High-power synchronously pumped femtosecond Raman fiber laser

Raman dissipative soliton source of ultrashort pulses in NIR-III spectral window

We present a novel fiber source of ultrashort pulses at the wavelength of 1660 nm based on the technique of external cavity Raman dissipative soliton generation. The output energy of the generated 30 ps chirped pulses is in the range of 0.5-3.6 nJ with a slope efficiency of 57%. Numerical simulations are in excellent agreement with the experimental results and the shape of the compressed pulses. The compressed pulses consist of a central part with a duration of 300 fs and a weak pedestal. Our results clearly demonstrate the potential to extend the spectral range of the Raman-assisted technique for generating ultra-short pulses to new frequency regions, including biomedical windows. This paves the way for the development of new dissipative soliton sources in these bands.

Numerical simulation of nonlinear optical gain modulation in a Raman fiber amplifier

Nonlinear optical gain modulation (NOGM) in a Raman fiber amplifier is numerically simulated with the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation. In the NOGM setup, a single frequency continuous wave seed laser is gain modulated into femtosecond pulses by an ultrafast pump, which can induce strong stimulated Raman scattering in a piece of single mode optical fiber. Different parameters regarding seed, pump and nonlinear gain medium (Raman fiber) are investigated in detail to find the best condition for higher Raman conversion efficiency. Simulated results reveal that the walk-off between pump and Raman pulses due to dispersion is one of the most important factors affecting the NOGM pulse's performance. Only when the speed of walk-off matches with the one of Raman conversion process can the conversion efficiency be optimized. This work offers a guild-line for the design of a fiber-based NOGM laser, which is able to produce wavelength-agile, femtosecond laser pulses with µJ-level pulse energy under more than 85% efficiency.

Cascaded nonlinear optical gain modulation for coherent femtosecond pulse generation

Nonlinear optical gain modulation (NOGM) is a method to generate high performance ultrafast pulses with wavelength versatility. Here we demonstrate coherent femtosecond Raman pulse generation through cascaded NOGM process experimentally. Two single-frequency seed lasers (1121 and 1178 nm) are gain-modulated by 117 nJ 1064 nm picosecond pulses in a Raman fiber amplifier. Second-order (1178 nm) Stokes pulses are generated, which have a pulse energy of 76 nJ (corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 65%) with a pulse duration of 621 fs (after compression). Dynamic evolution of both pump and cascaded Stokes pulses within the Raman amplifier are investigated by numerical simulations. The influences of pump pulse duration and energy are studied in detail numerically. Moreover, the simulations reveal that NOGM pulses with higher energy and shorter pulse duration could be obtained by limiting the impact of walk-off effect between pump and Raman pulses. This approach can offer a high energy and wavelength-agile ultrafast source for various applications such as optical metrology and biomedical imagining.

Femtosecond optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification in birefringent step-index fiber

We demonstrate an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier (OPCPA) that uses birefringence phase matching in a step-index single-mode optical fiber. The OPCPA is pumped with chirped pulses that can be compressed to sub-30-fs duration. The signal (idler) pulses are generated at 905 nm (1270 nm), have 26 nJ (20 nJ) pulse energy, and are compressible to 70 fs duration. The short compressed signal and idler pulse durations are enabled by the broad bandwidth of the pump pulses. Numerical simulations guiding the design are consistent with the experimental results and predict that scaling to higher pulse energies will be possible. Forgoing a photonic crystal fiber for phase-matching offers practical advantages, including allowing energy scaling with mode area.

Synchronously pumped Raman laser for simultaneous degenerate and nondegenerate two-photon microscopy

Two-photon fluorescence microscopy is a nonlinear imaging modality frequently used in deep-tissue imaging applications. A tunable-wavelength multicolor short-pulse source is usually required to excite fluorophores with a wide range of excitation wavelengths. This need is most typically met by solid-state lasers, which are bulky, expensive, and complicated systems. Here, we demonstrate a compact, robust fiber system that generates naturally synchronized femtosecond pulses at 1050 nm and 1200 nm by using a combination of gain-managed and Raman amplification. We image the brain of a mouse and view the blood vessels, neurons, and other cell-like structures using simultaneous degenerate and nondegenerate excitation.

All-fiber 1125 nm spectrally selected subnanosecond source

In this paper, we demonstrate the selection of radiation from the stimulated Raman scattered radiation, while using a spectral filter, based on a high-reflection fiber Bragg grating and an optical circulator. As a result, a stable pulsed signal was obtained at a wavelength of 1125 nm with a repetition rate of 1 MHz. The pulse duration and energy varied from 120 to 173 ps and 9 to 15 nJ, respectively, depending on the operating regimes of the master oscillator and amplifier.

