, Kyoichi; Sensaki, Koji; Kikuchi, Makoto; Watanabe, Tamishige; Utsumi, Atsushi; Takeuchi, Kiyoshi; Akai, Yoshiro

1993-05-01

We developed the medical fiber cables which were designed for CO laser therapy, i.e., angioplasty and endoscopic therapy. As-S chalcogenide glass fibers were used for CO laser delivery. A 230 micrometers core-diameter fiber was used for the angioplasty laser cable. The outer diameter of this cable was 600 micrometers . The total length and insertion length of the angioplasty laser cable were 2.5 m and 1.0 m, respectively. Typically, 2.0 W of fiber output was used in the animal experiment in vivo for the ablation of the model plaque which consisted of human atheromatous aorta wall. The transmission of the angioplasty laser cable was approximately 35%, because the reflection loss occurred at both ends of the fiber and window. Meanwhile, the core diameter of the energy delivery fiber for the endoscopic therapy was 450 micrometers . The outer diameter of this cable was 1.7 mm. Approximately 4.5 W of fiber output was used for clinical treatment of pneumothorax through a pneumoscope. Both types of the cables had the ultra-thin thermocouples for temperature monitoring at the tip of the cables. This temperature monitoring was extremely useful to prevent the thermal destruction of the fiber tip. Moreover, the As-S glass fibers were completely sealed by the CaF2 windows and outer tubes. Therefore, these cables were considered to have sufficient safety properties for medical applications. These laser cables were successfully used for the in vivo animal experiments and/or actual clinical therapies.

Optimizing the noise characteristics of high-power fiber laser systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jauregui, Cesar; Müller, Michael; Kienel, Marco; Emaury, Florian; Saraceno, Clara J.; Limpert, Jens; Keller, Ursula; Tünnermann, Andreas

2017-02-01

The noise characteristics of high-power fiber lasers, unlike those of other solid-state lasers such as thin-disks, have not been systematically studied up to now. However, novel applications for high-power fiber laser systems, such as attosecond pulse generation, put stringent limits to the maximum noise level of these sources. Therefore, in order to address these applications, a detailed knowledge and understanding of the characteristics of noise and its behavior in a fiber laser system is required. In this work we have carried out a systematic study of the propagation of the relative intensity noise (RIN) along the amplification chain of a state-of-the-art high-power fiber laser system. The most striking feature of these measurements is that the RIN level is progressively attenuated after each amplification stage. In order to understand this unexpected behavior, we have simulated the transfer function of the RIN in a fiber amplification stage ( 80μm core) as a function of the seed power and the frequency. Our simulation model shows that this damping of the amplitude noise is related to saturation. Additionally, we show, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, that the fiber design (e.g. core size, glass composition, doping geometry) can be modified to optimize the noise characteristics of high-power fiber laser systems.

Rapid constructions of microstructures for optical fiber sensors using a commercial CO2 laser system.

PubMed

Irawan, Rudi; Chuan, Tjin Swee; Meng, Tay Chia; Ming, Tan Khay

2008-06-27

Exposing an optical fiber core to the measurand surrounding the fiber is often used to enhance the sensitivity of an optical fiber sensor. This paper reports on the rapid fabrication of microstructures in an optical fiber using a CO₂ laser system which help exposing the optical fiber core to the measurand. The direct-write CO₂ laser system used is originally designed for engraving the polymeric material. Fabrications of microstructures such as in-fiber microhole, D-shaped fiber, in-fiber microchannel, side-sliced fiber and tapered fiber were attempted. The microstructures in the fibers were examined using a SEM and an optical microscope. Quality of microstructures shown by the SEM images and promising results from fluorescence sensor tests using in-fiber microchannels of 100μm width, 210μm depth and 10mm length show the prospect of this method for use in optical fiber sensor development. The direct-write CO₂ laser system is a flexible and fast machining tool for fabricating microstructures in an optical fiber, and can possibly be a replacement of the time consuming chemical etching and polishing methods used for microstructure fabrications of optical the fiber sensors reported in other literatures.

Rapid Constructions of Microstructures for Optical Fiber Sensors Using a Commercial CO2 Laser System

PubMed Central

Irawan, Rudi; Chuan, Tjin Swee; Meng, Tay Chia; Ming, Tan Khay

2008-01-01

Exposing an optical fiber core to the measurand surrounding the fiber is often used to enhance the sensitivity of an optical fiber sensor. This paper reports on the rapid fabrication of microstructures in an optical fiber using a CO2 laser system which help exposing the optical fiber core to the measurand. The direct-write CO2 laser system used is originally designed for engraving the polymeric material. Fabrications of microstructures such as in-fiber microhole, D-shaped fiber, in-fiber microchannel, side-sliced fiber and tapered fiber were attempted. The microstructures in the fibers were examined using a SEM and an optical microscope. Quality of microstructures shown by the SEM images and promising results from fluorescence sensor tests using in-fiber microchannels of 100μm width, 210μm depth and 10mm length show the prospect of this method for use in optical fiber sensor development. The direct-write CO2 laser system is a flexible and fast machining tool for fabricating microstructures in an optical fiber, and can possibly be a replacement of the time consuming chemical etching and polishing methods used for microstructure fabrications of optical the fiber sensors reported in other literatures. PMID:19662114

Optical fiber configurations for transmission of laser energy over great distances

DOEpatents

Rinzler, Charles C; Zediker, Mark S

2013-10-29

There are provided optical fiber configurations that provide for the delivery of laser energy, and in particular, the transmission and delivery of high power laser energy over great distances. These configurations further are hardened to protect the optical fibers from the stresses and conditions of an intended application. The configurations provide means for determining the additional fiber length (AFL) need to obtain the benefits of such additional fiber, while avoiding bending losses.

Narrow linewidth short cavity Brillouin random laser based on Bragg grating array fiber and dynamical population inversion gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popov, S. M.; Butov, O. V.; Chamorovski, Y. K.; Isaev, V. A.; Mégret, P.; Korobko, D. A.; Zolotovskii, I. O.; Fotiadi, A. A.

2018-06-01

We report on random lasing observed with 100-m-long fiber comprising an array of weak FBGs inscribed in the fiber core and uniformly distributed over the fiber length. Extended fluctuation-free oscilloscope traces highlight power dynamics typical for lasing. An additional piece of Er-doped fiber included into the laser cavity enables a stable laser generation with a linewidth narrower than 10 kHz.

Optical fiber configurations for transmission of laser energy over great distances

DOEpatents

Rinzler, Charles C; Zediker, Mark S

2014-11-04

There are provided optical fiber configurations that provide for the delivery of laser energy, and in particular, the transmission and delivery of high power laser energy over great distances. These configurations further are hardened to protect the optical fibers from the stresses and conditions of an intended application. The configurations provide means for determining the additional fiber length (AFL) need to obtain the benefits of such additional fiber, while avoiding bending losses.

Microring embedded hollow polymer fiber laser

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Linslal, C. L., E-mail: linslal@gmail.com; Sebastian, S.; Mathew, S.

2015-03-30

Strongly modulated laser emission has been observed from rhodamine B doped microring resonator embedded in a hollow polymer optical fiber by transverse optical pumping. The microring resonator is fabricated on the inner wall of a hollow polymer fiber. Highly sharp lasing lines, strong mode selection, and a collimated laser beam are observed from the fiber. Nearly single mode lasing with a side mode suppression ratio of up to 11.8 dB is obtained from the strongly modulated lasing spectrum. The microring embedded hollow polymer fiber laser has shown efficient lasing characteristics even at a propagation length of 1.5 m.

Neodymium-doped phosphate fiber lasers with an all-solid microstructured inner cladding.

PubMed

Zhang, Guang; Zhou, Qinling; Yu, Chunlei; Hu, Lili; Chen, Danping

2012-06-15

We report on high-power fiber lasers based on index-guiding, all-solid neodymium-doped (Nd-doped) phosphate photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with a hexagonal-shaped inner cladding. The optimum fiber laser with a 36 cm length active fiber, generated up to 7.92 W output power at 1053 nm, which benefited from a high absorption coefficient for pump power due to its noncircular inner cladding. The guiding properties of the all-solid PCF were also investigated. A stable mode with a donut-shaped profile and a power-dependent laser beam quality have been observed experimentally and analyzed.

75 W 40% efficiency single-mode all-fiber erbium-doped laser cladding pumped at 976 nm.

PubMed

Kotov, L V; Likhachev, M E; Bubnov, M M; Medvedkov, O I; Yashkov, M V; Guryanov, A N; Lhermite, J; Février, S; Cormier, E

2013-07-01

Optimization of Yb-free Er-doped fiber for lasers and amplifiers cladding pumped at 976 nm was performed in this Letter. The single-mode fiber design includes an increased core diameter of 34 μm and properly chosen erbium and co-dopant concentrations. We demonstrate an all-fiber high power laser and power amplifier based on this fiber with the record slope efficiency of 40%. To the best of our knowledge, the achieved output power of 75 W is the highest power reported for such lasers.

Controllable photoinduced optical attenuation in a single-mode optical fiber by irradiation of a femtosecond pulse laser.

PubMed

Himei, Yusuke; Qiu, Jianrong; Nakajima, Sotohiro; Sakamoto, Akihiko; Hirao, Kazuyuki

2004-12-01

Novel optical attenuation fibers were fabricated by the irradiation of a focused infrared femtosecond pulsed laser onto the core of a silica glass single-mode optical fiber. Optical attenuation at a wavelength of 1.55 microm proportionally increased with increasing numbers of irradiation points and was controllable under laser irradiation conditions. The single-mode property of the waveguide and the mode-field diameter of the optical fiber were maintained after irradiation of the femtosecond laser. It is suggested that the attenuation results from optical scattering at photoinduced spots formed inside the fiber core.

Monolithic diffraction-limited 976-nm laser based on saddle-shaped photo darkening-free Yb-doped fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aleshkina, Svetlana S.; Lipatov, Denis S.; Levchenko, Andrei E.; Medvedkov, Oleg I.; Bobkov, Konstantin K.; Bubnov, Mikhail M.; Guryanov, Alexei N.; Likhachev, Mikhail E.

2018-02-01

Monolithic 976 nm laser design based on a newly developed saddle-shaped Yb-doped fiber has been proposed. The fiber has central single-mode part with core diameter of about 12 μm and ultra-thin square-shaped clad with side of about 42x42 μm. At the both ends of the saddle-shaped fiber the core and the clad sizes were adiabatically increased up to 20/(70x70) μm and the fiber could be spliced with standard (80..125 μm clad) passive fibers using commercially available equipment. Single-mode laser at 976 nm based on the developed fiber has been fabricated and photodarkening-free operation with output power of 10.6 W, which is the record high for all-fiber laser schemes, has been demonstrated.

Small core fiber coupled 60-W laser diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernie, Douglas P.; Mannonen, Ilkka; Raven, Anthony L.

