Thulium-doped fiber lasers working in the 2-μm wavelength range are particularly important because they belong to the group of so-called eye-safe lasers. Although their efficiencies are getting closer to the efficiencies of the matured ytterbium fiber lasers, the record output power of thulium fiber lasers is still orders of magnitude below its potential, looking for technology breakthroughs that would overcome the current limitations. Novel fiber designs, e.g., using structured core of the active fiber, and new ways of mitigating thermal and temperature effects may enable further increase of the output power. In the paper, we will review our proof-of-concept experiment of the pedestal-free thulium doped silica fiber with a large nanostructured core, where the initial preforms of the active medium were made by the nanoparticle-doping and MCVD methods. Next, measurement of temperature-dependent thulium cross sections will be reviewed as well as application of these cross-section spectra for prediction of thulium fiber laser operation using recently derived closed form expressions for the laser threshold and slope efficiency under pumping at 790 nm by the two-for-one process.
An analytical model of holmium-doped fiber laser is proposed and verified experimentally. The model is based on a two-level model, assumes only transitions between levels 5I8 and 5I7 of the Ho3+ ion in silica, and enables to express the threshold pump power and laser slope efficiency in a closed form. The effect of intrinsic losses is modeled by a physically motivated semi-empirical formula. The model is compared with a numerical one and its application limits are discussed.
Thulium-doped fiber lasers (TDFL) emitting around 2 µm receive growing attention. The Tm3+ ions may be pumped around 0.8 µm into the 3H4 level, but the maximum achievable efficiency in theory reaches only 40 %. Much higher efficiencies are achievable in practice thanks to the cross-relaxation (CR) effect, also called „2-for-1“ process. To trigger the CR effect, very high contents of Tm3+ ions are required, which places significant requirements on the material design; high concentrations of Al2O3 are typically needed to prevent concentration quenching in highly-doped fibers.
MCVD method combined with nanoparticle doping is one of the most perspective methods for the preparation of highly doped alumino-silicate fibers. In this contribution, a large set of thulium-doped fibers was prepared by various methods. The fibers were analyzed with emphasis on the fluorescence lifetime and laser performance, and the nanoparticle doping method was evaluated in comparison with conventional fabrication methods.
Thulium fiber amplifiers (TDFA) operating in the spectral region extending the standard telecom C- and L- bands should increase the robustness of telecom infrastructure. We present the development and achieved experimental results for a TDFA applicable over a broad spectral range from 1650 nm to 2020 nm.
While the amplifier optimized for small-signal amplification in the spectral range 1820-2020 nm is based on a thulium-doped silica-based optical fiber with a standard refractive index profile, the amplifier optimized for amplification in the range 1650-1820 nm is based on a thulium-doped optical fiber with a specially tailored internal waveguide structure effectively suppressing guided modes at the longer wavelengths of the thulium emission band and simultaneously promoting mode propagation at the shorter wavelengths. We present the values of the output properties for both types of amplifiers, such as small-signal gain or noise figure.
Nanostructured or “pixelated” core fibers have attracted great attention thanks to possible design of optical fibers with almost arbitrary refractive index profile, including gradient index nanostructured core, large mode area fibers for high power applications or fiberized free-form optical components. A short review of applications of (nano)structured core active fibers in fiber lasers will be given followed by detailed study of the effect of heat treatment and fiber drawing on the luminescence properties important for fiber laser performance; and application of the erbium- and ytterbium structured-core active fibers in fiber lasers that operate simultaneously at 1 and 1.55 micrometer wavelengths.
Recent evolution in nanoscience and nanotechnologies has brought novel possibilities in the development of optical fibers. Dual-wavelength fiber lasers have attracted scientific attention due to their prospective applications in fields including next-generation optical fiber communication, ranging systems, and spectroscopy. Nanostructurization has shown itself as a suitable method for preparing fiber lasers operating simultaneously at dual wavelengths. We report on the design of nanostructured or “pixelated” core fabricated by assembling erbium- and ytterbium elements, as well as on the optimization of the average concentration of rare earth elements using numerical modeling. Preliminary experimental results of erbium- and ytterbium-doped nanostructured-core fiber will be presented.
