Mutual influence of intermodal and fundamental four-wave mixing of 1.0 µm and 1.5 µm nanosecond pulses in a dual-wavelength fiber laser.

We introduce the experimental and theoretical investigation of the mutual influence of two four-wave mixing (FWM) processes during the propagation of high-power nanosecond pulses at 1030 nm and 1562 nm wavelengths in the few-mode optical fiber. Both fundamental mode FWM (FM FWM) of laser pulses at these wavelengths, and intermodal FWM (IM FWM) of 1030 nm pulses, have common anti-Stokes components at 1003 nm wavelength. This leads to the mutual influence of FWM effects. As a result, the decrease of optical power of the fundamental mode is observed at both 1030 nm and 1562 nm wavelengths. The method for the suppression of such an adverse effect is proposed. It is based on the attenuation of the 1030 nm higher LP11 mode at the few-mode optical fiber input.

Generating high-quality beam in a multimode LD-pumped all-fiber Raman laser.

We report on the first demonstration of an all-fiber CW Raman laser based on a multimode graded-index fiber directly pumped by multimode fiber-coupled laser diodes. A joint action of Raman clean-up effect and mode-selection properties of special fiber Bragg gratings inscribed in the central part of the graded-index fiber core, results in high-efficiency conversion of a multimode (M2~26) pump at 915 nm into a high-quality (M2~2.6) output beam at 954 nm. About 50 W output power has been obtained with slope efficiency of 67%. The proposed development and integration of key multimode fiber technologies opens the door to new type of LD-pumped high-power high-beam-quality fiber lasers that may operate at almost any wavelength defined by available LDs.

Influence of a backward reflection on low-threshold mode instability in Yb3+-doped few-mode fiber amplifiers.

An influence of backward reflection on spatio-temporal instability of the fundamental mode in Yb3+-doped few-mode polarization maintaining fiber amplifiers with a core diameter of 10 µm was studied experimentally and theoretically. The mode instability threshold was registered to decrease dramatically in the presence of a backward reflection of the signal from the output fiber end; an increase of the signal bandwidth or input power resulted in the increase of the threshold. Numerical simulation revealed a self-consistent growth of the higher-order mode LP11 and a traveling index grating accompanying the population grating induced by the mode interference field (due to different polarizability of the excited and unexcited Yb3+ ions). The presence of the backward-propagating wave resulted in four-wave mixing on the common index grating induced by the interference field of pairs of the fundamental LP01 and LP11 modes.

Low-threshold mode instability in Yb3+-doped few-mode fiber amplifiers.

Spatio-temporal instability of the fundamental mode in Yb(3+)-doped few-mode PM fiber amplifiers with a core diameter of 8.5 µm was registered at 2-30 Watts pump power. Both experimental and theoretical analysis revealed the nonlinear power transformation of the LP(01) fundamental mode into high-order modes. Numerical simulation revealed self-consistent growth of the higher-order mode and traveling electronic index grating accompanying the population grating induced by the mode interference field (due to different polarizability of the excited and unexcited Yb(3+) ions). Experimental results and numerical calculations showed the increase of the instability threshold along with an increase of the signal frequency bandwidth.

Third harmonic frequency generation by type-I critically phase-matched LiB3O5 crystal by means of optically active quartz crystal.

We present a method of third harmonic generation at 355 nm by frequency mixing of fundamental and second harmonic radiation of an ytterbium nanosecond pulsed all-fiber laser in a type-I phase-matched LiB(3)O(5) (LBO) crystal where originally orthogonal polarization planes of the fundamental and second harmonic beams are aligned by an optically active quartz crystal. 8 W of ultraviolet light at 355 nm were achieved with 40% conversion efficiency from 1064 nm radiation. The conversion efficiency obtained in a type-I phase-matched LBO THG crystal was 1.6 times higher than the one achieved in a type-II LBO crystal at similar experimental conditions. In comparison to half-wave plates traditionally used for polarization alignment the optically active quartz crystal has much lower temperature dependence and requires simpler optical alignment.