1995-05-01

Semiconductor laser diodes are compact, efficient and reliable sources of laser light and 25 W fiber coupled systems developed by Diomed have been in clinical use for over three years. For certain applications, particularly in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia and flexible endoscopy, higher powers are desirable. In these applications the use of flexible optical fibers of no more than 600 micrometers core diameter is essential for compatibility with most commercial delivery fibers and instrumentation. A high power 60 W diode laser system for driving these small core fibers has been developed. The design requirements for medical applications are analyzed and system performance and results of use in gastroenterology and urology with small core fibers will be presented.

Laser-Heated Floating Zone Production of Single-Crystal Fibers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ritzert, Frank; Westfall, Leonard

1996-01-01

This report describes how a laser-heated floating zone apparatus can be used to investigate single-crystal fibers of various compositions. A feedrod with a stoichiometric composition of high-purity powders was connected to a pedestal and fed into a laser scan where it combined with a single-crystal fiber seed. A molten zone was formed at this junction. As the feedrod was continuously fed into the laser scan, a single-crystal fiber of a prescribed orientation was withdrawn from the melt. The resultant fibers, whose diameters ranged from 100 to 250 gm, could then be evaluated on the basis of their growth behavior, physical properties, mechanical properties, and fiber perfection.

Fiber Bragg grating Fabry-Perot cavity sensor based on pulse laser demodulation technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Fangfang; Chen, Jianfeng; Liu, Yunqi; Wang, Tingyun

2011-12-01

We demonstrate a fiber laser sensing technique based on fiber Bragg grating Fabry-Perot (FBG-FP) cavity interrogated by pulsed laser, where short pulses generated from active mode-locked erbium-doped fiber ring laser and current modulated DFB laser are adopted. The modulated laser pulses launched into the FBG-FP cavity produce a group of reflected pulses. The optical loss in the cavity can be determined from the power ratio of the first two pulses reflected from the cavity. This technique does not require high reflectivity FBGs and is immune to the power fluctuation of the light source. Two short pulse laser sources were compared experimentally with each other on pulse width, pulse stability, pulse chirp and sensing efficiency.

Widely wavelength tunable gain-switched Er³⁺-doped ZBLAN fiber laser around 2.8 μm.

PubMed

Wei, Chen; Luo, Hongyu; Shi, Hongxia; Lyu, YanJia; Zhang, Han; Liu, Yong

2017-04-17

In this paper, we demonstrate a wavelength widely tunable gain-switched Er³⁺-doped ZBLAN fiber laser around 2.8 μm. The laser can be tuned over 170 nm (2699 nm~2869.9 nm) for various pump power levels, while maintaining stable μs-level single-pulse gain-switched operation with controllable output pulse duration at a selectable repetition rate. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first wavelength tunable gain-switched fiber laser in the 3 μm spectral region with the broadest tuning range (doubling the record tuning range) of the pulsed fiber lasers around 3 μm. Influences of pump energy and power on the output gain-switched laser performances are investigated in detail. This robust, simple, and versatile mid-infrared pulsed fiber laser source is highly suitable for many applications including laser surgery, material processing, sensing, spectroscopy, as well as serving as a practical seed source in master oscillator power amplifiers.

Diode pumped alkali vapor fiber laser

DOEpatents

Payne, Stephen A.; Beach, Raymond J.; Dawson, Jay W.; Krupke, William F.

2007-10-23

A method and apparatus is provided for producing near-diffraction-limited laser light, or amplifying near-diffraction-limited light, in diode pumped alkali vapor photonic-band-gap fiber lasers or amplifiers. Laser light is both substantially generated and propagated in an alkali gas instead of a solid, allowing the nonlinear and damage limitations of conventional solid core fibers to be circumvented. Alkali vapor is introduced into the center hole of a photonic-band-gap fiber, which can then be pumped with light from a pump laser and operated as an oscillator with a seed beam, or can be configured as an amplifier.

Diode pumped alkali vapor fiber laser

DOEpatents

Payne, Stephen A [Castro Valley, CA; Beach, Raymond J [Livermore, CA; Dawson, Jay W [Livermore, CA; Krupke, William F [Pleasanton, CA

2006-07-26

A method and apparatus is provided for producing near-diffraction-limited laser light, or amplifying near-diffraction-limited light, in diode pumped alkali vapor photonic-band-gap fiber lasers or amplifiers. Laser light is both substantially generated and propagated in an alkali gas instead of a solid, allowing the nonlinear and damage limitations of conventional solid core fibers to be circumvented. Alkali vapor is introduced into the center hole of a photonic-band-gap fiber, which can then be pumped with light from a pump laser and operated as an oscillator with a seed beam, or can be configured as an amplifier.

Dark pulse generation in fiber lasers incorporating carbon nanotubes.

PubMed

Liu, H H; Chow, K K

2014-12-01

We demonstrate the generation of dark pulses from carbon nanotube (CNT) incorporated erbium-doped fiber ring lasers with net anomalous dispersion. A side-polished fiber coated with CNT layer by optically-driven deposition method is embedded into the laser in order to enhance the birefringence and nonlinearity of the laser cavity. The dual-wavelength domain-wall dark pulses are obtained from the developed CNT-incorporated fiber laser at a relatively low pump threshold of 50.6 mW. Dark pulses repeated at the fifth-order harmonic of the fundamental cavity frequency are observed by adjusting the intra-cavity polarization state.

A cladding-pumped, tunable holmium doped fiber laser.

PubMed

Simakov, Nikita; Hemming, Alexander; Clarkson, W Andrew; Haub, John; Carter, Adrian

2013-11-18

We present a tunable, high power cladding-pumped holmium doped fiber laser. The laser generated >15 W CW average power across a wavelength range of 2.043 - 2.171 μm, with a maximum output power of 29.7 W at 2.120 μm. The laser also produced 18.2 W when operating at 2.171 µm. To the best of our knowledge this is the highest power operation of a holmium doped laser at a wavelength >2.15 µm. We discuss the significance of background losses and fiber design for achieving efficient operation in holmium doped fibers.

Fiber-coupling efficiency for free-space optical communication through atmospheric turbulence.

PubMed

Dikmelik, Yamaç; Davidson, Frederic M

2005-08-10

High-speed free-space optical communication systems have recently used fiber-optic components. The received laser beam in such a system must be coupled into a single-mode fiber at the input of the receiver module. However, propagation through atmospheric turbulence degrades the spatial coherence of a laser beam and limits the fiber-coupling efficiency. We numerically evaluate the fiber-coupling efficiency for laser light distorted by atmospheric turbulence. We also investigate the use of a coherent fiber array as a receiver structure and find that a coherent fiber array that consists of seven subapertures would significantly increase the fiber-coupling efficiency.

Fluoride glass fibers: applications and prospects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poulain, Marcel

1998-09-01

Fluoride glass fibers have been intensively developed for the last 20 years. A major effort was devoted to the fabrication of low loss fibers for repeaterless long haul telecommunications. This step which ended in the late eighties provided the basic technology for the manufacturing of multimode and single mode fibers with minimum losses below 10 dB/km. Such fibers area now used for various passive applications requiring the handling of IR signal. In this respect, fluoride fibers are complementary to silica fibers when wavelength exceeds 2 micrometers . Some practical set ups are operating for IR imaging, remote spectroscopy and thermometry. Special fibers such as polarization maintaining fibers have been developed for interferometric astronomy, which could also apply to sensors. UV transmission has still to be developed. Laser power delivery is another field of application for these fibers. YAG:Er laser at 2.9 micrometers attracts a growing interest for medical applications, ophthalmology and dentistry, while prospects for CO laser are positive. Active fibers are based on rare earth doped single mode fibers. They lead to the definition of numerous new laser lines and emphasized the potential of up conversion for the generation of visible light using IR pumping laser diodes. High power output has been achieved in the blue and the red light, which open prospects for compact and all solid state fiber lasers for a wide range of applications, from displays to medical uses. Optical amplification makes another field of R and D centered on telecommunication needs. Pr3+ doped fluoride fibers have been used for the 1.3 micrometers band, and Er based fluoride fiber amplifiers exhibit wider and flatter gain than those made from silica. Optical amplification may be implemented at other wavelengths for more general purposes.

Switchable dual-wavelength fiber laser based on PCF Sagnac loop and broadband FBG

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Weiguo; Lou, Shuqin; Feng, Suchun; Wang, Liwen; Li, Honglei; Guo, Tieying; Jian, Shuisheng

2009-11-01

Switchable dual-wavelength fiber laser with photonic crystal fiber (PCF) Sagnac loop and broadband fiber Bragg grating (BFBG) at room temperature is demonstrated. By adjusting the polarization controller (PC) appropriately, the laser can be switched between the stable single- and dual-wavelength lasing operations by exploiting polarization hole burning (PHB) and spectral hole burning effects (SHB).

Cascaded-cladding-pumped cascaded Raman fiber amplifier.

PubMed

Jiang, Huawei; Zhang, Lei; Feng, Yan

2015-06-01

The conversion efficiency of double-clad Raman fiber laser is limited by the cladding-to-core area ratio. To get high conversion efficiency, the inner-cladding-to-core area ratio has to be less than about 8, which limits the brightness enhancement. To overcome the problem, a cascaded-cladding-pumped cascaded Raman fiber laser with multiple-clad fiber as the Raman gain medium is proposed. A theoretical model of Raman fiber amplifier with multiple-clad fiber is developed, and numerical simulation proves that the proposed scheme can improve the conversion efficiency and brightness enhancement of cladding pumped Raman fiber laser.

Mode Selection for a Single-Frequency Fiber Laser

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Jian

2010-01-01

A superstructured fiber-grating-based mode selection filter for a single-frequency fiber laser eliminates all free-space components, and makes the laser truly all-fiber. A ring cavity provides for stable operations in both frequency and power. There is no alignment or realignment required. After the fibers and components are spliced together and packaged, there is no need for specially trained technicians for operation or maintenance. It can be integrated with other modules, such as telescope systems, without extra optical alignment due to the flexibility of the optical fiber. The filter features a narrow line width of 1 kHz and side mode suppression ratio of 65 dB. It provides a high-quality laser for lidar in terms of coherence length and signal-to-noise ratio, which is 20 dB higher than solid-state or microchip lasers. This concept is useful in material processing, medical equipment, biomedical instrumentation, and optical communications. The pulse-shaping fiber laser can be directly used in space, airborne, and satellite applications including lidar, remote sensing, illuminators, and phase-array antenna systems.

Influence of high power 405 nm multi-mode and single-mode diode laser light on the long-term stability of fused silica fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonschior, C. P.; Klein, K.-F.; Sun, T.; Grattan, K. T. V.

2012-04-01

As the demand for high power fiber-coupled violet laser systems increases existing problems remain. The typical power of commercially available diode lasers around 400 nm is in the order of 100 to 300 mW, depending on the type of laser. But in combination with the small core of single-mode fibers reduced spot sizes are needed for good coupling efficiencies, leading to power densities in the MW/cm2 range. We investigated the influence of 405 nm laser light irradiation on different fused silica fibers and differently treated end-faces. The effect of glued-and-polished, cleaved-and-clamped and of cleaved-and-fusion-arc-treated fiber end-faces on the damage rate and behavior are presented. In addition, effects in the deep ultra-violet were determined spectrally using newest spectrometer technology, allowing the measurement of color centers around 200 nm in small core fibers. Periodic surface structures were found on the proximal end-faces and were investigated concerning generation control parameters and composition. The used fiber types range from low-mode fiber to single-mode and polarization-maintaining fiber. For this investigation 405 nm single-mode or multi-mode diode lasers with 150 mW or 300 mW, respectively, were employed.

