Effect of absorption recovery in bismuth-doped silica glass at 1450 nm on soliton grouping in fiber laser.

Saturable absorption in bismuth-doped glasses was found to have a noticeable influence on soliton interaction and group formation. This phenomenon, observed in 1450 nm mode-locked bismuth-doped fiber laser, shows the distinct feature of the multiple pulse regime, which appears as a stationary pulse group whose length can be spread over the whole cavity length by variation of the pump power and polarization. Pulse positioning within the ensemble depends on the saturation fluence and the relatively fast recovery dynamics of bismuth fiber.

Excited-state absorption in various bismuth-doped fibers.

Excited-state absorption (ESA) in various bismuth-doped fibers (BDFs) was investigated. No significant ESA in IR emission bands of Bi-doped germanosilicate and phosphosilicate fibers was found. Considerable ESA was observed in Bi-doped aluminosilicate fibers at 800-1700 nm. The ESA spectra of the aluminosilicate BDFs with different bismuth concentration were measured at room and 77 K temperature. Significant dependence of the ESA on the bismuth concentration and the fiber temperature was found.

Bismuth-doped silica-based fiber lasers operating between 1389 and 1538 nm with output power of up to 22 W.

An efficient CW bismuth fiber laser operating around 1.46 µm with an efficiency of >50% and an output power of >20 W has been developed on a bismuth-doped GeO(2)-SiO(2) fiber. The laser demonstrates weak dependence of the output power on temperature in comparison with bismuth lasers operating near 1.15 and 1.3 µm. The laser generation has been obtained in the range 1.39 to 1.54 µm. The first linearly polarized bismuth-doped fiber laser at 1.46 µm based on a PANDA-type fiber has been demonstrated.

Combined excitation-emission spectroscopy of bismuth active centers in optical fibers.

For the first time, 3-dimensional luminescence spectra (luminescence intensity as a function of the excitation and emission wavelengths) have been obtained for bismuth-doped optical fibers of various compositions in a wide spectral range (450-1700 nm). The bismuth-doped fibers investigated have the following core compositions: SiO(2), GeO(2), Al-doped SiO(2), and P-doped SiO(2). The measurements are performed at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures. Based on the experimental results, the positions of the low-lying energy-levels of the IR bismuth active centers in SiO(2)- and GeO(2)-core fibers have been determined. Similarity of the energy-level schemes for the two core compositions has been revealed.

Laser diode pumped bismuth-doped optical fiber amplifier for 1430 nm band.

A 24 dB gain bismuth-doped fiber amplifier at 1430 nm pumped by a 65 mW commercial laser diode at 1310 nm is reported for the first time (to our knowledge). A 3 dB bandwidth of about 40 nm, a noise figure of 6 dB, and a power conversion efficiency of about 60% are demonstrated. The temperature behavior of the gain spectrum is examined.

Tm3+-doped CW fiber laser based on a highly GeO2-doped dispersion-shifted fiber.

A novel all-fiber laser based on a highly GeO2-doped dispersion-shifted Tm-codoped fiber, pumped at 1.56 µm wavelength and lasing at 1.862 µm wavelength with a slope efficiency up to 37% was demonstrated. The single-mode Tm-doped fiber with the 55GeO2-45SiO2 core was fabricated for the first time by MCVD technique. The laser produces spectral side bands, resulting from the four-wave mixing owing to the shift of the zero-dispersion-wavelength of the fiber to the laser wavelength, thus, making it potentially particularly attractive for dispersion management and ultrashort pulse generation.

Single-mode all-silica photonic bandgap fiber with 20-microm mode-field diameter.

An all-silica photonic bandgap fiber with a cladding index difference of approximately 2 % and diameter-to-pitch ratio (d/wedge) of 0.12 was fabricated and studied. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the properties of photonic bandgap fiber with such a small d/wedge. The fiber is single-mode in the fundamental bandgap. The mode field diameter in the 1000-1200 nm wavelength range is 19-20 microm. The minimum loss in the same range is 20 dB/km for a 30-cm bending diameter. In our opinion, all-silica photonic bandgap fiber can serve as a potential candidate for achieving single-mode propagation with a large mode area.

Bismuth-doped-glass optical fibers--a new active medium for lasers and amplifiers.

Optical fibers with bismuth-doped silicate and germanate glass cores were fabricated by the modified chemical vapor deposition technique (solution and vapor-phase Bi incorporation). The fibers revealed an efficient luminescence with a maximum in the 1050-1200 nm spectral range, FWHM up to 200 nm, and a lifetime of the order of 1 ms.

Low-loss singlemode large mode area all-silica photonic bandgap fiber.

We describe the design and characterization of solid core large mode area bandgap fibers exhibiting low propagation loss and low bend loss. The fibers have been prepared by modified chemical vapor deposition process. The bandgap guidance obtained thanks to a 3-bilayer periodic cladding is assisted by a very slight index step (5.10-4) in the solid core. The propagation loss reaches a few dB/km and is found to be close to material loss.

Four-wave mixing with large stokes shifts in heavily Ge-doped silica fibers.

Four-wave mixing (FWM) in nonlinear germanosilicate fibers with GeO2 concentrations as high as 67 mol.% in the core is studied theoretically and experimentally. Large frequency shifts of 1875-3829 cm(-1) are observed in the mixed-mode pump parametric process. The dependence of FWM phase matching on the GeO2 concentration, core diameter, and index profile is demonstrated. The 2.5% conversion efficiency of an 887 nm signal to a 1.3 microm communication band is obtained at a 2 W cw pump power inside the fiber.

Germania-glass-core silica-glass-cladding modified chemical-vapor deposition optical fibers: optical losses, photorefractivity, and Raman amplification.

Germania-glass-core silica-glass-cladding single-mode fibers (deltan as great as 0.143) with a minimum loss of 20 dB/km at 1.85 microm were fabricated by modified chemical-vapor deposition. The fibers exhibit strong photorefractivity, with type IIa index modulation of 2 x 10(-3). A Raman gain of 300 dB/(kmW) was determined at 1.12 microm. Only 3 m of such fibers is sufficient for constructing the 10-W Raman laser at 1.12 microm with a 13-W pump at 1.07 microm.

Broadband dispersion-compensating fiber for high-bit-rate transmission network use.

The optimum refractive-index profile and drawing temperature were investigated so as to maximize the figure of merit for multicladding broadband dispersion-compensating fibers. Based on the results of the investigation, the authors have fabricated a highly bend-resistant fiber with a 92.6-ps/(nm dB) figure of merit using the modified chemical-vapor deposition method for dispersion compensation in the 1.5-1.6-µm wavelength region. The manufactured dispersion compensator does not suffer bend loss at 1.55 µm for curvatures of radia of 6.3 and 3.3 cm, and it has a 1.1-dB/km bend loss at a curvature of radius of 1.6 cm. Codoping the germanium silicate core with fluorine diminishes the optical loss down to 0.70 dB/km at a 1.55-µm wavelength.