Behavioral similarity of dissipative solitons in an ultrafast fiber laser.

We unveil a new type of dissipative soliton behavior in a net-normal-dispersion bidirectional ultrafast fiber laser. That is, the bidirectional dissipative solitons will always reveal similar spectral and temporal characteristics through common gain and loss modulation, even if the transient instability is involved. The behavioral similarity enables us to accurately design the soliton patterns by introducing seed pulses through loss modulation. As a proof-of-concept application, the precise and flexible manipulation of multi-soliton patterns is demonstrated. These findings will shed new insights into the complex dissipative soliton dynamics and benefit the design of ultrafast lasers with desirable soliton patterns for practical applications.

Unveiling femtosecond rogue-wave structures in noise-like pulses by a stable and synchronized time magnifier.

Mode-locked fiber lasers are an ideal platform for an ultrafast nonlinear physics study, and they have shown many intriguing, yet not fully understood, phenomena such as the optical rogue waves (ORWs) and noise-like pulses (NLPs). However, one of the major obstacles in the study of fiber laser dynamics is the lack of practical measurement techniques for round-trip tracking, and single-shot, real-time observation in the time domain at sub-picosecond (ps) resolution. Here we demonstrate an automatically synchronized characterization of NLPs using a parametric time magnifier. The round-trip evolution of ultrafast temporal structures in the noise-like pulses has been experimentally resolved at sub-ps resolution, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time, and ORWs have been identified.

Video-rate centimeter-range optical coherence tomography based on dual optical frequency combs by electro-optic modulators.

Imaging speed and range are two important parameters for optical coherence tomography (OCT). A conventional video-rate centimeter-range OCT requires an optical source with hundreds of kHz repetition rate and needs the support of broadband detectors and electronics (>1 GHz). In this paper, a type of video-rate centimeter-range OCT system is proposed and demonstrated based on dual optical frequency combs by leveraging electro-optic modulators. The repetition rate difference between dual combs, i.e. the A-scan rate of dual-comb OCT, can be adjusted within 0~6 MHz. By down-converting the interference signal from optical domain to radio-frequency domain through dual comb beating, the down-converted bandwidth of the interference signal is less than 22.5 MHz which is at least two orders of magnitude lower than that in conventional OCT systems. A LabVIEW program is developed for video-rate operation, and the centimeter imaging depth is proved by using 10 pieces of 1-mm thick glass stacked as the sample. The effective beating bandwidth between two optical comb sources is 7 nm corresponding to ~108 comb lines, and the axial resolution of the dual-comb OCT is 158 µm. Dual optical frequency combs provide a promising solution to relax the detection bandwidth requirement in fast long-range OCT systems.

Sensitivity-enhanced ultrafast optical tomography by parametric- and Raman-amplified temporal imaging.

To overcome the speed limitation of conventional optical tomography, a temporal imaging technique has been integrated with optical time-domain reflectometry to realize ultrafast temporally magnified (TM) tomography. In this Letter, the sensitivity of TM tomography has been further enhanced using optical parametric amplification and distributed Raman amplification, and this technique is named temporally encoded amplified and magnified (TEAM) tomography. As a result, a 78-dB sensitivity has been realized, comparable to ultrafast optical coherence tomography systems. In addition, an 86.7-µm axial resolution can be realized across a 67.5-mm imaging range. To demonstrate the significance of sensitivity improvement, tomographic imaging of a centimeter-thick phantom is provided at an A-scan rate of 44 MHz.

Ultra-broadband spatiotemporal sweeping device for high-speed optical imaging.

In this work, we propose and demonstrate a spatiotemporal sweeping fiber bundle for ultra-fast optical diagnoses over a multioctave wavelength span, ranging from ∼400 nm to ∼2000 nm. This all-optical spatiotemporal sweeping is realized by precisely controlling the length increment between individual fibers in the fiber bundle. Here, a 200-ps pixel delay increment specifically enables a pixel readout rate of up to 5 GHz. Depending on different configurations of the fiber bundle, either 1D or 2D spatiotemporal sweeping can be realized. Moreover, the high peak power of the short pulse in each pixel can facilitate the highly sensitive optical detection. To showcase its ultra-broadband operation capability, we here perform ultra-fast optical microscopy at three distinctive wavelengths, which are 710 nm, 1030 nm, and 1600 nm, and achieve tens of MHz line-scan rate and few-micrometers resolution for all three experiments. It is anticipated that this inertia-free spatiotemporal sweeping device with ultra-broad bandwidth, GHz pixel readout rate, and high detection sensitivity is promising for ultra-fast optical diagnosis, particularly when hyperspectral characteristics are desired.

Mutually ignited soliton explosions in a fiber laser.

Soliton explosions are among the most intriguing nonlinear dynamics in dissipative systems, manifesting themselves as a self-recovered localized structure when suffering explosive instabilities. Herein, we report on the investigation of soliton explosions in an ultrafast fiber laser operating in the multi-soliton regime. It is demonstrated that explosion of one soliton could be induced by another one through the soliton interactions mediated by the transient gain response of an erbium-doped fiber. We denote this phenomenon as "mutually ignited soliton explosions" when referring to the multi-soliton regime. The results provide the first investigation of soliton explosions in the multi-soliton regime and, therefore, will enhance a more comprehensive understanding of the soliton exploding phenomenon.