For applications in fiber lasers and amplifiers, silica glass remains a perspective host for rare-earth ions thanks to favorable material properties. However, the luminescence of RE ions is hindered by the high phonon energy of silica lattice and low solubility of RE ions, which cause luminescence quenching. Pure silica thus needs to be co-doped with suitable additives such as Al2O3, which form a beneficial low-phonon environment and increase the solubility of RE ions. Luminescence lifetime is one of the most important parameters to determine the suitability of RE-doped silica fibers for laser operation. Optical fibers with higher luminescence lifetime typically exhibit higher values of slope efficiency and lower laser threshold. It was previously shown that the environment of Tm3+, Ho3+ or Yb3+ ions and luminescence lifetime may be significantly affected by fabrication processing at high temperatures, probably due to the chemical changes occurring in the matrix. However, the effect of fabrication processing on the spectroscopic properties of another important RE ion, Er3+, is different to the other ions and remains unclear. In this contribution, we present a study on the fluorescence lifetime of a highly-doped optical fiber prepared by the MCVD method combined with nanoparticle-doping. The fluorescence lifetime of Er3+ was studied in several stages of fabrication processing. The influence of fabrication processing on the fluorescence lifetime of Er3+ ions was analyzed and discussed.
Holmium-doped aluminosilicate fibers are frequently used in holmium-doped fiber lasers (HDFL) thanks to their strong emission at 2 μm. Fluorescence lifetime is one of the most important parameters to determine the suitability of holmium doped optical fibers for use in fiber lasers. One of the potential mechanisms for the shortening of fluorescence lifetime is the diffusion of RE ions and Al2O3 at high temperatures during the fiber preparation process. We have prepared a Ho-doped aluminosilicate optical fiber preform using MCVD combined with nanoparticle doping. The prepared preform was subjected to various fabrication processes such as preform elongation, fiber drawing or additional heat treatment, the fluorescence lifetime was measured in all stages of the experiment and its dependency on the fabrication process was discussed. The original preform exhibited a long fluorescence lifetime of 1.433 ms. Gradual application of fiber fabrication processes such as preform elongation or fiber drawing resulted in a decline of fluorescence lifetime down to 1.174 ms in the case of overcladded optical fiber. The decrease of fluorescence lifetime was ascribed to the diffusion of dopants and the changes in the Ho3+ ion environment, which increased the rate of multiphonon relaxation, as well as clustering of holmium ions, which increased concentration quenching.
In this paper, we investigate the influence of various nanostructured-core fiber fabrication processes, such as preform elongation or fiber drawing, on the fluorescence lifetime of Yb3+ ions. The optical fiber preform was prepared using Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition (MCVD) method combined with Al2O3 nanoparticle doping. The optical fiber preform was subjected to various processing treatments involving heat and mechanical stresses, i.e. preform elongation and fiber drawing, and the fluorescence lifetime was measured in all stages of fiber fabrication, i.e. original preform, elongated preform (cane), fiber and overcladded fiber. It was found that the time-resolved photoluminescence properties of Yb3+ ions in silica glass are strongly dependent on the processing of the material. The fluorescence lifetime of the 2F5/2 level of Yb3+ ions decreased with the heat and mechanical treatment, which was explained by the break-up of Al2O3 nanoparticles, diffusion of dopants and changes in the Yb3+ phonon environment as well as clustering of the Yb3+ ions. The fiber drawing exhibited a stronger effect compared to preform elongation which was ascribed to the high rate of cooling and mechanical stresses during the drawing process. In general, the heat and mechanical processing of Yb-doped optical fiber preforms leads to a deterioration of time-resolved photoluminescence properties.
Thulium-doped fiber lasers (TDFL) are currently in focus of intense research worldwide with a great application potential in a spectral region around 2 μm. Their broad utilization includes among others medicine, defense or material processing. TDFL are in foreground of the interest especially thanks to a thulium energy level structure which enables a so-called two-for-one cross-relaxation (CR) process. This CR process presents a way to generate two photons at 2 μm from one pump photon at around 790 nm, and thus it allows to efficiently generate emission at 2 μm from available high brightness laser diodes emitting around 790 nm.
Although the CR process is very promising and high-power fiber lasers based on it have already been presented, there are still reserves in its practical exploitation. In order to push the practical limits, reliable theoretical models are necessary. Among all parameters needed for the modelling, those describing energy transfers (ET) between thulium levels pose the main uncertainty.
