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Fibre Lasers: From Underlying Science and Technology to Applications

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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Optics and Lasers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2015) | Viewed by 49570

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Sergei K. Turitsyn

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Guest Editor

Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies, Electrical, Electronic and Power Engineering, Aston University, Aston St, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
Interests: nonlinear science; optical communications; fiber lasers; nonlinear photonics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The invention of the laser has started a new era in photonics and its applications. Usually, a laser is an integrated product at the interface of several research fields and technologies. A great variety of lasers have been demonstrated, which cater to a range of applications in very diverse fields of science and industry. There has been constant progress in laser technology thanks to advances in: (i) material science, (ii) optical engineering, and (iii) in better understanding of the fundamental science underlying the operation and performance of lasers.

Focus of this Special Issue is on a particular class of lasers – fibre lasers. Fibre lasers have many attractive features, such as compactness, stability, reliable beam quality, high electrical-to-optical efficiency, low running costs, and relative simplicity of operation and maintenance. Much of the success of fibre-based manufacturing and research has been enhanced by technologies developed in the telecommunications industry, however, recently emerged applications include many new areas, such as medicine, metrology, spectroscopy, and industrial cutting and welding; the list of new applications continues to grow rapidly.

Apart from their practical importance in numerous applications, fibre lasers also present a class of very interesting physical systems. Light propagating down the optical fibre is trapped (in the directions perpendicular to the propagation) in a very small core of the fibre-optic waveguide, making possible the accumulation of the nonlinear effects characteristic of densely localized light. The combination of nonlinear properties of an optical fibre with the light amplification, inevitably leading to generation of optical noise, and multimode features of the device, makes fibre laser an interesting, complex nonlinear physical system. Insight into nonlinear effects and instabilities in fibre laser leading to complex dynamics of radiation is an opportunity for unlocking lasers’ high-power, amplitude and phase stability, and new generated waveforms. This Special Issue is aimed at presenting recent progress in the field of fibre lasers, new technologies and applications, and fundamental science underlying their operation.

Prof. Sergei K. Turitsyn
Guest Editor

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Keywords

new applications of fibre lasers
nonlinear dynamics of radiation in fibre lasers
new materials for fibre lasers
polarisation properties of fibre lasers
new designs of fibre lasers
measurement techniques

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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7717 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Real-Time Intensity Domain Characterization of Fibre Lasers Using Spatio-Temporal Dynamics

by Srikanth Sugavanam, Nikita Tarasov and Dmitry V. Churkin

Appl. Sci. 2016, 6(3), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/app6030065 - 25 Feb 2016

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 6088

Abstract

Fibre lasers are light sources that are synonymous with stability. They can give rise to highly coherent continuous-wave radiation, or a stable train of mode locked pulses with well-defined characteristics. However, they can also exhibit an exceedingly diverse range of nonlinear operational regimes spanning a multi-dimensional parameter space. The complex nature of the dynamics poses significant challenges in the theoretical and experimental studies of such systems. Here, we demonstrate how the real-time experimental methodology of spatio-temporal dynamics can be used to unambiguously identify and discern between such highly complex lasing regimes. This two-dimensional representation of laser intensity allows the identification and tracking of individual features embedded in the radiation as they make round-trip circulations inside the cavity. The salient features of this methodology are highlighted by its application to the case of Raman fibre lasers and a partially mode locked ring fibre laser operating in the normal dispersion regime. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fibre Lasers: From Underlying Science and Technology to Applications)

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726 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Self-Seeded RSOA-Fiber Cavity Lasers vs. ASE Spectrum-Sliced or Externally Seeded Transmitters—A Comparative Study

by Simon A. Gebrewold, Romain Bonjour, Sophie Barbet, Anaelle Maho, Romain Brenot, Philippe Chanclou, Marco Brunero, Lucia Marazzi, Paola Parolari, Angelina Totovic, Dejan Gvozdic, David Hillerkuss, Christian Hafner and Juerg Leuthold

Appl. Sci. 2015, 5(4), 1922-1941; https://doi.org/10.3390/app5041922 - 17 Dec 2015

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 6167

Abstract

Reflective semiconductor optical amplifier fiber cavity lasers (RSOA-FCLs) are appealing, colorless, self-seeded, self-tuning and cost-efficient upstream transmitters. They are of interest for wavelength division multiplexed passive optical networks (WDM-PONs) based links. In this paper, we compare RSOA-FCLs with alternative colorless sources, namely the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) spectrum-sliced and the externally seeded RSOAs. We compare the differences in output power, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), relative intensity noise (RIN), frequency response and transmission characteristics of these three sources. It is shown that an RSOA-FCL offers a higher output power over an ASE spectrum-sliced source with SNR, RIN and frequency response characteristics halfway between an ASE spectrum-sliced and a more expensive externally seeded RSOA. The results show that the RSOA-FCL is a cost-efficient WDM-PON upstream source, borrowing simplicity and cost-efficiency from ASE spectrum slicing with characteristics that are, in many instances, good enough to perform short-haul transmission. To substantiate our statement and to quantitatively compare the potential of the three schemes, we perform data transmission experiments at 5 and 10 Gbit/s. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fibre Lasers: From Underlying Science and Technology to Applications)

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814 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design and Applications of In-Cavity Pulse Shaping by Spectral Sculpturing in Mode-Locked Fibre Lasers

by Sonia Boscolo, Junsong Peng and Christophe Finot

Appl. Sci. 2015, 5(4), 1379-1398; https://doi.org/10.3390/app5041379 - 25 Nov 2015

