1700 nm dispersion managed mode-locked bismuth fiber laser.

We demonstrate the first 1.7 µm bismuth-doped fiber laser generating ultrashort pulses via passive mode-locking. Pulse operation has been achieved for both anomalous and normal dispersion of the laser cavity owing to broadband characteristics of carbon nanotube saturable absorber. The laser delivered 1.65 ps pulses in net anomalous dispersion regime. In normal dispersion regime, the laser delivered 14 ps pulses which could be compressed to 1.2 ps using external fiber compressor.

750 nm 1.5 W frequency-doubled semiconductor disk laser with a 44 nm tuning range.

We demonstrate 1.5 W of output power at the wavelength of 750 nm by intracavity frequency doubling a wafer-fused semiconductor disk laser diode-pumped at 980 nm. An optical-to-optical efficiency of 8.3% was achieved using a bismuth borate crystal. The wavelength of the doubled emission could be tuned from 720 to 764 nm with an intracavity birefringent plate. The beam quality parameter M2 of the laser output was measured to be below 1.5 at all pump powers. The laser is a promising tool for biomedical applications that can take advantage of the large penetration depth of light in tissue in the 700-800 nm spectral range.

All-bismuth fiber system for femtosecond pulse generation, compression, and energy scaling.

We demonstrate a 1.44-µm bismuth-doped master oscillator-power amplifier (MOPA) system for generating femtosecond pulses. The cavity of master oscillator comprises dispersion-compensating fiber for detuning the total dispersion to the normal regime and a carbon nanotube saturable absorber for triggering the mode-locked operation. The described multifunction bismuth fiber amplifier performs energy scaling, large spectral broadening, and pulse compression. The results show that the large chirp superimposed on the pulses in the bismuth oscillator with normal dispersion can be effectively suppressed in a subsequent bismuth power amplifier with anomalous dispersion and high nonlinearity, resulting in high-quality pulses with record duration of 240 fs. An all-fiber design provides a practical solution that avoids the need for supplementary pulse stretching and compression.

High-power flip-chip semiconductor disk laser in the 1.3 µm wavelength band.

We present 6.1 W of output power from a flip-chip semiconductor disk laser (SDL) emitting in the 1.3 µm wavelength region. This is the first demonstration of a flip-chip SDL in this wavelength range with output powers that are comparable to those obtained with intracavity diamond heat spreaders. The flip-chip configuration circumvents the optical distortions and losses that the intracavity diamond heat spreaders can introduce into the laser cavity. This is essential for several key applications of SDLs.

A 1.33 µm picosecond pulse generator based on semiconductor disk mode-locked laser and bismuth fiber amplifier.

We demonstrate that a combination of ultrafast wafer bonded semiconductor disk laser and a bismuth-doped fiber amplifier provides an attractive design for high power 1.33 µm tandem hybrid systems. Over 0.5 W of average output power was achieved at a repetition rate of 827 MHz that corresponds to a pulse energy of 0.62 nJ.

Role of cavity dispersion on soliton grouping in a fiber lasers.

The effect of cavity dispersion on the dynamics of bound soliton states in a fiber laser has been studied both experimentally and numerically. The mode-locking mechanism in a laser was provided by the frequency-shifted feedback to avoid the influence of soliton attraction that could be induced by saturable absorption. It was found that phase-locked bound solitons are stable for dispersion below the "threshold" value of 0.2 ps/nm which depends on the other cavity parameters. For higher dispersion the bound states collapse resulting in the multiple weakly-interacting soliton regime, circulating randomly within the cavity.

High performance wafer-fused semiconductor disk lasers emitting in the 1300 nm waveband.

We report for the first time on the performance of 1300 nm waveband semiconductor disc lasers (SDLs) with wafer fused gain mirrors that implement intracavity diamond and flip-chip heat dissipation schemes based on the same gain material. With a new type of gain mirror structure, maximum output power values reach 7.1 W with intracavity diamond gain mirrors and 5.6 W with flip-chip gain mirrors, using a pump spot diameter of 300 µm, exhibiting a beam quality factor M(2)< 1.25 in the full operation range. These results confirm previously published theoretical modeling of these types of SDLs.

1.32 µm mode-locked bismuth-doped fiber laser operating in anomalous and normal dispersion regimes.

We demonstrate a 1.32 µm mode-locked bismuth fiber laser operating in both anomalous and normal dispersion regimes. In anomalous dispersion regime, achieved by using 13 nm/cm linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating, the laser exhibits multiple soliton operation with pulse duration of 2.51 ps. With the net normal cavity dispersion, the single-pulse operation with higher power has been obtained by avoiding the limitations generic to conservative soliton systems.

2-µm Tm:Lu2O3 ceramic disk laser intracavity-pumped by a semiconductor disk laser.

A proof-of-principle study of a 1.97-µm Tm:Lu2O3 ceramic disk laser, intracavity pumped by a 1.2-µm semiconductor disk laser, is presented. The demonstrated concept allows for improved pump absorption and takes advantage of the broad wavelength coverage provided by semiconductor disk laser technology. For thin disk lasers the small thickness of the gain element typically leads to inefficient pump light absorption. This problem is usually solved by using a complex multi-pass pump arrangement. In this study we address this challenge with a new laser concept of an intracavity pumped ceramic thin disk laser. The output power at 1.97 µm was limited to 250 mW due to heat spreader-less mounting scheme of the ceramic gain disk.