Laser-phased-array beam steering based on crystal fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Deng-cai; Zhao, Si-si; Wang, Da-yong; Wang, Zhi-yong; Zhang, Xiao-fei

2011-06-01

Laser-phased-array system provides an elegant means for achieving the inertial-free, high-resolution, rapid and random beam steering. In laser-phased-array system, phase controlling is the most important factor that impacts the system performance. A novel scheme is provided in this paper, the beam steering is accomplished by using crystal fiber array, the difference length between adjacent fiber is fixed. The phase difference between adjacent fiber decides the direction of the output beam. When the wavelength of the input fiber laser is tuned, the phase difference between the adjacent elements has changed. Therefore, the laser beam direction has changed and the beam steering has been accomplished. In this article, based on the proposed scheme, the steering angle of the laser beam is calculated and analyzed theoretically. Moreover, the far-field steering beam quality is discussed.

Pulsed 1.55μm all-fiber laser combining high energy, ultranarrow linewidth and optimal spatial beam quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liégeois, Flavien; Hernandez, Yves; Kinet, Damien; Giannone, Domenico; Robin, Thierry; Cadier, Benoît

2008-11-01

In this letter, we report on the study of a new all-fiber laser source suitable for coherent Doppler LIDAR use in the eyesafe domain. The laser consists on a MOPA configuration where the Master Oscillator is a modulated ultranarrow (< 8 kHz) fiber laser. The optical amplifiers are also all-fibered and make use of a new Large Mode Area (LMA) index pedestal fiber that is very effective in limiting the non-linear effects without quality degradation of the laser beam. The amplified pulses have a maximum energy of 0.15 mJ for a duration of 340 ns at a repetition rate of 15 kHz. The average output power of the laser is 2.5 W, free of Stimulated Brillouin Scattering and with a measured M2 = 1.3.

Model for a pulsed terahertz quantum cascade laser under optical feedback.

PubMed

Agnew, Gary; Grier, Andrew; Taimre, Thomas; Lim, Yah Leng; Bertling, Karl; Ikonić, Zoran; Valavanis, Alexander; Dean, Paul; Cooper, Jonathan; Khanna, Suraj P; Lachab, Mohammad; Linfield, Edmund H; Davies, A Giles; Harrison, Paul; Indjin, Dragan; Rakić, Aleksandar D

2016-09-05

Optical feedback effects in lasers may be useful or problematic, depending on the type of application. When semiconductor lasers are operated using pulsed-mode excitation, their behavior under optical feedback depends on the electronic and thermal characteristics of the laser, as well as the nature of the external cavity. Predicting the behavior of a laser under both optical feedback and pulsed operation therefore requires a detailed model that includes laser-specific thermal and electronic characteristics. In this paper we introduce such a model for an exemplar bound-to-continuum terahertz frequency quantum cascade laser (QCL), illustrating its use in a selection of pulsed operation scenarios. Our results demonstrate significant interplay between electro-optical, thermal, and feedback phenomena, and that this interplay is key to understanding QCL behavior in pulsed applications. Further, our results suggest that for many types of QCL in interferometric applications, thermal modulation via low duty cycle pulsed operation would be an alternative to commonly used adiabatic modulation.

Compact passively Q-switched single-frequency Er3+/Yb3+ codoped phosphate fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yuanfei; Wang, Simin; Lin, Wei; Mo, Shupei; Zhao, Qilai; Yang, Changsheng; Feng, Zhouming; Deng, Huaqiu; Peng, Mingying; Yang, Zhongmin; Xu, Shanhui

2017-05-01

We present a compact passively Q-switched single-frequency fiber laser based on a 12-mm-long laboratory-built highly Er3+/Yb3+ codoped phosphate fiber (EYDPF) and a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). An effective cavity length of less than 20 mm ensures the stable single-frequency operation of the Q-switched fiber laser. By employing a SESAM for Q-switching, a single-pulse energy of more than 34.4 nJ is realized with the narrowest pulse duration of 95 ns, and the repetition rate of the Q-switched fiber laser reaches over 600 kHz. In addition, the optical signal-to-noise ratio of the output laser is as high as 68.0 dB.

Evaluating the beam quality of double-cladding fiber lasers in applications.

PubMed

Yan, Ping; Wang, Xuejiao; Gong, Mali; Xiao, Qirong

2016-08-10

We put forward a new β_FL factor, which is used exclusively in fiber lasers and is suitable to assess beam quality and choose the LP₀₁ mode as the new suitable ideal beam. We present a new simple measurement method and verify the reasonability of the β_FL factor in experiment in a 20/400 μm fiber laser. Furthermore, we use the β_FL factor to evaluate the beam quality of a 3-kW-level fiber laser. It can be concluded that β_FL is a key factor not only for assessing the performance of the high-power fiber laser that is our main focus, but also for the simple measurement.

Femtosecond Mode-locked Fiber Laser at 1 μm Via Optical Microfiber Dispersion Management.

PubMed

Wang, Lizhen; Xu, Peizhen; Li, Yuhang; Han, Jize; Guo, Xin; Cui, Yudong; Liu, Xueming; Tong, Limin

2018-03-16

Mode-locked Yb-doped fiber lasers around 1 μm are attractive for high power applications and low noise pulse train generation. Mode-locked fiber lasers working in soliton and stretched-pulse regime outperform others in terms of the laser noise characteristics, mechanical stability and easy maintenance. However, conventional optical fibers always show a normal group velocity dispersion around 1 μm, leading to the inconvenience for necessary dispersion management. Here we show that optical microfibers having a large anomalous dispersion around 1 μm can be integrated into mode-locked Yb-doped fiber lasers with ultralow insertion loss down to -0.06 dB, enabling convenient dispersion management of the laser cavity. Besides, optical microfibers could also be adopted to spectrally broaden and to dechirp the ultrashort pulses outside the laser cavity, giving rise to a pulse duration of about 110 fs. We believe that this demonstration may facilitate all-fiber format high-performance ultrashort pulse generation at 1 μm and may find applications in precision measurements, large-scale facility synchronization and evanescent-field-based optical sensing.

All-fiber tunable laser based on an acousto-optic tunable filter and a tapered fiber.

PubMed

Huang, Ligang; Song, Xiaobo; Chang, Pengfa; Peng, Weihua; Zhang, Wending; Gao, Feng; Bo, Fang; Zhang, Guoquan; Xu, Jingjun

2016-04-04

An all-fiber tunable laser was fabricated based on an acousto-optic tunable filter and a tapered fiber. The structure was of a high signal-to-noise ratio, therefore, no extra gain flattening was needed in the laser. In the experiment, the wavelength of the laser could be tuned from 1532.1 nm to 1570.4 nm with a 3-dB bandwidth of about 0.2 nm. Given enough nonlinearity in the laser cavity, it could also generate a sliding-frequency pulse train. The laser gains advantages of fast tuning and agility in pulse generation, and its simple structure is low cost for practical applications.

Ytterbium-doped Y 2O 3 nanoparticle silica optical fibers for high power fiber lasers with suppressed photodarkening

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoo, S.; Kalita, M. P.; Boyland, A. J.; Webb, A. S.; Standish, R. J.; Sahu, J. K.; Paul, M. C.; Das, S.; Bhadra, S. K.; Pal, M.

2010-09-01

We report efficient laser demonstration and spectroscopic characteristics of a Yb-doped Y 2O 3 (or Y 3Al 5O 12) nanoparticle silica fiber developed by conventional fiber fabrication technique. The spectroscopy study evidences modification in the environment of Yb ions by the Y 2O 3 nanoparticles. As a result, photodarkening induced loss is reduced by 20 times relative to Yb-doped aluminosilicate fibers. The fiber is suitable for power scaling with good laser slope efficiency of 79%.

Handling And Safety Aspects Of Fiber Optic Laser Beam Delivery Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schonborn, K.-H.; Wodrich, W.

1988-06-01

Using lasers for therapeutic applications is getting more and more accepted. In ophthalmology Ar-lasers for intraocular applications are quite common. The Nd:YAG-laser is used as a high power tool in connection with silica fibers for different extracorporal and intracorporal applications. The CO2-laser is the cutting laser, one problem being the beam transmission: The state of the art in fibers is not sufficient up to now. Because of the high power used safety against laser radiation hazard is of great importance. The safety in laser use is primarily dependent on the surgeons cautiousness, e.g. using laser protection goggels, observing that the spot of the aiming beam is present etc. On the other hand the laser and fiber system has to be inherently safe by appropriate technical means as far as possible. An additional aspect adding to safety is the handling: With easier system handling less attention of the surgeon is necessary for driving the apparatus. Thus he can concentrate on the patient and on the procedure. In considering the fiber system one important point in handling and safety is the coupling of the fiber to the laser head. The development philosophy in this coupling may be divided into two groups: - one is trying to use standard connectors which were initially developed for data transmission; - the other is using special connectors. One example of the first group is the guiding of the laser beam from the Ar-laser to the slit-lamp in ophtalmology. Here the well-known F-SMA connectors together with a special fiber with adapted numerical aperture are used. The advantage of such a system is the low price of the connector. For high power lasers such as the clinical Nd:YAG lasers with 40 to 150 W those connectors are not suitable. Up to now every laser manufacturer developed his own connector system in this field.

All-fiber tunable MMI fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antonio-Lopez, J. E.; Castillo-Guzman, A.; May-Arrioja, D. A.; Selvas-Aguilar, R.; LiKamWa, P.

2009-05-01

We report on a novel tuning mechanism to fabricate an all-fiber tunable laser based on multimode interference (MMI) effects. It is well known that the wavelength response of MMI devices exhibits a linear dependence when the length of the multimode fiber (MMF) section. Therefore, tuning in the MMI filter is achieved using a ferrule (capillary tube of 127 μm diameter) filled with a liquid with a higher refractive index than that of the ferrule, which creates a variable liquid MMF. This liquid MMF is used to increase the effective length of the MMI filter and tuning takes place. Using this simple scheme, a tuning range of 30 nm was easily achieved, with very small insertion losses. The filter was tested within a typical Erbium doped fiber (EDF) ring laser cavity, and a tunable EDF laser covering the full C-band was demonstrated. The advantage of our laser is of course the simplicity of the tunable MMI filter, which results in an inexpensive tunable fiber laser.

Investigation of optical fibers for high-repetition-rate, ultraviolet planar laser-induced fluorescence of OH.