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5932

Abstract

We review our recent progress on the realisation of pulse shaping in passively-mode-locked fibre lasers by inclusion of an amplitude and/or phase spectral filter into the laser cavity. We numerically show that depending on the amplitude transfer function of the in-cavity filter, various regimes of advanced waveform generation can be achieved, including ones featuring parabolic-, flat-top- and triangular-profiled pulses. An application of this approach using a flat-top spectral filter is shown to achieve the direct generation of high-quality sinc-shaped optical Nyquist pulses with a widely tunable bandwidth from the laser oscillator. We also present the operation of an ultrafast fibre laser in which conventional soliton, dispersion-managed soliton (stretched-pulse) and dissipative soliton mode-locking regimes can be selectively and reliably targeted by adaptively changing the dispersion profile and bandwidth programmed on an in-cavity programmable filter. The results demonstrate the strong potential of an in-cavity spectral pulse shaper for achieving a high degree of control over the dynamics and output of mode-locked fibre lasers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fibre Lasers: From Underlying Science and Technology to Applications)

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581 KiB

Open AccessArticle

High-Power Continuous-Wave Directly-Diode-Pumped Fiber Raman Lasers

by Tianfu Yao, Achar V. Harish, Jayanta K. Sahu and Johan Nilsson

Appl. Sci. 2015, 5(4), 1323-1336; https://doi.org/10.3390/app5041323 - 20 Nov 2015

Cited by 85 | Viewed by 6497

Abstract

We describe novel fiber Raman lasers pumped directly by spectrally combined high power multimode laser diodes at ~975 nm and emitting at ~1019 nm. With a commercial multimode graded-index fiber, we reached 20 W of laser output power with a record slope efficiency of 80%. With an in-house double-clad fiber, the beam quality improved to M2 = 1.9, albeit with lower output power and slope efficiency due to higher fiber loss. We believe this is the first publication of a fiber Raman laser cladding-pumped directly by diodes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fibre Lasers: From Underlying Science and Technology to Applications)

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1817 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Extremely Nonlinear Optics Using Shaped Pulses Spectrally Broadened in an Argon- or Sulfur Hexafluoride-Filled Hollow-Core Fiber

by Andreas Hoffmann, Michael Zürch and Christian Spielmann

Appl. Sci. 2015, 5(4), 1310-1322; https://doi.org/10.3390/app5041310 - 20 Nov 2015

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6437

Abstract

In this contribution we present a comparison of the performance of spectrally broadened ultrashort pulses using a hollow-core fiber either filled with argon or sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) for demanding pulse-shaping experiments. The benefits of both gases for pulse-shaping are studied in the highly nonlinear process of high-harmonic generation. In this setup, temporally shaping the driving laser pulse leads to spectrally shaping of the output extreme ultraviolet (XUV) spectrum, where total yield and spectral selectivity in the XUV are the targets of the optimization approach. The effect of using sulfur hexafluoride for pulse-shaping the XUV yield can be doubled compared to pulse compression and pulse-shaping using argon and the spectral range for selective optimization of a single harmonic can be extended. The obtained results are of interest for extending the range of ultrafast science applications drawing on tailored XUV fields. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fibre Lasers: From Underlying Science and Technology to Applications)

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1261 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optical Cutting Interruption Sensor for Fiber Lasers

by Benedikt Adelmann, Max Schleier, Benedikt Neumeier, Eugen Wilmann and Ralf Hellmann

Appl. Sci. 2015, 5(3), 544-554; https://doi.org/10.3390/app5030544 - 09 Sep 2015

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5733

Abstract

We report on an optical sensor system attached to a 4 kW fiber laser cutting machine to detect cutting interruptions. The sensor records the thermal radiation from the process zone with a modified ring mirror and optical filter arrangement, which is placed between the cutting head and the collimator. The process radiation is sensed by a Si and InGaAs diode combination with the detected signals being digitalized with 20 kHz. To demonstrate the function of the sensor, signals arising during fusion cutting of 1 mm stainless steel and mild steel with and without cutting interruptions are evaluated and typical signatures derived. In the recorded signals the piercing process, the laser switch on and switch off point and waiting period are clearly resolved. To identify the cutting interruption, the signals of both Si and InGaAs diodes are high pass filtered and the signal fluctuation ranges being subsequently calculated. Introducing a correction factor, we identify that only in case of a cutting interruption the fluctuation range of the Si diode exceeds the InGaAs diode. This characteristic signature was successfully used to detect 80 cutting interruptions of 83 incomplete cuts (alpha error 3.6%) and system recorded no cutting interruption from 110 faultless cuts (beta error of 0). This particularly high detection rate in combination with the easy integration of the sensor, highlight its potential for cutting interruption detection in industrial applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fibre Lasers: From Underlying Science and Technology to Applications)

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Review

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1869 KiB

Open AccessReview

2D Saturable Absorbers for Fibre Lasers

by Robert I. Woodward and Edmund J. R. Kelleher

Appl. Sci. 2015, 5(4), 1440-1456; https://doi.org/10.3390/app5041440 - 30 Nov 2015

Cited by 223 | Viewed by 11918

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials are an emergent and promising platform for future photonic and optoelectronic applications. Here, we review recent progress demonstrating the application of 2D nanomaterials as versatile, wideband saturable absorbers for Q-switching and mode-locking fibre lasers. We focus specifically on the family [...] Read more.

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fibre Lasers: From Underlying Science and Technology to Applications)

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