Q-switched mode-locking of an erbium-doped fiber laser using cavity modulation frequency detuning.

We present the results of an investigation regarding a Q-switched mode-locked fiber laser scheme based on a cavity modulation frequency detuning technique. The approach is based on undamped laser relaxation oscillations occurring due to frequency detuning in the fundamental cavity resonance frequency. Through a range of experiments with an erbium-doped, fiber-based, ring-cavity laser, this approach has been shown to be capable of generating high-quality Q-switched mode-locked pulses from an optical fiber-based laser. The maximum frequency detuning range for a stable Q-switched mode-locking operation has been observed to vary depending on the pump power used. We found that the highest pulse peak power was obtained at the frequency detuning threshold at which the operation changed from the mode-locking to the Q-switched mode-locking regime.

Ultrafast optical nonlinearity of multi-layered graphene synthesized by the interface growth process.

We propose a novel photonic application as well as an optical tool to verify the crystallinity of interface-grown graphene demonstrating passive mode-locked lasers. The interface growth process enables the formation of multi-layered graphene at an interface of substrate and catalyst, therefore directly onto the targeted substrate without a transfer process. The synthesized graphene is characterized using Raman spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy before ultrashort pulse formation to confirm the validity of the process for high-speed photonic applications of graphene. The resultant pulses have a repetition rate, pulse duration, RF extinction ratio of 14.01 MHz, 1.0 ps, and ∼35 dB, respectively.

Performance comparison of Raman/erbium-doped-fiber hybrid-amplification-based long-distance fiber Bragg grating sensor systems.

A study regarding the performance comparison of three different types of long-distance fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors based on bidirectional Raman and erbium-doped fiber (EDF) amplification has been carried out to determine the most power-efficient and accurate configuration. The three sensor system configurations studied were a bidirectional hybrid Raman amplifier with (Type I) an EDF located after the distributed Raman amplification section, (Type II) an EDF located before the distributed Raman amplification section, and (Type III) without an EDF. The FBG sensor systems are based on a demodulation scheme employing radio frequency power measurements of a beat signal, in which a sine-modulated amplified spontaneous emission from a directly modulated reflective semiconductor optical amplifier is employed as a broadband light source. The results of our experimentation showed that the sensor system with the EDF located prior to the Raman amplification section provided the best performance in regards to its pump power efficiency, electrical signal-to-noise ratio, and measurement accuracy.

All-optical pulse shaping for ultrawideband doublet pulses using nonlinear optical loop mirror with optical parametric amplification.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate an alternative photonic scheme for the generation of ultrawideband (UWB) doublet pulses, which is based on an optical fiber-based nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) incorporating the optical parametric amplification (OPA) effect. The proposed scheme uses both cross-phase modulation and OPA within an optical fiber-based NOLM to produce an ideal transfer function for the shaping of input soliton pulses into doublet pulses. Using the proposed scheme, a successful conversion of input soliton pulses into doublet pulses is readily demonstrated. The system performance of UWB doublet pulses is also assessed by propagating the 1.25 Gbit/s doublet pulses over a fiber link. Error-free UWB doublet signal transmission is demonstrated.

Proteomic analysis of stress-related proteins in transgenic broccoli harboring a gene for cytokinin production during postharvest senescence.

Our previous study revealed a cytokinin-related retardation of post-harvest floret yellowing in transgenic broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) that harbored the bacterial isopentenyltransferase (ipt) gene. We aimed to investigate the underlining mechanism of this delayed post-harvest senescence. We used 2D electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry for a proteomics analysis of heads of ipt-transgenic and non-transgenic inbred lines of broccoli at harvest and after four days post-harvest storage. At harvest, we found an accumulation of stress-responsive proteins involved in maintenance of protein folding (putative protein disulfide isomerase, peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase and chaperonins), scavenging of reactive oxygen species (Mn superoxide dismutase), and stress protection [myrosinase-binding protein, jasmonate inducible protein, dynamin-like protein, NADH dehydrogenase (ubiquinone) Fe-S protein 1 and stress-inducible tetratricopeptide repeat-containing protein]. After four days' post-harvest storage of non-transgenic broccoli florets, the levels of proteins involved in protein folding and carbon fixation were decreased, which indicates cellular degradation and a change in metabolism toward senescence. In addition, staining for antioxidant enzyme activity of non-transgenic plants after post-harvest storage revealed a marked decrease in activity of Fe-superoxide dismutase and ascorbate peroxidase. Thus, the accumulation of stress-responsive proteins and antioxidant enzyme activity in ipt-transgenic broccoli are most likely associated with retardation of post-harvest senescence.