PubMed

Hsu, Paul S; Kulatilaka, Waruna D; Roy, Sukesh; Gord, James R

2013-05-01

We investigate the fundamental transmission characteristics of nanosecond-duration, 10 kHz repetition rate, ultraviolet (UV) laser pulses through state-of-the-art, UV-grade fused-silica fibers being used for hydroxyl radical (OH) planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging. Studied in particular are laser-induced damage thresholds (LIDTs), nonlinear absorption, and optical transmission stability during long-term UV irradiation. Solarization (photodegradation) effects are significantly enhanced when the fiber is exposed to high-repetition-rate, 283 nm UV irradiation. For 10 kHz laser pulses, two-photon absorption is strong and LIDTs are low, as compared to those of laser pulses propagating at 10 Hz. The fiber characterization results are utilized to perform single-laser-shot, OH-PLIF imaging in pulsating turbulent flames with a laser that operates at 10 kHz. The nearly spatially uniform output beam that exits a long multimode fiber becomes ideal for PLIF measurements. The proof-of-concept measurements show significant promise for extending the application of a fiber-coupled, high-speed OH-PLIF system to harsh environments such as combustor test beds, and potential system improvements are suggested.

Tailored surface-enhanced Raman nanopillar arrays fabricated by laser-assisted replication for biomolecular detection using organic semiconductor lasers.

PubMed

Liu, Xin; Lebedkin, Sergei; Besser, Heino; Pfleging, Wilhelm; Prinz, Stephan; Wissmann, Markus; Schwab, Patrick M; Nazarenko, Irina; Guttmann, Markus; Kappes, Manfred M; Lemmer, Uli

2015-01-27

Organic semiconductor distributed feedback (DFB) lasers are of interest as external or chip-integrated excitation sources in the visible spectral range for miniaturized Raman-on-chip biomolecular detection systems. However, the inherently limited excitation power of such lasers as well as oftentimes low analyte concentrations requires efficient Raman detection schemes. We present an approach using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates, which has the potential to significantly improve the sensitivity of on-chip Raman detection systems. Instead of lithographically fabricated Au/Ag-coated periodic nanostructures on Si/SiO2 wafers, which can provide large SERS enhancements but are expensive and time-consuming to fabricate, we use low-cost and large-area SERS substrates made via laser-assisted nanoreplication. These substrates comprise gold-coated cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) nanopillar arrays, which show an estimated SERS enhancement factor of up to ∼ 10(7). The effect of the nanopillar diameter (60-260 nm) and interpillar spacing (10-190 nm) on the local electromagnetic field enhancement is studied by finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) modeling. The favorable SERS detection capability of this setup is verified by using rhodamine 6G and adenosine as analytes and an organic semiconductor DFB laser with an emission wavelength of 631.4 nm as the external fiber-coupled excitation source.

Spectrally Tailored Pulsed Thulium Fiber Laser System for Broadband Lidar CO2 Sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heaps, William S.; Georgieva, Elena M.; McComb, Timothy S.; Cheung, Eric C.; Hassell, Frank R.; Baldauf, Brian K.

2011-01-01

Thulium doped pulsed fiber lasers are capable of meeting the spectral, temporal, efficiency, size and weight demands of defense and civil applications for pulsed lasers in the eye-safe spectral regime due to inherent mechanical stability, compact "all-fiber" master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) architectures, high beam quality and efficiency. Thulium fiber's longer operating wavelength allows use of larger fiber cores without compromising beam quality, increasing potential single aperture pulse energies. Applications of these lasers include eye-safe laser ranging, frequency conversion to longer or shorter wavelengths for IR countermeasures and sensing applications with otherwise tough to achieve wavelengths and detection of atmospheric species including CO2 and water vapor. Performance of a portable thulium fiber laser system developed for CO2 sensing via a broadband lidar technique with an etalon based sensor will be discussed. The fielded laser operates with approximately 280 J pulse energy in 90-150ns pulses over a tunable 110nm spectral range and has a uniquely tailored broadband spectral output allowing the sensing of multiple CO2 lines simultaneously, simplifying future potentially space based CO2 sensing instruments by reducing the number and complexity of lasers required to carry out high precision sensing missions. Power scaling and future "all fiber" system configurations for a number of ranging, sensing, countermeasures and other yet to be defined applications by use of flexible spectral and temporal performance master oscillators will be discussed. The compact, low mass, robust, efficient and readily power scalable nature of "all-fiber" thulium lasers makes them ideal candidates for use in future space based sensing applications.

Fiber-Amplifier-Enhanced QEPAS Sensor for Simultaneous Trace Gas Detection of NH3 and H2S

PubMed Central

Wu, Hongpeng; Dong, Lei; Liu, Xiaoli; Zheng, Huadan; Yin, Xukun; Ma, Weiguang; Zhang, Lei; Yin, Wangbao; Jia, Suotang

2015-01-01

A selective and sensitive quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) sensor, employing an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), and a distributed feedback (DFB) laser operating at 1582 nm was demonstrated for simultaneous detection of ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Two interference-free absorption lines located at 6322.45 cm−1 and 6328.88 cm−1 for NH3 and H2S detection, respectively, were identified. The sensor was optimized in terms of current modulation depth for both of the two target gases. An electrical modulation cancellation unit was equipped to suppress the background noise caused by the stray light. An Allan-Werle variance analysis was performed to investigate the long-term performance of the fiber-amplifier-enhanced QEPAS sensor. Benefitting from the high power boosted by the EDFA, a detection sensitivity (1σ) of 52 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) and 17 ppbv for NH3 and H2S, respectively, were achieved with a 132 s data acquisition time at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. PMID:26506351

80-W green KTP laser used in photoselective laser vaporization of the prostrate by frequency doubling of Yb 3+ -doped large-mode area fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, Hongxing; Li, Zhengjia

2007-05-01

Photoselective laser vaporization of the prostate (PVP) is the most promising method for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), but KTP lasers used in PVP with lamp-pumped are low efficient .To increase the efficiency , we develop a 80-W, 400kHz, linearly polarized green laser based on a frequency-doubled fiber laser. A polarization-maintaining large-mode area (LMA) fiber amplifier generate polarized 1064nm fundamental wave by amplifying the seed signal from a composite Cr 4+:YAG-Nd 3+:YAG crystal fiber laser. The fundamental wave is injected into a KTP crystal with confined temperature management to achieve second harmonic generation (SHG). The overall electrical efficiency to the green portion of the spectrum is 10%.80-W maintenance-free long-lifetime KTP laser obtained can well satisfy the need of PVP.

All-fiber optical parametric oscillator for bio-medical imaging applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gottschall, Thomas; Meyer, Tobias; Jauregui, Cesar; Just, Florian; Eidam, Tino; Schmitt, Michael; Popp, Jürgen; Limpert, Jens; Tünnermann, Andreas

2017-02-01

Among other modern imaging techniques, stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) requires an extremely quiet, widely wavelength tunable laser, which, up to now, is unheard of in fiber laser systems. We present a compact all-fiber laser system, which features an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on degenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) in an endlessly single-mode photonic-crystal fiber. We employ an all-fiber frequency and repetition rate tunable laser in order to enable wideband conversion in the linear OPO cavity arrangement, the signal and idler radiation can be tuned between 764 and 960 nm and 1164 and 1552 nm at 9.5 MHz. Thus, all biochemically relevant Raman shifts between 922 and 3322 cm-1 may be addressed in combination with a secondary output, which is tunable between 1024 and 1052 nm. This ultra-low noise output emits synchronized pulses with twice the repetition rate to enable SRS imaging. We measure the relative intensity noise of this output beam at 9.5 MHz to be between -145 and -148 dBc, which is low enough to enable high-speed SRS imaging with a good signal-to-noise ratio. The laser system is computer controlled to access a certain energy differences within one second. Combining FWM based conversion, with all-fiber Yb-based fiber lasers enables the construction of the first automated, turn-key and widely tunable fiber laser. This laser concept could be the missing piece to establish CRS imaging as a reliable guiding tool for clinical diagnostics and surgical guidance.

Multipoint fiber-optic laser-ultrasonic actuator based on fiber core-opened tapers.

PubMed

Tian, Jiajun; Dong, Xiaolong; Gao, Shimin; Yao, Yong

2017-11-27

In this study, a novel fiber-optic, multipoint, laser-ultrasonic actuator based on fiber core-opened tapers (COTs) is proposed and demonstrated. The COTs were fabricated by splicing single-mode fibers using a standard fiber splicer. A COT can effectively couple part of a core mode into cladding modes, and the coupling ratio can be controlled by adjusting the taper length. Such characteristics are used to obtain a multipoint, laser-ultrasonic actuator with balanced signal strength by reasonably controlling the taper lengths of the COTs. As a prototype, we constructed an actuator that generated ultrasound at four points with a balanced ultrasonic strength by connecting four COTs with coupling ratios of 24.5%, 33.01%, 49.51%, and 87.8% in a fiber link. This simple-to-fabricate, multipoint, laser-ultrasonic actuator with balanced ultrasound signal strength has potential applications in fiber-optic ultrasound testing technology.

Tunable fiber laser based on the refractive index characteristic of MMI effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Lin; Qi, Yanhui; Kang, Zexin; Bai, Yunlong; Jian, Shuisheng

2014-04-01

A tunable erbium-doped all-fiber laser has been demonstrated. This tunable laser is based on a tunable fiber filter using the refractive index characteristics of multimode interference effects. A thinner no-core fiber with a diameter of 104 μm is used to fabricate the tunable fiber filter. The joint point of the thinner no-core fiber with SMF is a taper, which improves its sensitivity for refractive index changes. The filter exhibits a very sensitive response to the change of the environmental refractive index, which is about 1000 nm/RIU in the RI range from 1.418 to 1.427. The tunable fiber laser based on the filter achieved a tunability of 32 nm, with the wavelength tuned from 1532 nm to 1564 nm covering the full C-band. The 3 dB bandwidth of the tunable laser is less than 0.02 nm with the signal-to-noise ratio of about 40 dB.

Single frequency 1083nm ytterbium doped fiber master oscillator power amplifier laser.

PubMed

Huang, Shenghong; Qin, Guanshi; Shirakawa, Akira; Musha, Mitsuru; Ueda, Ken-Ichi

2005-09-05

Single frequency 1083nm ytterbium fiber master oscillator power amplifier system was demonstrated. The oscillator was a linear fiber cavity with loop mirror filter and polarization controller. The loop mirror with unpumped ytterbium fiber as a narrow bandwidth filter discriminated and selected laser longitudinal modes efficiently. Spatial hole burning effect was restrained by adjusting polarization controller appropriately in the linear cavity. The amplifier was 5 m ytterbium doped fiber pumped by 976nm pigtail coupled laser diode. The linewidth of the single frequency laser was about 2 KHz. Output power up to 177 mW was produced under the launched pump power of 332 mW.

New method of writing long-period fiber gratings using high-frequency CO2 laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Gao-Ran; Song, Ying; Zhang, Wen-Tao; Jiang, Yue; Li, Fang

2016-11-01

In the paper, the Long period fiber gratings (LPFG) were fabricated in a single-mode fiber using a high frequency CO2 laser system with the point-to-point technique. The experimental setup consists of a CO2 laser controlling system, a focusing system located at a motorized linear stage, a fiber alignment stage, and an optical spectrum analyzer to monitor the transmission spectrum of the LPFG. The period of the LPFG is precisely inscribed by periodically turning on/off the laser shutter while the motorized linear stage is driven to move at a constant speed. The efficiency of fiber writing process is improved.