Raman dissipative solitons generator near 1.3 mkm: limiting factors and further perspectives

Raman dissipative solitons (RDS) have been investigated numerically. It was found that the area of stable generation is bounded in terms of pump spectral bandwidth and pulse energy. Existing optimum is strongly affected by the net cavity dispersion. The spectral bandwidth of the generated RDS linearly depends on its energy and reaches more than 50 nm in the 5-meters long cavity. Developed numerical model reproduces all the effects observed experimentally. It predicts ability to generate high-quality pulses with energy up to 6 nJ compressible down to ∼100 fs duration. The work shows that RDS generation technique can produce high-energy ultrashort pulses at wavelengths not covered by typical active mediums.

Design guidelines for normal-dispersion fiber optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers

We theoretically investigate methods of controlling pulse generation in normal-dispersion fiber optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers. We focus on high-energy, ultrashort pulses at wavelengths widely separated from that of the pump, and find that within this regime, a number of simple properties describe the essential phase and gain dynamics. Of primary importance are the relationships between the chirps of the pump, seed, and parametric gain, which we theoretically predict and then experimentally validate. By properly arranging these parameters, the signal and idler waves can be widely customized to fulfill a remarkable range of application requirements, spanning from narrowband to few-cycle.

Raman dissipative soliton fiber laser mode locked by a nonlinear optical loop mirror

Raman dissipative soliton is generated in a mode locked polarization maintaining fiber laser with a nonlinear optical loop mirror. Ultrafast Raman laser with a repetition rate of 1.23 MHz is obtained. Signal to noise ratio of the radio frequency spectrum of the Raman dissipative soliton is as high as 85 dB. As the pump power increasing, the pulse energy and the spectral width increase, while the pulse width decreases. The highest pulse energy and lowest pulse width is 1.23 nJ and 63 ps, respectively. It is the first report of Raman dissipative soliton generation from an all polarization maintaining mode locked fiber laser to the best of our knowledge. This configuration provides a method to obtain linearly-polarized ultrafast laser at flexible wavelengths.

Raman-assisted broadband mode-locked laser

The pulse duration that is available from femtosecond mode-locked lasers is limited by the emission bandwidth of the laser crystals used. Considerable efforts have been made to broaden the emission gain bandwidth in these lasers over the past five decades. To break through this limitation, intracavity spectral broadening is required. Here, we propose a new spectral broadening method inside the mode-locked cavity based on use of stimulated Raman scattering and demonstrate significant pulse shortening using this method. We configured Kerr-lens mode-locked lasers based on Yb:CaGdAlO₄, Yb:KY(WO₄)₂ and Yb:Y₂O₃ materials and achieved significant spectral broadening that exceeds the emission bandwidth. The spectral broadening in the Yb:CaGdAlO₄ oscillator shortens the pulse duration to 22 fs, which is a one-third of the duration of our unbroadened mode-locked pulse. The results presented here indicate that Raman-assisted spectral broadening can break the limitations of the emission gain bandwidth and shorten the duration of pulses from femtosecond mode-locked lasers.

All-fiber dissipative soliton Raman laser based on phosphosilicate fiber

We propose and demonstrate an all-fiber, synchronously pumped Raman laser based on phosphosilicate fiber (P-doped fiber) for deep tissue multiphoton imaging. The laser operates in a dissipative soliton regime and produces 2.2 ps chirped pulses (compressible to 317 fs) with energy up to 9.2 nJ, 0.3 W average power and at 1240 nm center wavelength. We have also found a new cross-polarization Raman lasing operation that offers access to an important wavelength near 930 nm for calcium imaging.

Generation of Raman dissipative solitons near 1.3 microns in a phosphosilicate-fiber cavity

An external-cavity generation of powerful ultrashort pulses in an all-fiber scheme by using a new type of phosphosilicate polarization maintaining fiber is investigated. The phosphorus-related Stokes shifted Raman pulse near 1.3 microns is observed. Optimization of Stokes output spectrum depending on pump pulse duration (chirp), energy and output coupling ratio of the cavity is performed. As result, the output energy of highly-chirped pulses compressible to 570 fs reaches 1.6 nJ.