Bipolar tap photonic microwave notch filter using electroabsorption modulator-integrated distributed feedback laser diodes in a parallel configuration.

We propose a bipolar tap photonic microwave notch filter scheme, which can be used to realize a fully integrated, semiconductor-based notch filter. The scheme is based on two electroabsorption modulator (EAM)-integrated distributed feedback laser diodes in a parallel configuration. We show that two filter taps with opposite polarities can be readily obtained by using the negative and positive slopes of the U-shaped electro-optic transfer functions of the EAMs under special design and operating conditions. An experiment was carried out to verify the working principle of the proposed scheme. Notch frequency tuning was also demonstrated by varying the laser wavelength spacing; the spacing was varied by changing the temperature. A frequency tuning range of ~1.8 GHz with a notch depth of ~40 dB was achieved.

A Q-switched, mode-locked fiber laser employing subharmonic cavity modulation.

We present a new and simple approach for the generation of Q-switched, mode-locked pulses from a laser cavity. The approach is based on cavity loss modulation that employs a subharmonic frequency of the fundamental intermode frequency spacing. A range of experiments have been carried out using an erbium-doped fiber-based ring cavity laser in order to verify that this simple approach can readily produce high quality Q-switched, mode-locked pulses. An active tuning of the Q-switched envelope repetition rate is also shown to be easily achievable by adjusting the order of the applied subharmonic frequency.

Active Q-switching in an erbium-doped fiber laser using an ultrafast silicon-based variable optical attenuator.

Presented herein is the use of an ultrafast Si-based variable optical attenuator (VOA) as a Q-switch for rare earth-doped fiber lasers. The ultrafast VOA is based on a forward-biased p-i-n diode integrated with a ridge waveguide, which was originally designed and optimized for WDM channel power equalization in optical communication systems. By incorporating a Si-based VOA with a transient time of ~410 ns into an erbium-doped fiber-based Fabry-Perot cavity it has been shown that stable Q-switched pulses possessing a temporal width of less than ~86 ns can be readily obtained at a repetition rate of up to ~1 MHz. The laser's peak power of ~38 W is shown to be obtainable at 20 kHz with a slope efficiency of ~21%.

Ultrawideband doublet pulse generation based on nonlinear polarization rotation of an elliptically polarized beam and its distribution over a fiber/wireless link.

Proposed herein is an alternative photonic scheme for the generation of a doublet UWB pulse, which is based on the nonlinear polarization rotation of an elliptically polarized probe beam. The proposed scheme is a modified optical-fiber Kerr shutter that uses an elliptically polarized probe beam together with a linearly polarized control beam. Through theoretical analysis, it was shown that the optical-fiber-based Kerr shutter is capable of producing an ideal transfer function for the successful conversion of input Gaussian pulses into doublet pulses under special elliptical polarization states of the probe beam. An experimental verification was subsequently carried out to verify the working principle. Finally, the system performance of the generated UWB doublet pulses was assessed by propagating them over a 25-km-long standard single-mode fiber link, followed by wireless transmission. Error-free transmission was successfully achieved.

Fully reconfigurable photonic microwave transversal filter based on digital micromirror device and continuous-wave, incoherent supercontinuum source.

The combined use of a programmable, digital micromirror device (DMD) and an ultrabroadband, cw, incoherent supercontinuum (SC) source is experimentally demonstrated to fully explore various aspects on the reconfiguration of a microwave filter transfer function by creating a range of multiwavelength optical filter shapes. Owing to both the unique characteristic of the DMD that an arbitrary optical filter shape can be readily produced and the ultrabroad bandwidth of the cw SC source that is 3 times larger than that of Er-amplified spontaneous emission, a multiwavelength optical beam pattern can be generated with a large number of wavelength filter taps apodized by an arbitrary amplitude window. Therefore various types of high-quality microwave filter can be readily achieved through the spectrum slicing-based photonic microwave transversal filter scheme. The experimental demonstration is performed in three aspects: the tuning of a filter resonance bandwidth at a fixed resonance frequency, filter resonance frequency tuning at a fixed resonance frequency, and flexible microwave filter shape reconstruction.