Design of 6 kw fiber-coupled system for semiconductor laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Yulong; Dong, Zhiyong; Chen, Yongqi; Qi, Yunfei; Ding, Lushuang; Zhao, Pengfei; Zou, Yonggang; Xu, Li; Lin, Xuechun

2016-10-01

In this paper, we present the design of a 6 kW fiber-coupled laser diode system by using ZEMAX, and power scaling and fiber coupling techniques for high-power laser diode stacks were introduced in detail. Beams emitted from eight laser diode stacks comprised of four 960 W stacks with center wavelength of 938 nm and four 960 W stacks with center wavelength of 976 nm are combined and coupled into a standard fiber with a core diameter of 800 μm and numerical aperture of 0.22. Simulative result shows that the final power came out of the fiber could reach 6283.9 W, the fiber-coupling efficiency is 87%, and the brightness is 8.2 MW/ (cm2·sr).

QUANTITATIVE DETECTION OF ENVIRONMENTALLY IMPORTANT DYES USING DIODE LASER/FIBER-OPTIC RAMAN

EPA Science Inventory

A compact diode laser/fiber-optic Raman spectrometer is used for quantitative detection of environmentally important dyes. This system is based on diode laser excitation at 782 mm, fiber optic probe technology, an imaging spectrometer, and state-of-the-art scientific CCD camera. ...

Phase-stable, multi-µJ femtosecond pulses from a repetition-rate tunable Ti:Sa-oscillator-seeded Yb-fiber amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saule, T.; Holzberger, S.; De Vries, O.; Plötner, M.; Limpert, J.; Tünnermann, A.; Pupeza, I.

2017-01-01

We present a high-power, MHz-repetition-rate, phase-stable femtosecond laser system based on a phase-stabilized Ti:Sa oscillator and a multi-stage Yb-fiber chirped-pulse power amplifier. A 10-nm band around 1030 nm is split from the 7-fs oscillator output and serves as the seed for subsequent amplification by 54 dB to 80 W of average power. The µJ-level output is spectrally broadened in a solid-core fiber and compressed to 30 fs with chirped mirrors. A pulse picker prior to power amplification allows for decreasing the repetition rate from 74 MHz by a factor of up to 4 without affecting the pulse parameters. To compensate for phase jitter added by the amplifier to the feed-forward phase-stabilized seeding pulses, a self-referencing feed-back loop is implemented at the system output. An integrated out-of-loop phase noise of less than 100 mrad was measured in the band from 0.4 Hz to 400 kHz, which to the best of our knowledge corresponds to the highest phase stability ever demonstrated for high-power, multi-MHz-repetition-rate ultrafast lasers. This system will enable experiments in attosecond physics at unprecedented repetition rates, it offers ideal prerequisites for the generation and field-resolved electro-optical sampling of high-power, broadband infrared pulses, and it is suitable for phase-stable white light generation.

Switchable single-longitudinal-mode dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser based on one polarization-maintaining fiber Bragg grating incorporating saturable absorber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Suchun; Xu, Ou; Lu, Shaohua; Chen, Ming; Jian, Shuisheng

2009-08-01

Switchable single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser at room temperature is demonstrated. One fiber Bragg grating (FBG) directly written in a polarization-maintaining and photosensitive erbiumdoped fiber (PMPEDF) as the wavelength-selective component is used in a linear laser cavity. Due to the polarization hole burning (PHB) enhanced by the polarization-maintaining fiber Bragg grating (PMFBG), the laser can be designed to operate in stable dual-wavelength or wavelength-switching modes with a wavelength spacing of 0.202 nm by adjusting a polarization controller (PC). The stable SLM operation is guaranteed by a saturable absorber (SA). The optical signal-tonoise ratio (OSNR) of the laser is over 40 dB. The amplitude variation in nearly one and half an hour is less than 0.5 dB for both wavelengths.

3D Finite Element Model for Writing Long-Period Fiber Gratings by CO2 Laser Radiation

PubMed Central

Coelho, João M. P.; Nespereira, Marta; Abreu, Manuel; Rebordão, José

2013-01-01

In the last years, mid-infrared radiation emitted by CO2 lasers has become increasing popular as a tool in the development of long-period fiber gratings. However, although the development and characterization of the resulting sensing devices have progressed quickly, further research is still necessary to consolidate functional models, especially regarding the interaction between laser radiation and the fiber's material. In this paper, a 3D finite element model is presented to simulate the interaction between laser radiation and an optical fiber and to determine the resulting refractive index change. Dependence with temperature of the main parameters of the optical fiber materials (with special focus on the absorption of incident laser radiation) is considered, as well as convection and radiation losses. Thermal and residual stress analyses are made for a standard single mode fiber, and experimental results are presented. PMID:23941908

Soliton self-frequency shift controlled by a weak seed laser in tellurite photonic crystal fibers.

PubMed

Liu, Lai; Meng, Xiangwei; Yin, Feixiang; Liao, Meisong; Zhao, Dan; Qin, Guanshi; Ohishi, Yasutake; Qin, Weiping

2013-08-01

We report the first demonstration of soliton self-frequency shift (SSFS) controlled by a weak continuous-wave (CW) laser, from a tellurite photonic crystal fiber pumped by a 1560 nm femtosecond fiber laser. The control of SSFS is performed by the cross-gain modulation of the 1560 nm femtosecond laser. By varying the input power of the weak CW laser (1560 nm) from 0 to 1.17 mW, the soliton generated in the tellurite photonic crystal fiber blue shifts from 1935 to 1591 nm. The dependence of the soliton wavelength on the operation wavelength of the weak CW laser is also measured. The results show the CW laser with a wavelength tunable range of 1530-1592 nm can be used to control the SSFS generation.

All-fiber Yb-doped fiber laser passively mode-locking by monolayer MoS2 saturable absorber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yue; Zhu, Jianqi; Li, Pingxue; Wang, Xiaoxiao; Yu, Hua; Xiao, Kun; Li, Chunyong; Zhang, Guangyu

2018-04-01

We report on an all-fiber passively mode-locked ytterbium-doped (Yb-doped) fiber laser with monolayer molybdenum disulfide (ML-MoS2) saturable absorber (SA) by three-temperature zone chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The modulation depth, saturation fluence, and non-saturable loss of this ML-MoS2 are measured to be 3.6%, 204.8 μJ/cm2 and 6.3%, respectively. Based on this ML-MoS2SA, a passively mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser has been achieved at 979 nm with pulse duration of 13 ps and repetition rate of 16.51 MHz. A mode-locked fiber laser at 1037 nm is also realized with a pulse duration of 475 ps and repetition rate of 26.5 MHz. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that the ML-MoS2 SA is used in an all-fiber Yb-doped mode-locked fiber laser at 980 nm. Our work further points the excellent saturable absorption ability of ML-MoS2 in ultrafast photonic applications.

Laser beam joining of optical fibers in silicon V-grooves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaufmann, Stefan; Otto, Andreas; Luz, Gerhard

2000-06-01

The increasing use of optical data transmission systems and the development of new optical components require adjustment-insensitive and reliable joining and assembling techniques. The state of the art includes the utilization of silicon submounts with anisotropically etched V-grooves. Several glass fibers are fixed in these V-grooves with adhesive. Adhesive bonds tend towards degradation under the influence of temperature and moisture. For this reason, the alternative joining processes laser beam welding and laser beam soldering are relevant. The goal is a reliable joining of optical fibers in V-grooves without damage to the fibers or the silicon submount. Because of the anomaly of silicon during phase transformation, a positive joining can be realized by laser beam welding. A melt pool is created through the energy of a Nd:YAG-laser pulse. During solidification, the volume of silicon increases and a bump is formed in the center. Experiments have shown that this phenomenon can be used for joining optical fibers in silicon-V-grooves. With suitable parameters the silicon flows half around the fiber during solidification. For each fiber, several welding points are necessary. Another promising joining method is laser bema soldering. In this case, a second silicon sheet with a solder deposit is placed on the fibers which lie in the V-grooves of the metallized silicon submount. The laser heats the upper silicon until the solder metals by heat conduction.

Is in vivo analysis of urinary stone composition feasible? Evaluation of an experimental setup of a Raman system coupled to commercial lithotripsy laser fibers.

PubMed

Miernik, Arkadiusz; Eilers, Yvan; Nuese, Christoph; Bolwien, Carsten; Lambrecht, Armin; Hesse, Albrecht; Rassweiler, Jens J; Schlager, Daniel; Wilhelm, Konrad; Wetterauer, Ulrich; Schoenthaler, Martin

2015-10-01

Raman spectroscopy allows immediate analysis of stone composition. In vivo stone analysis during endoscopic treatment may offer advantages concerning surgical strategy and metaphylaxis. Urinary stone components were evaluated utilizing an experimental setup of a Raman system coupled to commercial laser fibers. Samples of paracetamol (acetaminophen) and human urinary stones with known Raman spectra were analyzed using an experimental Raman system coupled to common commercial lithotripsy laser fibers (200 and 940 µm). Two different excitation lasers were used at wavelengths of 532 and 785 nm. Numerical aperture of the fibers, proportion of reflected light reaching the CCD chip, and integration times were calculated. Mathematical signal correction was performed. Both the laser beam profile and the quality of light reflected by the specimens were impaired significantly when used with commercial fibers. Acquired spectra could no longer be assigned to a specific stone composition. Subsequent measurements revealed a strong intrinsic fluorescence of the fibers and poor light acquisition properties leading to a significant decrease in the Raman signal in comparison with a free-beam setup. This was true for both investigated fiber diameters and both wavelengths. Microscopic examination showed highly irregular fiber tip surfaces (both new and used fibers). Our results propose that laser excitation and light acquisition properties of commercial lithotripsy fibers impair detectable Raman signals significantly in a fiber-coupled setting. This study provides essential physical and technological information for the development of an advanced fiber-coupled system able to be used for immediate stone analysis during endoscopic stone therapy.

Temperature feedback control for long-term carrier-envelope phase locking

DOEpatents

Chang, Zenghu [Manhattan, KS; Yun, Chenxia [Manhattan, KS; Chen, Shouyuan [Manhattan, KS; Wang, He [Manhattan, KS; Chini, Michael [Manhattan, KS

2012-07-24

A feedback control module for stabilizing a carrier-envelope phase of an output of a laser oscillator system comprises a first photodetector, a second photodetector, a phase stabilizer, an optical modulator, and a thermal control element. The first photodetector may generate a first feedback signal corresponding to a first portion of a laser beam from an oscillator. The second photodetector may generate a second feedback signal corresponding to a second portion of the laser beam filtered by a low-pass filter. The phase stabilizer may divide the frequency of the first feedback signal by a factor and generate an error signal corresponding to the difference between the frequency-divided first feedback signal and the second feedback signal. The optical modulator may modulate the laser beam within the oscillator corresponding to the error signal. The thermal control unit may change the temperature of the oscillator corresponding to a signal operable to control the optical modulator.