In this contribution, we present a method of energy transfer coefficients evaluation using rate equation modelling. This approach was based on a set of rate equations relating populations of energy levels with spectroscopic data. The coefficients were derived from fluorescence measurements by fitting fluorescence decay curves with theoretical equations. Studied fibers were pumped at two wavelengths – 793 nm and 1620 nm. Fluorescence curves were collected at 800 nm and 2 μm. All combinations of pumping and fluorescence measurements were examined for various pump power in a range up to 70 mW. Calculated energy transfer coefficients will be used in theoretical investigations and optimization of thulium-doped silica-based fiber lasers.
In this work, phase-separated fibers of the system SiO2-ZrO2 doped by thulium and holmium ions were prepared by modified solution-doping method combined with MCVD. The ZrO2 concentration in both fibers was approx. 3 mol. %. The rare-earth ion concentrations were 270 and 740 ppm, respectively. The presence of ZrO2-based nanoparticles in the optical fiber preforms was confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The background losses of the fibers were in the range of 0.1 – 0.6 dB/m. The fibers exhibited strong emission in the near-infrared region thanks to 4f-4f transitions of rare-earth ions. The photoluminescence decay of both fibers exhibited double exponential character, most likely due to the incorporation of rare-earth ions in different optically active sites, i.e. ZrO2-based nanoparticles and grain boundaries or amorphous silica matrix. The fibers were tested as active mediums in fiber laser setup. The thulium-doped fiber exhibited threshold for laser operation of 233 mW and slope efficiency of 72.7 %. The holmium doped fiber failed to manifest lasing properties. An improved laser performance may be achieved by higher proportion of rare-earth ions incorporating in the favorable environment of the nanoparticles.
Holmium-doped silica-based optical fibers belong to intensively studied materials for fiber laser sources operating around 2.1 μm. In this contribution, we deal with silica-based optical fibers doped with holmium and aluminum oxide. The fibers were prepared by the modified chemical vapor deposition method combined either with a solution doping or a nanoparticle doping. A large set of fibers with various dopant concentrations was characterized related to their fluorescence lifetime, laser threshold and slope efficiency. The best-performance fibers exhibited a fluorescence lifetime longer than 1 ms, a laser threshold under 200 mW and a slope efficiency around 80%. These characteristics are discussed regarding the doping method and dopant concentrations.
The high-power fiber lasers rely on the use of double-clad active fibers with noncircular symmetry of their inner-cladding cross-section. Therefore, the optical fiber preforms had to be shaped before fiber drawing. A new technique of preform-shaping by a CO2 laser is now available along with the conventional mechanical-based grinding. This innovative technique retains the advantages of enabling to produce complex inner-cladding shapes that not easily achievable by a conventional grinding technique. However, one of the drawbacks of the CO2 laser-based preform-shaping is weak of hydroxyl OH-groups reduction during the ablation process. The water is often penetrating into the preform surface via the oxyhydrogen flame during preform manufacturing. The thermophysical nature of the CO2 laser ablation process causes further diffusion of the OH-ions deeper towards the preform center during shaping. The diffused OH-groups in the glass material cause high attenuation at some wavelengths which are associated with the overtones of the fundamental OH absorption peaks. Unfortunately, some of these peaks lay rather close to the commonly used laser pumping wavelengths. This should be considered when designing a double-clad fiber laser as well as when selecting the preform-shaping technique. In this work, we will present a new method of mitigation of the water penetration into the optical fiber preform when a CO2 laser preform-shaping technique is applied. This method includes an optical fiber preform etching procedures prior to the preform laser shaping and to the fiber drawing. The acquired data helps also to predict the thickness of the layer that should be removed from the preform surface. The knowledge of the thickness of the optimal layers is of great benefit for the advanced estimation of the inner-cladding attenuation, an important parameter of double-clad fibers intended for high-power fiber lasers.
We present the preparation and characterization of holmium-doped silica-based optical fibers for fiber lasers operating around two micrometers. The fibers were prepared by a modified chemical vapor deposition process and co-doped with aluminum oxide. Alumina was doped with the use of two different methods – solution doping and nanoparticle doping. Prepared optical preforms and fibers were characterized according to their optical, spectral and laser properties. It was observed that the doping by alumina nanoparticles improve a fluorescence lifetime and laser characteristics such as laser threshold and slope efficiency. The comparison of both doping methods is presented and results are discussed.
