Coherent amplification of high-power laser radiation in multicore fibers from a rectangular array of cores

Ultra-broadband frequency shifting of laser pulses in a square multicore chalcogenide fiber

The process of Raman frequency shifting of out-of-phase laser pulses in fibers with a square configuration of weakly coupled cores having two or more zero dispersion wavelengths has been studied. The use of out-of-phase distributions in multicore fibers makes it possible to increase pulse energies by orders of magnitude in comparison with the case of single-core fibers. Conditions for the stability of out-of-phase laser pulses are determined and confirmed by numerical simulations. A configuration of chalcogenide multicore fiber with three zero dispersion wavelengths is proposed, allowing ultra-broadband frequency shifting of laser pulses up to 6.2 μm with an energy efficiency of more than 25%.

Stable few-cycle out-of-phase solitons in a rectangular multi-core fiber

Stable out-of-phase soliton-like distributions of the wave field with few-cycle durations are found in fibers consisting of a rectangular lattice of weakly coupled cores. The stability of found distributions for durations larger than the critical value is shown analytically and numerically. Numerical simulation shows that the radiation of linear dispersive waves rather quickly transforms shorter pulses to the found solution with critical duration.

Spectrum collapse in a 7-core Yb-doped fiber laser with an array of fs-inscribed fiber Bragg gratings

Femtosecond inscription of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) in each core of a cladding-pumped seven-core Yb-doped fiber enables efficient (≈70%) 1064-nm lasing in a robust all-fiber scheme with ≈33 W power, nearly the same for uncoupled and coupled cores. However, the output spectrum is quite different: without coupling, seven individual lines corresponding to the in-core FBG reflection spectra sum up into a broad (0.22 nm) total spectrum, whereas the multiline spectrum collapses into a single narrow line at strong coupling. The developed model shows that the coupled-core laser generates coherent superposition of supermodes at the wavelength corresponding to the geometric mean of the individual FBG spectra, whereas the generated laser line broadens, with a power (0.04-0.12 nm) like the single-core mode of a seven-times larger effective area.

Bending induced output power concentration in a core of a 4-core Yb-doped fiber laser

An all-fiber 4-core Yb-doped laser with a cavity formed by fiber Bragg gratings directly inscribed in each core with femtosecond laser pulses and 4% Fresnel reflection from the output fiber end face is demonstrated. It has been shown that the diameter of the active fiber winding significantly affects the power distribution between the cores, since it affects both the pump power distribution and the cross-coupling between the cores. In particular, with an active fiber winding diameter of 21 cm, the cores behave independently, and the power is distributed almost evenly over all cores. With a winding diameter of 6.5 cm, the lasing is achieved almost exclusively from one core, and a mechanism of that radiation concentration based on bending induced stress in an active multicore fiber is proposed which explains the experimental data. By analyzing the optical and radio-frequency spectra of the output laser radiation, additional details of the 4-core fiber lasing are revealed. In particular, a narrowband (several longitudinal modes) lasing with periodic linear sweeping of central wavelength in time is observed and characterized in the multicore fiber laser, for the first time to our knowledge. It is shown that crosstalk of longitudinal modes arising from different cores is greatly enhanced in the case of a strongly bent fiber.

Lenslet array-free efficient coherent combining of broadband pulses at the output of a multicore fiber with a square core grid

An efficient optical scheme for coherent combining of radiation from the output of a multicore fiber (MCF) with a square array of cores in the out-of-phase supermode is proposed. The scheme uses only simple optical elements and is suitable for an arbitrary number of MCF cores. In a proof-of-concept experiment broadband pulses transmitted through a 25-core fiber were combined with 81% efficiency and good beam quality. In numerical modeling a close to unity efficiency is obtained for a large number of cores. The proposed scheme can be used in a reverse direction for efficient beam splitting and launching the out-of-phase supermode into the MCF.

Controlled Excitation of Supermodes in a Multicore Fiber with a 5 × 5 Square Array of Strongly Coupled Cores

Coherent propagation of supermodes in a multicore fiber is promising for power scaling of fiber laser systems, eliminating the need for the active feedback system to maintain the phases between the channels. We studied the propagation of broadband pulsed radiation at a central wavelength of 1030 nm in a multicore fiber with coupled cores arranged in a square array. We designed and fabricated a silica multicore fiber with a 5 × 5 array of cores. For controllable excitation of a desired supermode, we developed a beam-forming system based on a spatial light modulator. We experimentally measured intensity and phase distributions of the supermodes, in particular, the in-phase and out-of-phase supermodes, which matched well the numerically calculated profiles. We obtained selective excitation and coherent propagation of broadband radiation with the content of the out-of-phase supermode of up to 90% maintained without active feedback. Using three-dimensional numerical modeling with allowance for a refractive index profile similar to those of the developed fiber, we demonstrated stable propagation of the out-of-phase supermode and collapse of the in-phase supermode at a high signal power.