1.56 µm 1 watt single frequency semiconductor disk laser.

A single frequency wafer-fused semiconductor disk laser at 1.56 µm with 1 watt of output power and a coherence length over 5 km in fiber is demonstrated. The result represents the highest output power reported for a narrow-line semiconductor disk laser operating at this spectral range. The study shows the promising potential of the wafer fusion technique for power scaling of single frequency vertical-cavity lasers emitting in the 1.3-1.6 µm range.

Mode evolution in long tapered fibers with high tapering ratio.

We have experimentally studied fundamental mode propagation in few meters long, adiabatically tapered step-index fibers with high numerical aperture, core diameter up to 117 µm (V = 38) and tapering ratio up to 18. The single fundamental mode propagation was confirmed by several techniques that reveal no signature of higher-order mode excitation. It can be, therefore, concluded that adiabatic tapering is a powerful method for selective excitation of the fundamental mode in highly multimode large-mode-area fibers. Annular near field distortion observed for large output core diameters was attributed to built-in stress due to thermal expansion mismatch between core and cladding materials. The mechanical stress could be avoided by an appropriate technique of fiber preform fabrication and drawing, which would prevent the mode field deformation and lead to reliable diffraction-limited fundamental mode guiding for very large core diameters.

Principles and performance of tapered fiber lasers: from uniform to flared geometry.

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.

1 W at 785 nm from a frequency-doubled wafer-fused semiconductor disk laser.

We demonstrate an optically pumped semiconductor disk laser operating at 1580 nm with 4.6 W of output power, which represents the highest output power reported from this type of laser. 1 W of output power at 785 nm with nearly diffraction-limited beam has been achieved from this laser through intracavity frequency doubling, which offers an attractive alternative to Ti:sapphire lasers and laser diodes in a number of applications, e.g., in spectroscopy, atomic cooling and biophotonics.

Multifunctional free-standing single-walled carbon nanotube films.

We report a simple and rapid method to prepare multifunctional free-standing single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films with variable thicknesses ranging from a submonolayer to a few micrometers having outstanding properties for a broad range of exceptionally performing devices. We have fabricated state-of-the-art key components from the same single component multifunctional SWCNT material for several high-impact application areas: high efficiency nanoparticle filters with a figure of merit of 147 Pa(-1), transparent and conductive electrodes with a sheet resistance of 84 Ω/◻ and a transmittance of 90%, electrochemical sensors with extremely low detection limits below 100 nM, and polymer-free saturable absorbers for ultrafast femtosecond lasers. Furthermore, the films are demonstrated as the main components in gas flowmeters, gas heaters, and transparent thermoacoustic loudspeakers.

Dissipative dispersion-managed soliton 2 µm thulium/holmium fiber laser.

We report a first dissipative dispersive-managed soliton fiber laser operating at 2 µm. The cavity comprised of all-anomalous-dispersion fiber employs chirped fiber Bragg grating, which ensures net-normal cavity dispersion and semiconductor saturable absorber for mode-locking.

Dispersion compensation technologies for femtosecond fiber system.

Developed highly chirped broadband fiber Bragg gratings and suspended-core fibers are shown to offer flexible dispersion management and allow for femtosecond oscillators with transform-limited pulse quality. Such dispersion compensators could have potential, particularly for all-fiber chirped-pulse amplification systems.

Actively Q-switched 1.6-mJ tapered double-clad ytterbium-doped fiber laser.

We have demonstrated an actively Q-switched tapered double-clad fiber laser capable of single-shot generation of 1.6-mJ, 64-ns pulses. The active medium based on tapered double-clad fiber is shown to exhibit a reduced level of amplified spontaneous emission which allows for high-energy pulse extraction at extremely low repetition rates.

3 W of 650 nm red emission by frequency doubling of wafer-fused semiconductor disk laser.

3 W at genuine red wavelength of 650 nm has been achieved from a semiconductor disk laser by frequency doubling. An InP based active medium was fused with a GaAs/AlGaAs distributed Bragg reflector resulting in an integrated monolithic gain mirror. 6.6 W of output power at the fundamental wavelength of 1.3 µm represents the best achievement reported to date for this type of lasers.

Highly efficient 750 W tapered double-clad ytterbium fiber laser.

The results of theoretical and experimental studies of active tapered double-clad fibers, intending the optimization of its imperative parameters--tapering ratio, longitudinal profile, core/cladding diameters ratio, are presented. Using a refined taper geometry we have demonstrated power scaling of a ytterbium fiber laser pumped by low-brightness, cost-effective laser diodes up to 750 W, with 80% efficiency.

2.5 W orange power by frequency conversion from a dual-gain quantum-dot disk laser.

We report a disk laser using two quantum-dot semiconductor gain elements, resulting in what we believe is the first demonstration of intracavity frequency conversion with these active media. Output power of 6 W has been obtained in dual-gain configuration at a wavelength of 1180 nm, while single-gain lasers produced up to 3 and 4 W individually, limited by thermal rollover in the output characteristics. The gain enhancement achieved with two active elements comprising 39 layers of Stranski-Krastanov InGaAs quantum dots allows for intracavity frequency doubling delivering 2.5 W of orange radiation.