Partially coherent noise-like pulse generation in amplified spontaneous Raman emission

Amplified spontaneous Raman emission under picosecond pulse pumping is studied in detail both experimentally and numerically. It is found that the Raman output pulses are noise-like with partial coherence, which has important implications for various applications. Numerical simulation reproduces the finding well, along with the temporal and spectral dependence of the Raman pulse on the pump pulse energy. The numerical simulations of the temporal, spectral, and energy evolution of the Raman and pump pulse along the fiber gives insight on how to design such sources.

Raman dissipative soliton fiber laser pumped by an ASE source

The mode locking of a Raman fiber laser with an amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) pump source is investigated for performance improvement. Raman dissipative solitons with a compressed pulse duration of 1.05 ps at a repetition rate of 2.47 MHz are generated by utilizing nonlinear polarization rotation and all-fiber Lyot filter. A signal-to-noise ratio as high as 85 dB is measured in a radio-frequency spectrum, which suggests excellent temporal stability. Multiple-pulse operation with unique random static distribution is observed for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, at higher pump power in mode-locked Raman fiber lasers.

Spectral comb of highly chirped pulses generated via cascaded FWM of two frequency-shifted dissipative solitons

Dissipative solitons generated in normal-dispersion mode-locked lasers are stable localized coherent structures with a mostly linear frequency modulation (chirp). The soliton energy in fiber lasers is limited by the Raman effect, but implementation of the intracavity feedback at the Stokes-shifted wavelength enables synchronous generation of a coherent Raman dissipative soliton. Here we demonstrate a new approach for generating chirped pulses at new wavelengths by mixing in a highly-nonlinear fiber of these two frequency-shifted dissipative solitons, as well as cascaded generation of their clones forming in the spectral domain a comb of highly chirped pulses. We observed up to eight equidistant components in the interval of more than 300 nm, which demonstrate compressibility from ~10 ps to ~300 fs. This approach, being different from traditional frequency combs, can inspire new developments in fundamental science and applications such as few-cycle/arbitrary-waveform pulse synthesis, comb spectroscopy, coherent communications and bio-imaging.

Two-color multiphoton in vivo imaging with a femtosecond diamond Raman laser

Two-color multiphoton microscopy through wavelength mixing of synchronized lasers has been shown to increase the spectral window of excitable fluorophores without the need for wavelength tuning. However, most currently available dual output laser sources rely on the costly and complicated optical parametric generation approach. In this report, we detail a relatively simple and low cost diamond Raman laser pumped by a ytterbium fiber amplifier emitting at 1055 nm, which generates a first Stokes emission centered at 1240 nm with a pulse width of 100 fs. The two excitation wavelengths of 1055 and 1240 nm, along with the effective two-color excitation wavelength of 1140 nm, provide an almost complete coverage of fluorophores excitable within the range of 1000-1300 nm. When compared with 1055 nm excitation, two-color excitation at 1140 nm offers a 90% increase in signal for many far-red emitting fluorescent proteins (for example, tdKatushka2). We demonstrate multicolor imaging of tdKa-tushka2 and Hoechst 33342 via simultaneous two-color two-photon, and two-color three-photon microscopy in engineered 3D multicellular spheroids. We further discuss potential benefits and applications for two-color three-photon excitation. In addition, we show that this laser system is capable of in vivo imaging in mouse cortex to nearly 1 mm in depth with two-color excitation.

Two-Color, Two-Photon Imaging at Long Excitation Wavelengths Using a Diamond Raman Laser

We demonstrate that the second-Stokes output from a diamond Raman laser, pumped by a femtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser, can be used to efficiently excite red-emitting dyes by two-photon excitation at 1,080 nm and beyond. We image HeLa cells expressing red fluorescent protein, as well as dyes such as Texas Red and Mitotracker Red. We demonstrate the potential for simultaneous two-color, two-photon imaging with this laser by using the residual pump beam for excitation of a green-emitting dye. We demonstrate this for the combination of Alexa Fluor 488 and Alexa Fluor 568. Because the Raman laser extends the wavelength range of the Ti:Sapphire laser, resulting in a laser system tunable to 680-1,200 nm, it can be used for two-photon excitation of a large variety and combination of dyes.

Fifty-ps Raman fiber laser with hybrid active-passive mode locking

Actively mode locked Raman lasing in a ring PM-fiber cavity pumped by a linearly polarized Yb-doped fiber laser is studied. At co-propagating pumping, a stochastic pulse with duration defined by the AOM switching time (~15 ns) is generated with the round-trip period. At counter-propagating pumping, one or several sub-ns pulses (within the AOM switching envelope) are formed. It has been found that the formation of such stable multi-pulse structure is defined by the single-pulse energy limit (~20 nJ) set by the second-order Raman generation. Adding a NPE-based saturable absorber in the actively mode locked cavity, results in sufficient shortening of the generated pulses both in single- and multi-pulse regimes (down to 50 ps). A model is developed adequately describing the regimes.