Ultrafast time-stretch microscopy based on dual-comb asynchronous optical sampling.

The ultrafast time-stretch microscopy based on a single-pixel detector has become a hotspot of the research, owing to its high sensitivity compared to those pixel sensors. However, gigahertz or tens of gigahertz acquisition bandwidth is required for this scheme, resulting in great expense for the whole imaging system and hindering its wide applications. In this Letter, a dual-comb asynchronous optical sampling is applied for the conventional time-stretch microscopy, whose ultrafast temporal axis is magnified by 9200 times. The acquisition bandwidth requirement is thus greatly relaxed, and 320 kHz bandwidth successfully resolves 2.3 µm spatial resolution with tens of kilohertz frame rate.

Parametric spectrotemporal analyzer based on four-wave mixing Bragg scattering.

A parametric spectro-temporal analyzer (PASTA) has been demonstrated as an ultrafast single-shot spectral analyzing technique. However, the relatively complex system configuration and the limited wavelength measurement range limit its practical application. In this work, a new system design utilizing a four-wave mixing Bragg scattering (FWM-BS) process is presented that significantly simplifies the implementation. More importantly, owing to the large parametric conversion bandwidth of the FWM-BS process, the maximum wavelength measurement range has been expanded to around 30 nm. In addition, the detection sensitivity is also enhanced by 10 dB. Our work thus represents a critical step in realizing the practical application of the PASTA technique.

102-nm, 44.5-MHz inertial-free swept source by mode-locked fiber laser and time stretch technique for optical coherence tomography.

A swept source with both high repetition-rate and broad bandwidth is indispensable to enable optical coherence tomography (OCT) with high imaging rate and high axial resolution. However, available swept sources are commonly either limited in speed (sub-MHz) by inertial or kinetic component, or limited in bandwidth (<100 nm) by the gain medium. Here we report an ultrafast broadband (over 100 nm centered at 1.55-µm) all-fiber inertial-free swept source built upon a high-power dispersion-managed fiber laser in conjunction with an optical time-stretch module which bypasses complex optical amplification scheme, which result in a portable and compact implementation of time-stretch OCT (TS-OCT) at A-scan rate of 44.5-MHz, axial resolution of 14 µm in air (or 10 µm in tissue), and flat sensitivity roll-off within 4.3 mm imaging range. Together with the demonstration of two- and three-dimensional OCT imaging of a mud-fish eye anterior segment, we also perform comprehensive studies on the imaging depth, receiver bandwidth, and group velocity dispersion condition. This all-fiber inertia-free swept source could provide a promising source solution for SS-OCT system to realize high-performance volumetric OCT imaging in real time.

Optical receiver sensitivity enhancement by single- and dual-band fiber optical parametric amplifier.

A semi-classical model is proposed theoretically and demonstrated experimentally on the optical receiver sensitivity enhancement by single-band (signal or idler) and dual-band (signal and idler) fiber optical parametric amplifier (FOPA). The sensitivity enhancement by single-band is determined by the gain of FOPA and the transmission loss of signal and idler, and it can be further improved by up to 3-dB using amplified signal and phase-conjugated idler together at dual-band configuration. The theoretical results are experimentally verified in both fiber communication and biomedical imaging applications. This detection sensitivity enhancement scheme can be potentially applied in the scenarios where ultrafast broadband signal at low-power level is being handled.

Pulse-spacing manipulation in a passively mode-locked multipulse fiber laser.

Passively mode-locked fiber lasers have been intensively applied in various research fields. However, the passive mode-locking typically operates in free-running regime, which easily produces messy multiple pulses due to the fruitful nonlinear effects involved in optical fibers. Actively controlling those disordered pulses in a passively mode-locked laser is of great interest but rarely studied. In this work, we experimentally investigate a flexible pulse-spacing manipulation in the passively mode-locked multipulse fiber laser by both intracavity and extracavity methods. A tuning range of pulse spacing up to 1.5 ns is achieved. More importantly, continuous pulse-spacing modulation is successfully demonstrated through external optical injection. It is anticipated that the results can contribute to the understanding of laser nonlinear dynamics and pursuing the optimal performance of passively mode-locked fiber lasers for practical applications.

Extended temporal cloak based on the inverse temporal Talbot effect.

A temporal cloak with a significantly extended cloaking window and spatial distribution is created using the inverse temporal Talbot effect. The continuously cloaking window and the total cloaking ratio are 196 ps and 74%, respectively, which are 5.4 and 1.6 times larger than the previous record. Moreover, the cloak is maintained over 5-km of dispersion-compensating fiber (DCF), which enables cloaking temporal events at multiple positions simultaneously. To demonstrate the cloaking performance, both message-encoded and pseudo-random temporal events are successfully concealed. Last, but not least, since our configuration does not require opposite sign of dispersion, the idea can be applied analogously to the spatial domain according to the space-time duality, thus also enriching the spatial cloaking technique.

