Dispersive Fourier transform based dual-comb ranging.

Laser-based light detection and ranging (LIDAR) offers a powerful tool to real-timely map spatial information with exceptional accuracy and owns various applications ranging from industrial manufacturing, and remote sensing, to airborne and in-vehicle missions. Over the past two decades, the rapid advancements of optical frequency combs have ushered in a new era for LIDAR, promoting measurement precision to quantum noise limited level. For comb LIDAR systems, to further improve the comprehensive performances and reconcile inherent conflicts between speed, accuracy, and ambiguity range, innovative demodulation strategies become crucial. Here we report a dispersive Fourier transform (DFT) based LIDAR method utilizing phase-locked Vernier dual soliton laser combs. We demonstrate that after in-line pulse stretching, the delay of the flying pulses can be identified via the DFT-based spectral interferometry instead of temporal interferometry or pulse reconstruction. This enables absolute distance measurements with precision starting from 262 nm in single shot, to 2.8 nm after averaging 1.5 ms, in a non-ambiguity range over 1.7 km. Furthermore, our DFT-based LIDAR method distinctly demonstrates an ability to completely eliminate dead zones. Such an integration of frequency-resolved ultrafast analysis and dual-comb ranging technology may pave a way for the design of future LIDAR systems.

Soliton Microcombs Multiplexing Using Intracavity-Stimulated Brillouin Lasers.

Solitons in microresonators have spurred intriguing nonlinear optical physics and photonic applications. Here, by combining Kerr and Brillouin nonlinearities in an over-modal microcavity, we demonstrate spatial multiplexing of soliton microcombs under a single external laser pumping operation. This demonstration offers an ideal scheme to realize highly coherent dual-comb sources in a compact, low-cost and energy-efficient manner, with uniquely low beating noise. Moreover, by selecting the dual-comb modes, the repetition rate difference of a dual-comb pair could be flexibly switched, ranging from 8.5 to 212 MHz. Beyond dual-comb, the high-density mode geometry allows the cascaded Brillouin lasers, driving the co-generation of up to 5 space-multiplexing frequency combs in distinct mode families. This Letter offers a novel physics paradigm for comb interferometry and provides a widely appropriate tool for versatile applications such as comb metrology, spectroscopy, and ranging.

Periodic transition between two evolving soliton pulsation states in an Yb-doped fiber laser.

Due to the fascinating features, pulsating solitons attract much attention in the field of nonlinear soliton dynamics and ultrafast lasers. So far, most of the investigations on pulsating soliton are conducted in Er-doped fiber lasers. In this work, we reported the periodic transition between two evolving pulsating soliton states in an Yb-doped fiber laser. By using the real-time measurement techniques, the spectral and temporal characteristics of this transition state were investigated. Two evolving soliton pulsation states have similar evolution process, i.e., from pulsating towards quasi-stable mode-locked states. However, the details of the two processes are different, such as the pulse energy levels, pulsating modulation depths, duration of quasi-stable mode-locked states. The transition between two evolving soliton pulsation states could be attributed to the interaction of the polarizer and the varying polarization states of the pulse inside the laser cavity. The experimental results will contribute to the further understanding of soliton pulsating dynamics in dissipative optical systems.

High energy and low noise soliton fiber laser comb based on nonlinear merging of Kelly sidebands.

Optical solitons in mode-locked laser cavities with dispersion-nonlinearity interaction, delivers pulses of light that retain their shape. Due to the nature of discretely distributed dispersion and nonlinearity, optical solitons can emit Kelly-sidebands via the frequency coupling of soliton and dispersive waves. In this paper, we generate a high-energy femtosecond laser comb, by using the intracavity Kelly radiations and 3rd order nonlinearities. By increasing the intracavity power, the soliton envelop and the Kelly-sidebands merge together via four-wave-mixing, forming a super-continuum spectrum, obtaining 3.18 nJ pulse energy. A supercontinuum span covering from 1100 nm to 2300 nm for further self-referenced f-2f stabilization can be directly achieved by using an amplification-free external supercontinuum technique. Our finding not only demonstrates a non-trivial frequency-time evolution based on 'erbium + χ(3)' nonlinear gains, but also offers a new opportunity to develop practically compact fiber frequency combs for frequency metrology or spectroscopy.

Nonlinear co-generation of graphene plasmons for optoelectronic logic operations.

Surface plasmons in graphene provide a compelling strategy for advanced photonic technologies thanks to their tight confinement, fast response and tunability. Recent advances in the field of all-optical generation of graphene's plasmons in planar waveguides offer a promising method for high-speed signal processing in nanoscale integrated optoelectronic devices. Here, we use two counter propagating frequency combs with temporally synchronized pulses to demonstrate deterministic all-optical generation and electrical control of multiple plasmon polaritons, excited via difference frequency generation (DFG). Electrical tuning of a hybrid graphene-fibre device offers a precise control over the DFG phase-matching, leading to tunable responses of the graphene's plasmons at different frequencies across a broadband (0 ~ 50 THz) and provides a powerful tool for high-speed logic operations. Our results offer insights for plasmonics on hybrid photonic devices based on layered materials and pave the way to high-speed integrated optoelectronic computing circuits.

Autosetting soliton pulsation in a fiber laser by an improved depth-first search algorithm.