Principles and performance of tapered fiber lasers: from uniform to flared geometry.

PubMed

Kerttula, Juho; Filippov, Valery; Chamorovskii, Yuri; Ustimchik, Vasily; Golant, Konstantin; Okhotnikov, Oleg G

2012-10-10

We have studied the recently demonstrated concept of fiber lasers based on active tapered double-clad fiber (T-DCF) in copropagating and counterpropagating configurations, both theoretically and experimentally, and compared the performance to fiber lasers based on conventional cylindrical fibers in end-pumped configurations. Specific properties of T-DCFs were considered theoretically using a rate-equation model developed for tapered fibers, and a detailed comparative study was carried out experimentally. Furthermore, we have studied mode coupling effects in long adiabatic tapers due to coiling and local bending. The results allow us to conclude that, with proper fiber design, the T-DCF technology offers a high-potential alternative for bright, cost-effective fiber devices.

Influence of Temperature on Nanosecond Pulse Amplification in Thulium Doped Fiber Lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdulfattah, Ali; Gausmann, Stefan; Sincore, Alex; Bradford, Joshua; Bodnar, Nathan; Cook, Justin; Shah, Lawrence; Richardson, Martin

2018-05-01

Thulium silica doped fiber (TDF) lasers are becoming important laser sources in both research and applications in industry. A key element of all high-power lasers is thermal management and its impact on laser performance. This is particularly important in TDF lasers, which utilize an unusual cross-relation pumping scheme, and are optically less efficient than other types of fiber lasers. The present work describes an experimental investigation of thermal management in a high power, high repetition-rate, pulsed Thulium (Tm) fiber laser. A tunable nanosecond TDF laser system across the 1838 nm – 1948 nm wavelength range, has been built to propagate 2μm signal seed pulses into a TDF amplifier, comprising a polarized large mode area (PLMA) thulium fiber (TDF) with a 793nm laser diode pump source. The PLMA TDF amplifier is thermally managed by a separately controlled cooling system with a temperature varied from 12°C to 36°C. The maximum output energy (∼400 μJ), of the system is achieved at 12°C at 1947 nm wavelength with ∼32 W of absorbed pump power at 20 kHz with a pulse duration of ∼ 74 ns.

Four channel Laser Firing Unit using laser diodes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rosner, David, Sr.; Spomer, Edwin, Sr.

1994-01-01

This paper describes the accomplishments and status of PS/EDD's (Pacific Scientific/Energy Dynamics Division) internal research and development effort to prototype and demonstrate a practical four channel laser firing unit (LFU) that uses laser diodes to initiate pyrotechnic events. The LFU individually initiates four ordnance devices using the energy from four diode lasers carried over the fiber optics. The LFU demonstrates end-to-end optical built in test (BIT) capabilities. Both Single Fiber Reflective BIT and Dual Fiber Reflective BIT approaches are discussed and reflection loss data is presented. This paper includes detailed discussions of the advantages and disadvantages of both BIT approaches, all-fire and no-fire levels, and BIT detection levels. The following topics are also addressed: electronic control and BIT circuits, fiber optic sizing and distribution, and an electromechanical shutter type safe/arm device. This paper shows the viability of laser diode initiation systems and single fiber BIT for typing military applications.

Efficient single-mode operation of a cladding-pumped ytterbium-doped helical-core fiber laser.

PubMed

Wang, P; Cooper, L J; Sahu, J K; Clarkson, W A

2006-01-15

A novel approach to achieving robust single-spatial-mode operation of cladding-pumped fiber lasers with multimode cores is reported. The approach is based on the use of a fiber geometry in which the core has a helical trajectory within the inner cladding to suppress laser oscillation on higher-order modes. In a preliminary proof-of-principle study, efficient single-mode operation of a cladding-pumped ytterbium-doped helical-core fiber laser with a 30 microm diameter core and a numerical aperture of 0.087 has been demonstrated. The laser yielded 60.4 W of output at 1043 nm in a beam with M2 < 1.4 for 92.6 W launched pump power from a diode stack at 976 nm. The slope efficiency at pump powers well above threshold was approximately 84%, which compares favorably with the slope efficiencies achievable with conventional straight-core Yb-doped double-clad fiber lasers.

280  GHz dark soliton fiber laser.

PubMed

Song, Y F; Guo, J; Zhao, L M; Shen, D Y; Tang, D Y

2014-06-15

We report on an ultrahigh repetition rate dark soliton fiber laser. We show both numerically and experimentally that by taking advantage of the cavity self-induced modulation instability and the dark soliton formation in a net normal dispersion cavity fiber laser, stable ultrahigh repetition rate dark soliton trains can be formed in a dispersion-managed cavity fiber laser. Stable dark soliton trains with a repetition rate as high as ∼280  GHz have been generated in our experiment. Numerical simulations have shown that the effective gain bandwidth limitation plays an important role on the stabilization of the formed dark solitons in the laser.

Gold nanoparticle-based plasmonic random fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Zhijia; Liang, Yunyun; Xie, Kang; Gao, Pengfei; Zhang, Douguo; Jiang, Haiming; Shi, Fan; Yin, Leicheng; Gao, Jiangang; Ming, Hai; Zhang, Qijin

2015-03-01

We have reported the realization of a plasmonic random fiber laser based on the localized surface plasmonic resonance of gold nanoparticles (NPs) in the liquid core optical fiber. The liquid core material contains a dispersive solution of gold NPs and laser dye pyrromethene 597 in toluene. It was experimentally proved that the fluorescence quenching of the dye is restrained in the optical fiber, which is considered one of the main sources of loss in the traditional laser system. Meanwhile, the random lasing can be more easily obtained in the random laser system with more overlap between the plasmonic resonance of the gold NPs and the photoluminescence spectrum of the dye molecules.

High-power laser with Nd:YAG single-crystal fiber grown by the micro-pulling-down technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Didierjean, Julien; Castaing, Marc; Balembois, François; Georges, Patrick; Perrodin, Didier; Fourmigué, Jean Marie; Lebbou, Kherreddine; Brenier, Alain; Tillement, Olivier

2006-12-01

We present optical characterization and laser results achieved with single-crystal fibers directly grown by the micro-pulling-down technique. We investigate the spectroscopic and optical quality of the fiber, and we present the first laser results. We achieved a cw laser power of 10 W at 1064 nm for an incident pump power of 60 W at 808 nm and 360 kW peak power for 12 ns pulses at 1 kHz in the Q-switched regime. It is, to the best of our knowledge, the highest laser power ever achieved with directly grown single-crystal fibers.

Macro-channel cooled high power fiber coupled diode lasers exceeding 1.2kW of output power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koenning, Tobias; Alegria, Kim; Wang, Zuolan; Segref, Armin; Stapleton, Dean; Faßbender, Wilhelm; Flament, Marco; Rotter, Karsten; Noeske, Axel; Biesenbach, Jens

2011-03-01

We report on a new series of fiber coupled diode laser modules exceeding 1.2kW of single wavelength optical power from a 400um / 0.2NA fiber. The units are constructed from passively cooled laser bars as opposed to other comparably powered, commercially available modules that use micro-channel heat-sinks. Micro-channel heat sinks require cooling water to meet demanding specifications and are therefore prone to failures due to contamination and increase the overall cost to operate and maintain the laser. Dilas' new series of high power fiber coupled diode lasers are designed to eliminate micro channel coolers and their associated failure mechanisms. Low-smile soldering processes were developed to maximize the brightness available from each diode laser bar. The diode laser brightness is optimally conserved using Dilas' recently developed propriety laser bar stacking geometry and optics. A total of 24 bars are coupled into a single fiber core using a polarization multiplexing scheme. The modular design permits further power scaling through wavelength multiplexing. Other customer critical features such as industrial grade fibers, pilot beams, fiber interlocks and power monitoring are standard features on these modules. The optical design and the beam parameter calculations will be presented to explain the inherit design trade offs. Results for single and dual wavelengths modules will be presented.

Development of a fiber-guided laser ultrasonic system resilient to high temperature and gamma radiation for nuclear power plant pipe monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jinyeol; Lee, Hyeonseok; Lim, Hyung Jin; Kim, Nakhyeon; Yeo, Hwasoo; Sohn, Hoon

2013-08-01

This study develops an embeddable optical fiber-guided laser ultrasonic system for structural health monitoring (SHM) of pipelines exposed to high temperature and gamma radiation inside nuclear power plants (NPPs). Recently, noncontact laser ultrasonics is gaining popularity among the SHM community because of its advantageous characteristics such as (a) scanning capability, (b) immunity against electromagnetic interference (EMI) and (c) applicability to high-temperature surfaces. However, its application to NPP pipelines has been hampered because pipes inside NPPs are often covered by insulators and/or target surfaces are not easily accessible. To overcome this problem, this study designs embeddable optical fibers and fixtures so that laser beams used for ultrasonic inspection can be transmitted between the laser sources and the target pipe. For guided-wave generation, an Nd:Yag pulsed laser coupled with an optical fiber is used. A high-power pulsed laser beam is guided through the optical fiber onto a target structure. Based on the principle of laser interferometry, the corresponding response is measured using a different type of laser beam guided by another optical fiber. All devices are especially designed to sustain high temperature and gamma radiation. The robustness/resilience of the proposed measurement system installed on a stainless steel pipe specimen has been experimentally verified by exposing the specimen to high temperature of up to 350 °C and optical fibers to gamma radiation of up to 125 kGy (20 kGy h-1).

Fiber Laser Arrays

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-05-03

AFRL-DE-PS- AFRL-DE-PS- TR-2006-1059 TR-2006-1059 FIBER LASER ARRAYS Thomas B. Simpson L-3 Communications-Jaycor 3394...LEANNE J HENRY, Lt Col, USAF L. BRUCE SIMPSON, SES Chief, High Power Solid State Laser Branch Director, Directed Energy Directorate...SUBTITLE Fiber Laser Arrays 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 62605F 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 4866 5e. TASK NUMBER LR 6. AUTHOR(S) Thomas B. Simpson

Fiber Sensor Systems Based on Fiber Laser and Microwave Photonic Technologies

PubMed Central

Fu, Hongyan; Chen, Daru; Cai, Zhiping

2012-01-01

Fiber-optic sensors, especially fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are very attractive due to their numerous advantages over traditional sensors, such as light weight, high sensitivity, cost-effectiveness, immunity to electromagnetic interference, ease of multiplexing and so on. Therefore, fiber-optic sensors have been intensively studied during the last several decades. Nowadays, with the development of novel fiber technology, more and more newly invented fiber technologies bring better and superior performance to fiber-optic sensing networks. In this paper, the applications of some advanced photonic technologies including fiber lasers and microwave photonic technologies for fiber sensing applications are reviewed. FBG interrogations based on several kinds of fiber lasers, especially the novel Fourier domain mode locking fiber laser, have been introduced; for the application of microwave photonic technology, examples of microwave photonic filtering utilized as a FBG sensing interrogator and microwave signal generation acting as a transversal loading sensor have been given. Both theoretical analysis and experimental demonstrations have been carried out. The comparison of these advanced photonic technologies for the applications of fiber sensing is carried out and important issues related to the applications have been addressed and the suitable and potential application examples have also been discussed in this paper. PMID:22778591

Generating femtosecond optical pulses tunable from 2 to 3  μm with a silica-based all-fiber laser system.

