0000000000643235

AUTHOR

I. L. Villegas

Mode-locked Yb-doped all-fiber laser based on in-fiber acoustooptic modulation

We show what we believe is the first demonstration of an ytterbium-doped strictly all-fiber active mode-locking laser. The active control of the laser is based on in-fiber amplitude modulation at 11 MHz, which is achieved by using an all-fiber acoustooptic superlattice modulator driven by standing acoustic waves. In our experiments, the laser was operated at 1091.3 nm and had two stable regimes producing either a train of mode-locked single pulses or a train of pulse pairs. Best results for the mode-locked train of single pulses were 740 ps of time width and 26 mW of average power, at a pump power of 480 mW.

research product

All-Optical Tuning of WGMs in Microspheres Made of Er/Yb Codoped Optical Fiber

All-optical, pump-assisted, thermal tuning of high-Q whispering-gallery mode (WGM) resonances of microspheres is demonstrated. The microspheres were made of an Er/Yb codoped single-mode silica optical fiber. The pump light absorbed by the active ions heats the microsphere, which leads to the shift of the resonances. A tuning range in excess of 2 nm in the C-band is achieved. The presence of active ions is restricted to the core of the microsphere. The WGM fields, which are confined in a region close to the surface of the microsphere, do not overlap with the dopant. Thus, high-Q resonances (>10 7 ) are achieved, as in pure silica microspheres, even at optical wavelengths within the absorptio…

research product

Measurement of temperature profile induced by the optical signal in fiber Bragg gratings using whispering-gallery modes.

The temperature sensitivity of whispering-gallery mode resonances of an optical fiber is exploited to measure thermal effects induced by an optical signal of moderate power along a fiber Bragg gating (FBG). The UV inscription technique used for the fabrication of FBG introduces a permanent change in the absorption coefficient of the fiber; thus, thermal effects are expected. The resonance wavelength shift of whispering-gallery modes provides information about the temperature change in the fiber, point to point. We present the experimental characterization of the thermal effects in FBG as a function of the wavelength and the power of the launched optical signal through the grating.

research product