Soliton pulsation is one of the most fascinating phenomena in ultrafast fiber lasers, owing to its rich nonlinear dynamics and potential generation of high peak power pulse. However, it is still a challenge to efficiently search for pulsating soliton in fiber lasers because it requires a fine setting of laser cavity parameters. Here, we report the autosetting soliton pulsation in a passively mode-locked fiber laser. The parameters of electronic polarization controller are intelligently adjusted to search for pulsating soliton state by the improved depth-first search algorithm. Moreover, the intensity modulation depth of pulsating soliton could be flexibly controlled. These findings indicate that the intelligent control of a fiber laser is an effective way to explore on-demand soliton dynamics and is also beneficial to the optimization of ultrafast laser performance.

Laser emission from flash ignition of Zr/Al nanoparticles.

We report the first laser emission from flash ignition of Zr/Al nanoparticles with the addition of strong oxidizer KClO4 using Nd: YAG as a laser medium. The mixture Zr/Al/Kp-45 (mass ratio = 33%Zr: 33%Al: 34%KClO4) has the highest brightness temperature Tb = 4615 K and the adiabatic flame temperature Tf = 4194 K with the duration of 20 ms. At 1064 nm we measured a maximum output energy of 702.5 mJ with the duration of nearly 10 ms by using only 100 mg mixture with an output coupler (transmission T = 10%). Further optimizing the concentration cavity and increasing the mixture content will yield much higher efficiency and output energy.

Low-loss polarization-maintaining THz photonic crystal fiber with a triple-hole core.

In this paper, we report a novel low-loss and polarization-maintaining terahertz (THz) photonic crystal fiber with a triple-hole unit inside the core. The properties of birefringence, effective material loss, confinement loss, bending loss, power fraction, dispersion, and single-mode condition are analyzed in detail by using the finite element methods. Simulation results show that high birefringence at a level of 10-2 can be achieved by simply reducing the diameter of one air hole of the triple-hole core. And low effective material loss down to 30% of its bulk material loss can be achieved in our interested band around 3 THz, due to the high core porosity of the designed triple-hole core. Moreover, this design dramatically facilitates the fabrication process, because of the typical hexagonal structure with all circular air holes and avoiding the troublesome multiple sub-wavelength air holes in the core area. The results reveal that this proposal has potential for efficient THz transmission and other functional applications.

High-repetition-rate all-fiber femtosecond laser with an optical integrated component.

We demonstrate a high-repetition-rate all-fiber soliton pulse laser mode-locked by the nonlinear polarization rotation technique. The laser cavity is effectively shortened by incorporating an optical integrated component possessing the hybrid functions of a polarization-dependent isolator, a wavelength-division multiplexer, and an output coupler. Resultant output soliton pulses have a fundamental repetition rate of 384 MHz, a 3-dB spectral bandwidth of 25.2 nm, and a dechirped pulse duration of 115 fs. By using an external power amplification and pulse recompression system, the average output power of the laser is boosted to 207 mW. The amplified pulses have a 2.33-ps duration, which is recompressed to 340 fs. Numerical simulations reproduce the generation of high-repetition-rate soliton pulses in the fiber laser. Such a simple and low-cost high-repetition-rate fiber laser is a potential laser source for various practical applications.

Reaction ion etching process for improving laser damage resistance of fused silica optical surface.

Laser induced damage of fused silica optics occurs primarily on optical surface or subsurface resulting from various defects produced during polishing/grinding process. Many new kinds of surface treatment processes are explored to remove or control the defects on fused silica surface. In this study, we report a new application of reaction ion etching (RIE)-based surface treatment process for manufacture of high quality fused silica optics. The influence of RIE processes on laser damage resistance as a function of etching depth and the evolution of typical defects which are associated with laser damage performance were investigated. The results show that the impurity element defects and subsurface damage on the samples surface were efficiently removed and prevented. Pure silica surface with relatively single-stable stoichiometry and low carbon atomic concentration was created during the etching. The laser damage resistance of the etched samples increased dramatically. The increase of roughness and ODC point defect with deeper etching are believed to be the main factors to limit further increase of the damage resistance of fused silica. The study is expected to contribute to the development of fused silica optics with high resistance to laser induced degradation in the future.

Compact noise-like pulse fiber laser and its application for supercontinuum generation in highly nonlinear fiber.

We report on supercontinuum generation in a highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) pumped by noise-like pulses (NLPs) emitted from a compact fiber ring laser. The compact erbium-doped fiber ring laser is constructed by using an optical integrated component and mode-locked by the nonlinear polarization rotation technique. The laser produces NLPs with a 3-dB spectral bandwidth of 60.2 nm, repetition rate of 9.36 MHz, and pulse energy of 2.8 nJ. Numerical simulations reproduce the generation of NLPs in the experiment. The NLPs are then launched into a 110-m-long HNLF and a supercontinuum with a 20-dB spectral width over 500 nm is obtained. Such a simple and inexpensive supercontinuum-generation system is a potential alternative for various practical applications.

Ultrafast erbium-doped fiber laser mode-locked by a CVD-grown molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) saturable absorber.

We demonstrate an erbium-doped fiber laser passively mode-locked by a multilayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS(2)) saturable absorber (SA). The multilayer MoS(2) is prepared by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method and transferred onto the end-face of a fiber connector. Taking advantage of the excellent saturable absorption of the fabricated MoS(2)-based SA, stable mode locking is obtained at a pump threshold of 31 mW. Resultant output soliton pulses have central wavelength, spectral width, pulse duration, and repetition rate of 1568.9 nm, 2.6 nm, 1.28 ps, and 8.288 MHz, respectively. The experimental results show that multilayer MoS(2) is a promising material for ultrafast laser systems.