PubMed

Anashkina, E A; Andrianov, A V; Yu Koptev, M; Muravyev, S V; Kim, A V

2014-05-15

Femtosecond pulses with broad tunability in the range of 2-3 μm are generated in a germanate-glass core silica-glass cladding fiber with a driving pulse at 2 μm produced by an all-fiber laser system consisting of an Er:fiber source at 1.6 μm, a Raman fiber shifter, and a Tm:fiber amplifier. We demonstrate optical pulses with a duration of the order of 100 fs that are the shortest ones reported in the 2.5-3 μm range obtained by fiber laser systems.

All-fiber Faraday Devices Based on Terbium-doped Fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Lei

Surface damage is one of the most problematic power limits in high-power fiber laser systems. All-fiber Faraday components are demonstrated as a solution to this problem, since they can be completely fusion-spliced into existing systems, eliminating all glass-air interfaces. Beam filamentation due to self-focusing places another limit on the peak power attainable from fiber laser systems. The limits imposed by this phenomenon are analyzed for the first time. The concept of an effective Verdet constant is proposed and experimentally validated. The effective Verdet constant of light propagation in a fiber includes contributions from the materials in both the core and the cladding. It is measured in a 25-wt% terbium-doped-core phosphate fiber to be --6.2 rad/(Tm) at 1053 nm, which is six times larger than silica fiber. The result agrees well with Faraday rotation theory in optical fiber. A compact all-fiber Faraday isolator and a Faraday mirror are demonstrated. At the core of each of these components is an all-fiber Faraday rotator made of a 4cm-long, 65-wt%-terbium-doped silicate fiber. The effective Verdet constant of the terbium-doped fiber is measured to be -32 rad/(Tm), which is 27x larger than that of silica fiber. This effective Verdet constant is the largest value measured to date in any fiber and is 83% of the Verdet constant of commercially available crystals used in bulk-optics-based isolators. Combining the all-fiber Faraday rotator with fiber polarizers results in a fully fusion-spliced all-fiber isolator whose isolation is measured to be 19 dB. Combining the all-fiber Faraday rotator with a fiber Bragg grating results in an all-fiber Faraday mirror that rotates the polarization state of the reflected light by 88 +/- 4°. An all-fiber optical magnetic field sensor is also demonstrated. It consists of a fiber Faraday rotator and a fiber polarizer. The fiber Faraday rotator uses a 2-cm-long section of 56-wt%-terbium-doped silicate fiber with a Verdet constant of -24.5 rad/(Tm) at 1053 nm. The fiber polarizer is Corning SP1060 single-polarization fiber. The sensor has a sensitivity of 0.49 rad/T and can measure magnetic fields from 0.02 to 3.2 T. An all-fiber wavelength-tunable laser based on Faraday rotation is proposed. It consists of an all-fiber wavelength-tunable filter in a conventional fiber laser cavity. The filter includes a fiber polarizer and a fiber Faraday mirror in which a chirped fiber Bragg grating is directly written onto the 65-wt% terbium fiber. The ytterbium-doped fiber in the laser is gain flattened using a. 1030/1090 rim WDM filter, resulting a net gain ripple that is measured to he less than 0.2 dB from 1047 to 1060 nm. The wavelength tuning range of the resulting fiber laser is therefore expected to be in this 1047 to 1060 nm range. Filamentation is one of the nonlinear peak-power-threshold limits in high-power fiber lasers. Starting from the paraxial wave equation, an analytic expression for the filamentation threshold in fiber lasers is derived using a perturbation method. The occurrence of filamentation is determined by the larger of two thresholds, one of perturbative gain and one of spatial confinement. The threshold value is around a few megawatts, depending on the parameters of the fiber.

Laser diode fiber optic apparatus for acupuncture treatment by the Oriental method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pham, Van Hoi; Phung, Huu A.; Bui, Huy; Hoang, Cao D.; Vu, Duc T.; Tran, Minh T.; Nguyen, Minh H.

1998-08-01

The laser acupuncture equipment using laser diodes of 850, 1300 nm and optical fibers as light needles is presented. The double-frequency modulation of laser beam gives the high efficiency treatment of the low-power laser therapy by the oriental acupuncture method. The laser spot from optical fiber of 50 microns is suitable for the irradiation into special points on body or auricular by the acupuncture treatment schema. The laser intensity in pulse regime of 5 - 40 W/cm2 and irradiation time of 5 - 15 minutes are optimum for treatment of neurosis symptoms and pain-relieving.

The dawn of computer-assisted robotic osteotomy with ytterbium-doped fiber laser.

PubMed

Sotsuka, Yohei; Nishimoto, Soh; Tsumano, Tomoko; Kawai, Kenichiro; Ishise, Hisako; Kakibuchi, Masao; Shimokita, Ryo; Yamauchi, Taisuke; Okihara, Shin-ichiro

2014-05-01

Currently, laser radiation is used routinely in medical applications. For infrared lasers, bone ablation and the healing process have been reported, but no laser systems are established and applied in clinical bone surgery. Furthermore, industrial laser applications utilize computer and robot assistance; medical laser radiations are still mostly conducted manually nowadays. The purpose of this study was to compare the histological appearance of bone ablation and healing response in rabbit radial bone osteotomy created by surgical saw and ytterbium-doped fiber laser controlled by a computer with use of nitrogen surface cooling spray. An Ytterbium (Yb)-doped fiber laser at a wavelength of 1,070 nm was guided by a computer-aided robotic system, with a spot size of 100 μm at a distance of approximately 80 mm from the surface. The output power of the laser was 60 W at the scanning speed of 20 mm/s scan using continuous wave system with nitrogen spray level 0.5 MPa (energy density, 3.8 × 10(4) W/cm(2)). Rabbits radial bone osteotomy was performed by an Yb-doped fiber laser and a surgical saw. Additionally, histological analyses of the osteotomy site were performed on day 0 and day 21. Yb-doped fiber laser osteotomy revealed a remarkable cutting efficiency. There were little signs of tissue damage to the muscle. Lased specimens have shown no delayed healing compared with the saw osteotomies. Computer-assisted robotic osteotomy with Yb-doped fiber laser was able to perform. In rabbit model, laser-induced osteotomy defects, compared to those by surgical saw, exhibited no delayed healing response.

Response of microchip solid-state laser to external frequency-shifted feedback and its applications

PubMed Central

Tan, Yidong; Zhang, Shulian; Zhang, Song; Zhang, Yongqing; Liu, Ning

2013-01-01

The response of the microchip solid-state Nd:YAG laser, which is subjected to external frequency-shifted feedback, is experimentally and theoretically analysed. The continuous weak response of the laser to the phase and amplitude of the feedback light is achieved by controlling the feedback power level, and this system can be used to achieve contact-free measurement of displacement, vibration, liquid evaporation and thermal expansion with nanometre accuracy in common room conditions without precise environmental control. Furthermore, a strong response, including chaotic harmonic and parametric oscillation, is observed, and the spectrum of this response, as examined by a frequency-stabilised Nd:YAG laser, indicates laser spectral linewidth broadening. PMID:24105389

Response of microchip solid-state laser to external frequency-shifted feedback and its applications.

PubMed

Tan, Yidong; Zhang, Shulian; Zhang, Song; Zhang, Yongqing; Liu, Ning

2013-10-09

The response of the microchip solid-state Nd:YAG laser, which is subjected to external frequency-shifted feedback, is experimentally and theoretically analysed. The continuous weak response of the laser to the phase and amplitude of the feedback light is achieved by controlling the feedback power level, and this system can be used to achieve contact-free measurement of displacement, vibration, liquid evaporation and thermal expansion with nanometre accuracy in common room conditions without precise environmental control. Furthermore, a strong response, including chaotic harmonic and parametric oscillation, is observed, and the spectrum of this response, as examined by a frequency-stabilised Nd:YAG laser, indicates laser spectral linewidth broadening.

Characterization technique for long optical fiber cavities based on beating spectrum of multi-longitudinal mode fiber laser and beating spectrum in the RF domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adib, George A.; Sabry, Yasser M.; Khalil, Diaa

2016-03-01

The characterization of long fiber cavities is essential for many systems to predict the system practical performance. The conventional techniques for optical cavity characterization are not suitable for long fiber cavities due to the cavities' small free spectral ranges and due to the length variations caused by the environmental effects. In this work, we present a novel technique to characterize long fiber cavities using multi-longitudinal mode fiber laser source and RF spectrum analyzer. The fiber laser source is formed in a ring configuration, where the fiber laser cavity length is chosen to be 15 km to ensure that the free spectral range is much smaller than the free spectral range of the characterized passive fiber cavities. The method has been applied experimentally to characterize ring cavities with lengths of 6.2 m and 2.4 km. The results are compared to theoretical predictions with very good agreement.

Observation of polarization domain wall solitons in weakly birefringent cavity fiber lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, H.; Tang, D. Y.; Zhao, L. M.; Wu, X.

2009-08-01

We report on the experimental observation of two types of phase-locked vector soliton in weakly birefringent cavity erbium-doped fiber lasers. While a phase-locked dark-dark vector soliton was only observed in fiber lasers of positive dispersion, a phase-locked dark-bright vector soliton was obtained in fiber lasers of either positive or negative dispersion. Numerical simulations confirmed the experimental observations and further showed that the observed vector solitons are the two types of phase-locked polarization domain wall solitons theoretically predicted.

Diagnostic apparatus and method for use in the alignment of one or more laser means onto a fiber optics interface

DOEpatents

Johnson, Steve A.; Shannon, Robert R.

1987-01-01

Diagnostic apparatus for use in determining the proper alignment of a plurality of laser beams onto a fiber optics interface is disclosed. The apparatus includes a lens assembly which serves two functions, first to focus a plurality of laser beams onto the fiber optics interface, and secondly to reflect and image the interface using scattered light to a monitor means. The monitor means permits indirect observation of the alignment or focusing of the laser beams onto the fiber optics interface.

Diagnostic apparatus and method for use in the alignment of one or more laser means onto a fiber optics interface

DOEpatents

Johnson, S.A.; Shannon, R.R.

1985-01-18

Diagnostic apparatus for use in determining the proper alignment of a plurality of laser beams onto a fiber optics interface is disclosed. The apparatus includes a lens assembly which serves two functions, first to focus a plurality of laser beams onto the fiber optics interface, and secondly to reflect and image the interface using scattered light to a monitor means. The monitor means permits indirect observation of the alignment or focusing of the laser beams onto the fiber optics interface.

Erbium Distribution in Single Crystal YAG Fibers Grown by Laser-Heated Pedestal Growth Technique

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-08-28

single crystal YAG fibers grown by laser - heated pedestal growth technique Single crystal (SC) yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG, Y3Al5O12) as a host...inserted into a SC YAG tube. This rod-in-tube was used as a preform in our laser -heated pedestal growth (LHPG) apparatus to grow a fiber with a radial...fibers grown by laser -heated pedestal growth technique Report Title Single crystal (SC) yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG, Y3Al5O12) as a host material has

Modeling synchronization in networks of delay-coupled fiber ring lasers.