High-power widely tunable all-fiber thulium-assisted optical parametric oscillator at SWIR band.

A novel short-wave infrared (SWIR) all-fiber thulium-assisted optical parametric oscillator (TAOPO) that exploits jointly optical parametric conversion and thulium amplification in a highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) and thulium-doped fiber (TDF) is demonstrated. This is implemented through constructing a joint fiber line by directly fusion splicing 50 m HNLF with 1.5 m TDF. Incorporating a bidirectional-pumping scheme, i.e., forward-pumped by a step-tuned C-band pulsed laser, and simultaneously backward-pumped by an L-band continuous-wave laser, this TAOPO produces a pulsed SWIR laser at output power higher than 200 mW, signal-to-noise ratio over 40 dB, and wavelength tuning range beyond 150 nm from 1815 to 1968 nm. Via separate characterization of the HNLF and TDF joint fiber line, the tunability of the current TAOPO to shorter wavelength is only limited by the employed fiber components, while higher power could be realized by increasing the backward pump power. This TAOPO could be a promising platform for the generation of a highly functional SWIR source that facilitates applications such as bond-selective imaging of deep tissue.

Sensitivity enhancement in swept-source optical coherence tomography by parametric balanced detector and amplifier.

We proposed a sensitivity enhancement method of the interference-based signal detection approach and applied it on a swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) system through all-fiber optical parametric amplifier (FOPA) and parametric balanced detector (BD). The parametric BD was realized by combining the signal and phase conjugated idler band that was newly-generated through FOPA, and specifically by superimposing these two bands at a photodetector. The sensitivity enhancement by FOPA and parametric BD in SS-OCT were demonstrated experimentally. The results show that SS-OCT with FOPA and SS-OCT with parametric BD can provide more than 9 dB and 12 dB sensitivity improvement, respectively, when compared with the conventional SS-OCT in a spectral bandwidth spanning over 76 nm. To further verify and elaborate their sensitivity enhancement, a bio-sample imaging experiment was conducted on loach eyes by conventional SS-OCT setup, SS-OCT with FOPA and parametric BD at different illumination power levels. All these results proved that using FOPA and parametric BD could improve the sensitivity significantly in SS-OCT systems.

Compact and stable temporally magnified tomography using a phase-locked broadband source.

The temporally magnified tomography system is further improved in terms of resolution and imaging stability. We simplify the system configuration and improve the axial resolution simultaneously by utilizing a stabilized all-fiber broadband source. The highly stable spectrum of the source assisted by a phase-locked loop guarantees an improved imaging quality. In addition, the impact of the repetition-rate fluctuation of the source to the system stability is analyzed, which also applies to other temporal imaging systems. Achieving a 90-µm in-air resolution at 89-MHz A-scan rate and improved stability, we are taking one major step toward the practical application of this new optical tomographic modality.

Tri-band spectroscopic optical coherence tomography based on optical parametric amplification for lipid and vessel visualization.

A tri-band spectroscopic optical coherence tomography (SOCT) system has been implemented for visualization of lipid and blood vessel distribution. The tri-band swept source, which covers output spectrum in 1.3, 1.5, and 1.6 µm wavelength windows, is based on a dual-band Fourier domain mode-locked laser and a fiber optical parametric amplifier. This tri-band SOCT can further differentiate materials, e.g., lipid and artery, qualitatively by contrasting attenuation coefficients difference within any two of these bands. Furthermore, ex vivo imaging of both porcine artery with artificial lipid plaque phantom and mice with coronary artery disease were demonstrated to showcase the capability of our SOCT.

109 MHz optical tomography using temporal magnification.

Ultrafast optical tomographic imaging with a 109 MHz A-scan rate is achieved by using temporal magnification. Based on two four-wave mixing (FWM) time lenses with carefully designed group delay dispersion, we construct a temporal imaging system with a magnification factor of 48.3×. The two time-lens scheme not only relaxes the requirement for the pump source but also facilitates the application for tomographic imaging. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, our system achieves an axial resolution of 140 µm in air (∼105 µm in biosample) over a 28 mm depth range with sensitivity up to 55 dB. We then evaluate the imaging performance using a fish-eye lens at a 109 MHz A-scan rate. Utilizing better dispersion-engineered nonlinear media, resolution of less than 5 µm in the biosample with higher sensitivity may be achieved. We believe this scheme will provide a promising solution for video-rate 3D tomographic imaging.

An image stabilization optical system using deformable freeform mirrors.

An image stabilization optical system using deformable freeform mirrors is proposed that enables the ray sets to couple dynamically in the object and image space. It aims to correct image blurring and degradation when there is relative movement between the imaging optical axis and the object. In this method, Fermat's principle and matrix methods are used to describe the optical path of the entire optical system with a shift object plane and a fixed corresponding image plane in the carrier coordinate system. A constant optical path length is determined for each ray set, so the correspondence between the object and the shift free image point is used to calculate the solution to the points on the surface profile of the deformable mirrors (DMs). Off-axis three-mirror anastigmats are used to demonstrate the benefits of optical image stabilization with one- and two-deformable mirrors.