Since an extension of spectral region from near-infrared to mid-infrared covered by fiber lasers belongs to ambitions of today’s research, germanate-based glasses have been proposed, fabricated and their optical properties studied. Glass samples were prepared by Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition method and by conventional glass melting processes. Fabricated preforms suitable for fiber drawing were optically characterized by refractive index and absorption spectra measurements. A limit of rare earths doping of GeO2-based glasses without phase separation was found comparable to SiO2-based glasses (thousands of ppm). Preforms prepared by Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition contained only up to 29 mol. % of GeO2 in core, although pure GeO2 glass layers were deposited. This effect caused transparency limitation of such materials to 2-2.5 μm. Implementing of effective drying processes during GeO2-based glass conventional melting lead to decrease of residual OHcontent to the level comparable with optical silica glass HOQ 310. The shift of infrared transmission edge of bulk GeO2-based conventionally prepared glasses to longer wavelengths towards to 5 μm was observed. These facts support the idea of potential use of GeO2-based glass matrices for fiber lasers operating in mid-infrared region
In this work we report on the determination of the cross-relaxation energy-transfer coefficients from the measurements of
the fluorescence lifetimes of the 3F4 and 3H4 energy levels of Tm3+ ions in the experimentally prepared optical fibers.
Optical fiber preforms were prepared by solution-doping of Tm3+ ions with either Al3+ ions or dispersed alumina
nanoparticles. Optical fibers were characterized by means of Tm, Al and Ge concentrations, refractive index profiles,
optical spectral attenuations, luminescence spectra and fluorescence lifetimes. Highly aluminium-codoped optical fibers
exhibited fluorescence lifetimes of up to 756 μs.
We present preparation and characterization of thulium-doped silica-based optical fibers for fiber lasers. The fibers were
prepared by modified chemical vapor deposition process and doped with alumina and thulium ions. Alumina co-doping
was achieved through two different methods – solution doping and nanoparticle doping method. Prepared preforms were
characterized in terms of refractive index profiles and dopants distribution. For the drawn fibers, their spectral
attenuation, fluorescence lifetime and laser performance were measured. In the case of nanoparticle doping, better laser
characteristics were observed. Discussion and explanation of the trends for laser efficiency improvement is given.
In this contribution we report and discuss the results of laser characterizations of experimental thulium-doped optical
fibers. These active fibers were fabricated in house and were tested in two laser systems to verify their characteristics.
The first one, a monolithic fiber laser, was of great interest to us due to its potentially lower overall resonator losses,
improved laser lifetime and better robustness. The compact laser cavities with a Bragg gratings inscribed directly into the
active optical fiber differs to the second laser system where the Bragg gratings were inscribed into a passive fiber which
had to be spliced to the active fiber. The tested fibers were manufactured by the modified chemical vapor deposition
method and a solution-doping of thulium ions with Al2O3 or alumina nanoparticles, respectively. We focused on
comparison of laser output powers, slope efficiencies, and laser thresholds for particular thulium-doped fiber in different
laser configurations.
Silica optical fibers doped with rare-earth elements are key components of high-power fiber lasers operating in near-infrared region up to 2.1 μm. In this contribution we deal with preparation and optical characterization of silica-based optical preforms and fibers doped with thulium for fiber lasers operating around 2 μm. A set of fibers with thulium concentration ranges 1000-5000 ppm was prepared by the MCVD solution doping method and characterized. A decrease of fluorescence lifetime of thulium from 487 μs to 378 μs was observed with increasing rare-earth concentration in fiber core. This phenomenon can be explained by energy transfer between ions and ion clustering. Fabricated fibers were suitable for use in fiber lasers.
Spontaneous laser-line sweeping refers to fiber laser instabilities with regular laser wavelength drift within a broad range that may exceed 10 nm; other characteristics of the laser output are sustained relaxation self-pulsing and narrow spectral linewidth. The laser wavelength drift is caused by standing-wave in the cavity; it can be regarded as a special case of mode instability of longitudinal modes of the laser resonator. Self-sweeping was observed so far in Yb, Er, Tm and Bidoped fiber lasers. We report on Ho-doped fiber laser self-sweeping in interval of 3-5 nm near 2100 nm. The sweeping rate was typically 0.7-0.9 nm/s. The thulium-doped fiber lasers at around 2030 nm and 1950 nm were tested as pump sources. The self-sweeping was registered by FTIR spectrometer and the data processing is discussed.
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