PubMed

Lindley, Brandon S; Schwartz, Ira B

2011-11-21

We study the onset of synchronization in a network of N delay-coupled stochastic fiber ring lasers with respect to various parameters when the coupling power is weak. In particular, for groups of three or more ring lasers mutually coupled to a central hub laser, we demonstrate a robust tendency toward out-of-phase (achronal) synchronization between the N-1 outer lasers and the single inner laser. In contrast to the achronal synchronization, we find the outer lasers synchronize with zero-lag (isochronal) with respect to each other, thus forming a set of N-1 coherent fiber lasers. © 2011 Optical Society of America

Fiber Raman laser and amplifier pumped by Nd3+:YVO4 solid state laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Deming; Zhang, Minming; Liu, Shuang; Nie, Mingju; Wang, Ying

2005-04-01

Pumping source is the key technology of fiber Raman amplifiers (FRA) which are important for ultra long haul and high bit rate dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) systems. In this paper the research work of the project, "Fiber Raman Laser and Amplifier pumped by Nd3+:YVO4 Solid State Laser", supported by the National High-tech Program (863-program) of China is introduced, in which a novel 14xx nm pump module with fine characteristics of high efficiency, simplicity, compactness and low cost is researched and developed. A compact 1342 nm Nd3+:YVO4 diode pumped solid state laser (DPSSL) module is developed with the total laser power of 655mW and the slope efficiency of 42.6% pumped by a 2W 808nm laser diode (LD). A special C-lens fiber collimator is designed to couple the 1342nm laser beam into a piece of single mode fiber (SMF) and the coupling efficiency of 80% is reached. The specific 14xx nm output laser is generated from a single stage Raman resonator which includes a pair of fiber Bragg gratings and a piece of Germanic-silicate or Phospho-silicate fiber pumped by such DPSSL module. The slope efficiency for conversion from 1342 to 14xx nm radiation is 75% and the laser power is more than 300mW each. Finally, Raman gain experiments are carried out with 100km SMF. 100 nm bandwidth with 10dB on-off Raman gain and 1.1dB gain flatness is achieved by pumped at 1425, 1438, 1455 and 1490nm.

1540-nm single frequency single-mode pulsed all fiber laser for coherent Doppler lidar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xin; Diao, Weifeng; Liu, Yuan; Liu, Jiqiao; Hou, Xia; Chen, Weibiao

2015-02-01

A single-mode single frequency eye-safe pulsed all fiber laser based on master oscillator power amplification structure is presented. This laser is composed of a narrow linewidth distributed laser diode seed laser and two-stage cascade amplifiers. 0.8 m longitudinally gradient strained erbium/ytterbium co-doped polarization-maintaining fiber with a core diameter of 10 μm is used as the gain fiber and two acoustic-optics modulators are adopted to enhance pulse extinction ratio. A peak power of 160 W and a pulse width of 200 ns at 10 kHz repetition rate are achieved with transform-limited linewidth and diffraction-limited beam quality. This laser will be employed in a compact short range coherent Doppler wind lidar.

Single-Mode, Distributed Feedback Interband Cascade Lasers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frez, Clifford F. (Inventor); Borgentun, Carl E. (Inventor); Briggs, Ryan M. (Inventor); Bagheri, Mahmood (Inventor); Forouhar, Siamak (Inventor)

2016-01-01

Single-mode, distributed feedback interband cascade lasers (ICLs) using distributed-feedback gratings (e.g., lateral Bragg gratings) and methods of fabricating such ICLs are provided. The ICLs incorporate distributed-feedback gratings that are formed above the laser active region and adjacent the ridge waveguide (RWG) of the ICL. The ICLs may incorporate a double-ridge system comprising an optical confinement structure (e.g., a RWG) disposed above the laser active region that comprises the first ridge of the double ridge system, a DFB grating (e.g., lateral Bragg grating) disposed above the laser active region and adjacent the optical confinement structure, and an electric confinement structure that passes at least partially through the laser active region and that defines the boundary of the second ridge comprises and the termination of the DFB grating.

Opto-acoustic thrombolysis

DOEpatents

Celliers, Peter; Da Silva, Luiz; Glinsky, Michael; London, Richard; Maitland, Duncan; Matthews, Dennis; Fitch, Pat

2000-01-01

This invention is a catheter-based device for generating an ultrasound excitation in biological tissue. Pulsed laser light is guided through an optical fiber to provide the energy for producing the acoustic vibrations. The optical energy is deposited in a water-based absorbing fluid, e.g. saline, thrombolytic agent, blood or thrombus, and generates an acoustic impulse in the fluid through thermoelastic and/or thermodynamic mechanisms. By pulsing the laser at a repetition rate (which may vary from 10 Hz to 100 kHz) an ultrasonic radiation field can be established locally in the medium. This method of producing ultrasonic vibrations can be used in vivo for the treatment of stroke-related conditions in humans, particularly for dissolving thrombus or treating vasospasm. The catheter can also incorporate thrombolytic drug treatments as an adjunct therapy and it can be operated in conjunction with ultrasonic detection equipment for imaging and feedback control and with optical sensors for characterization of thrombus type and consistency.

Performance Optimization Design for a High-Speed Weak FBG Interrogation System Based on DFB Laser.

PubMed

Yao, Yiqiang; Li, Zhengying; Wang, Yiming; Liu, Siqi; Dai, Yutang; Gong, Jianmin; Wang, Lixin

2017-06-22

A performance optimization design for a high-speed fiber Bragg grating (FBG) interrogation system based on a high-speed distributed feedback (DFB) swept laser is proposed. A time-division-multiplexing sensor network with identical weak FBGs is constituted to realize high-capacity sensing. In order to further improve the multiplexing capacity, a waveform repairing algorithm is designed to extend the dynamic demodulation range of FBG sensors. It is based on the fact that the spectrum of an FBG keeps stable over a long period of time. Compared with the pre-collected spectra, the distorted spectra waveform are identified and repaired. Experimental results show that all the identical weak FBGs are distinguished and demodulated at the speed of 100 kHz with a linearity of above 0.99, and the range of dynamic demodulation is extended by 40%.

Performance Optimization Design for a High-Speed Weak FBG Interrogation System Based on DFB Laser

PubMed Central

Yao, Yiqiang; Li, Zhengying; Wang, Yiming; Liu, Siqi; Dai, Yutang; Gong, Jianmin; Wang, Lixin

2017-01-01

A performance optimization design for a high-speed fiber Bragg grating (FBG) interrogation system based on a high-speed distributed feedback (DFB) swept laser is proposed. A time-division-multiplexing sensor network with identical weak FBGs is constituted to realize high-capacity sensing. In order to further improve the multiplexing capacity, a waveform repairing algorithm is designed to extend the dynamic demodulation range of FBG sensors. It is based on the fact that the spectrum of an FBG keeps stable over a long period of time. Compared with the pre-collected spectra, the distorted spectra waveform are identified and repaired. Experimental results show that all the identical weak FBGs are distinguished and demodulated at the speed of 100 kHz with a linearity of above 0.99, and the range of dynamic demodulation is extended by 40%. PMID:28640187

Waveform agile high-power fiber laser illuminators for directed-energy weapon systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Engin, Doruk; Lu, Wei; Kimpel, Frank; Gupta, Shantanu

2012-06-01

A kW-class fiber-amplifier based laser illuminator system at 1030nm is demonstrated. At 125 kHz pulse repetition rate, 1.9mJ energy per pulse (235W average power) is achieved for 100nsec pulses with >72% optical conversion efficiency, and at 250kHz repetition, >350W average power is demonstrated, limited by the available pumps. Excellent agreement is established between the experimental results and dynamic fiber amplifier simulation, for predicting the pulse shape, spectrum and ASE accumulation throughout the fiber-amplifier chain. High pulse-energy, high power fiber-amplifier operation requires careful engineering - minimize ASE content throughout the pre-amplifier stages, use of large mode area gain fiber in the final power stage for effective pulse energy extraction, and pulse pre-shaping to compensate for the laser gain-saturation induced intra-pulse and pulse-pattern dependent distortion. Such optimization using commercially available (VLMA) fibers with core size in the 30-40μm range is estimated to lead to >4mJ pulse energy for 100nsec pulse at 50kHz repetition rate. Such waveform agile high-power, high-energy pulsed fiber laser illuminators at λ=1030nm satisfies requirements for active-tracking/ranging in high-energy laser (HEL) weapon systems, and in uplink laser beacon for deep space communication.

CO2-laser-assisted processing of glass fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brecher, Christian; Emonts, Michael; Schares, Richard Ludwig; Stimpfl, Joffrey

2013-02-01

To fully exploit the potential of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites (FRTC) and to achieve a broad industrial application, automated manufacturing systems are crucial. Investigations at Fraunhofer IPT have proven that the use of laser system technology in processing FRTC allows to achieve high throughput, quality, flexibility, reproducibility and out-of-autoclave processing simultaneously. As 90% of the FRP in Europe1 are glass fiber-reinforced a high impact can be achieved by introducing laser-assisted processing with all its benefits to glass fiber-reinforced thermoplastics (GFRTC). Fraunhofer IPT has developed the diode laser-assisted tape placement (laying and winding) to process carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites (CFRTC) for years. However, this technology cannot be transferred unchanged to process milky transparent GFRTC prepregs (preimpregnated fibers). Due to the short wavelength (approx. 980 nm) and therefore high transmission less than 20% of the diode laser energy is absorbed as heat into non-colored GFRTC prepregs. Hence, the use of a different wave length, e.g. CO2-laser (10.6 μm) with more than 90% laser absorption, is required to allow the full potential of laser-assisted processing of GFRTC. Also the absorption of CO2-laser radiation at the surface compared to volume absorption of diode laser radiation is beneficial for the interlaminar joining of GFRTC. Fraunhofer IPT is currently developing and investigating the CO2-laser-assisted tape placement including new system, beam guiding, process and monitoring technology to enable a resource and energy efficient mass production of GFRP composites, e.g. pipes, tanks, masts. The successful processing of non-colored glass fiber-reinforced Polypropylene (PP) and Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) has already been proven.

Reconfigurable ultra-wideband waveform generation with simple photonic devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dastmalchi, Mansour; Abtahi, Mohammad; Lemus, David; Rusch, Leslie A.; LaRochelle, Sophie

2012-08-01

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a low cost, low power consumption technique for ultra-wideband pulse shaping. Our approach is based on thermal apodization of two identical linearly chirped fiber Bragg gratings (LCFBG) placed in both arms of a balanced photodetector. Resistive heating elements with low electrical power consumption are used to tune the LCFBG spectral responses. Using a standard gain switched distributed feedback laser as a pulsed optical source and a simple energy detector receiver, we measured a bit error rate of 1.5×10-4 at a data rate of 1 Gb/s after RF transmission over a 1-m link.