Ultrafast second-Stokes diamond Raman laser

We report a synchronously-pumped femtosecond diamond Raman laser operating with a tunable second-Stokes output. Pumped using a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser at 840-910 nm with a duration of 165 fs, the second-Stokes wavelength was tuneable from 1082 - 1200 nm with sub-picosecond duration. Our results demonstrate potential for cascaded Raman conversion to extend the wavelength coverage of standard laser sources to new regions.

25.5 fs dissipative soliton diamond Raman laser

We have demonstrated a dissipative soliton diamond Raman laser that generates 25.5 fs pulses. Synchronously pumped by a 128 fs Ti:sapphire laser, the Raman cavity employed a pair of chirped mirrors to optimize the group delay dispersion, resulting in a Stokes field with 125 nm of spectral bandwidth from 840 to 965 nm. The Stokes pulse formation can be described as a dissipative soliton balancing self-phase modulation, normal dispersion, and gain due to stimulated Raman scattering (SRS).

Cascaded generation of coherent Raman dissipative solitons

The cascaded generation of a conventional dissipative soliton (at 1020 nm) together with Raman dissipative solitons of the first (1065 nm) and second (1115 nm) orders inside a common fiber laser cavity is demonstrated experimentally and numerically. With sinusoidal (soft) spectral filtering, the generated solitons are mutually coherent at a high degree and compressible down to 300 fs. Numerical simulation shows that an even higher degree of coherence and shorter pulses could be achieved with step-like (hard) spectral filtering. The approach can be extended toward a high-order coherent Raman dissipative soliton source offering numerous applications such as frequency comb generation, pulse synthesis, biomedical imaging, and the generation of a coherent mid-infrared supercontinuum.

All-fiberized synchronously pumped 1120 nm picosecond Raman laser with flexible output dynamics

A largely simplified and highly efficient all-fiber-based synchronously pumping scheme is proposed. The synchronization between pump light and the cavity round-trip can be achieved by adjusting the repetition rate of pumping light without the requirement of altering the cavity length. Based on this scheme, we achieved generating narrow linewidth highly efficient 1120 nm pulse directly from an all-fiber Raman cavity. By pump repetition rate detuning and pump duration adjustment, the duration of the 1120 nm pulse can be widely tuned from 18 ps to ~1 ns, and the repetition rate can be adjusted from 12.41 MHz to 99.28 MHz by harmonic pumping. Up to 4.3 W high power operation is verified based on this scheme. Owing to the compact all-fiber configuration, the conversion efficiency of the 1066 nm pump light to the 1120 nm Stokes light exceeds 80% and the overall conversion efficiency (976 nm-1066 nm-1120 nm) is as high as 53.7%. The nonlinear output dynamics of the Raman laser are comprehensively explored. Two distinct operation regimes are investigated and characterized.

Actively mode-locked Raman fiber laser

Active mode-locking of Raman fiber laser is experimentally investigated for the first time. An all fiber connected and polarization maintaining loop cavity of ~500 m long is pumped by a linearly polarized 1120 nm Yb fiber laser and modulated by an acousto-optic modulator. Stable 2 ns width pulse train at 1178 nm is obtained with modulator opening time of > 50 ns. At higher power, pulses become longer, and second order Raman Stokes could take place, which however can be suppressed by adjusting the open time and modulation frequency. Transient pulse evolution measurement confirms the absence of relaxation oscillation in Raman fiber laser. Tuning of repetition rate from 392 kHz to 31.37 MHz is obtained with harmonic mode locking.

Synchronously pumped picosecond all-fibre Raman laser based on phosphorus-doped silica fibre

Reported for the first time is picosecond-range pulse generation in an all-fibre Raman laser based on P₂O₅-doped silica fibre. Employment of phosphor-silicate fibre made possible single-cascade spectral transformation of pumping pulses at 1084 nm into 270-ps long Raman laser pulses at 1270 nm. The highest observed fraction of the Stokes component radiation at 1270 nm in the total output of the Raman laser amounted to 30%. The identified optimal duration of the input pulses at which the amount of Stokes component radiation in a ~16-m long phosphorus-based Raman fibre converter reaches its maximum was 140-180 ps.