Lasers and amplifiers at 2.1 μm window are of great interest for applications that require high atmospheric transmission. To date, fiber lasers and amplifiers operating at this wavelength are based on single-mode Holmium Doped Fibers (HDF) so that a high-quality output beam can be obtained. However, as can be referred from the case of ytterbium doped fiber power amplifier, limiting nonlinear and thermal effects such as Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) and Transverse Mode Instability (TMI) will become obstacles in scaling single-mode holmium doped fiber amplifiers into the multi-kW power regime. The use of multimode HDF can help to mitigate the SBS and TMI effects, facilitating future power scaling of HDF amplifiers (HDFA). Here we propose and experimentally demonstrate a multimode HDF amplifier where the typical speckle pattern output is shaped into a quality focus by wavefront-shaping the amplifier’s input seed.
We demonstrate fabrication and characterizations of intrinsically magneto-sensitive fiber with potential applications as a high-efficiency remote magnetic field sensing platform. The fibre was fabricated using lead-silicate glass and the rod-intube fibre drawing technique. The thin glass rod of ~1 mm diameter was first coated with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centreenriched diamond particles of ~1 μm diameter, and subsequently inserted into the glass outer tube. This rod-in-tube assembly was drawn down to fibre, with the diamond particles distributed at the fused interface between rod and tube. We experimentally coupled 532 nm continuous-wave laser into a 30-cm-length fibre piece from the fibre endface, and examined the photoluminescence (PL) properties of the fibre from both the side of the fibre and the output end of the fibre. PL mapping results showed that the glass-embedded NV emitters showed bright and photostable fluorescence, demonstrating characteristic NV centre zero phonon line emission. Moreover, the mapping result obtained at the output end of fibre indicated that the transmitted NV fluorescence was coupled into the propagation modes of the fibre. By using optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) from the NV ensemble along the fibre, we demonstrate detection of local magnetic fields via longitudinal excitation and side collection. Based on the current light transmission and collection configuration, the hybrid diamond-glass optical fibre sensor demonstrated a shot noise-limited DC magnetic field sensitivity of 3.7 μT/√Hz at room temperature. Our results open the possibility of robust, field-deployable fibre optical magnetometry.
In this paper, we study the Nonlinear Fourier Transform of a signal formed by adding two time-separated pulses. By using the layer peeling property, we show that the eigenvalues of the signal are well approximated by the union of those for the two component pulses separately. The accuracy level of the approximation increases as the component pulses are further separated in time. Scattering coefficients and spectral amplitudes of the signal are also derived, which explain the correlation in eigenvalues, scattering coefficients and spectral amplitudes between the signal and the component pulses.
Conducting polymers are widely researched in terms of both their electrical and optical properties. The optical properties are typically observed on the macroscopic scale. To broaden their application, fabrication and char- acterization of conducting polymers on the nanoscale thickness are required. In this study microscale volume poly(3,4-ethylenedioxytiophene)-tosylate (PEDOT:Tos) layers are fabricated at the tip of a single mode optical fibre without the need for intermediate layers such as Indium Tin Oxide. This allows for optical interrogation (primarily at 1550 nm) of the properties and behaviour of PEDOT:Tos below thicknesses of 500 nm. The optical response (transmission and back-reflection) of the PEDOT:Tos obtained by exposure to different oxidant solu- tion is measured. The effect of different oxidant solution on conductivity, thermal conductivity and degradation time will be examined. This knowledge will lead to implications for the use of conducting polymers in sensing applications where an optical response is detected via a fibre.
Motivated by available methods in quantum mechanics, we have developed a novel method to find the nonlinear Fourier transform (NFT) of optical signals. Using this approach, we are able to analytically solve the matrix eigenfunction-eigenvalue equation that describes NFT and reduce it to an ordinary first order scalar differential equation. This simplifies the processes of finding the NFT of any optical signal and can potentially lead to more efficient and accurate numerical methods to find NFT.
We study the properties of second order solitons with two nonlinear Fourier transform eigenvalues that are very close to each other. We have found that these solitons can be approximated with a linear combination of two fundamental solitons. The error in the approximation reduces as the gap between the eigenvalues reduces. This relation can be used to explain the correlation existing between eigenvalues, nonlinear spectral amplitudes and spectral phases and to encode information more efficiently on more packed second order soliton signals.
We report the design of a fibre optic-based redox detection system for investigating differences in metabolic
activities of tissues. Our system shows qualitative agreement with the results collected from a commercial two-
photon microscope system. Thus, demonstrating the feasibility of building an ex vivo and in vivo redox detection
system that is low cost and portable.
Passively mode-locked sub 200 fs pulses are generated from Er-Yb co-doped ZBLAN waveguide laser using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror repetition rates of up to 533 MHz. At 156 MHz and 1556 nm central wavelength, the chip laser operates with a broad 25 nm bandwidth. The waveguides were written in the Er-Yb co-doped ZBLAN glass by using ultrafast laser inscription.
We study the radiation patterns produced by a dipole placed at the surface of a nanofiber and oriented perpendicular to it, either along the radial (r-oriented) or azimuthal (Φ-oriented) directions. We find that the dipole induces an effective circular cavity-like leaky mode in the nanofiber. The first radiation peak of the Φ-oriented dipole contributes only to TE radiation modes, while the radiation of the r-oriented dipole is composed of both TE and TM radiation modes, with relative contribution depending on the refractive index of the nanofiber. We reveal that the field pattern of the first resonance of a Φ-oriented dipole is associated with a magnetic dipole mode and strong magnetic response of an optical nanofiber.
The whispering gallery modes (WGMs) of optical resonators have prompted intensive research efforts due to their usefulness in the field of biological sensing, and their employment in nonlinear optics. While much information is available in the literature on numerical modeling of WGMs in microspheres, it remains a challenging task to be able to predict the emitted spectra of spherical microresonators. Here, we establish a customizable Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD)-based approach to investigate the WGM spectrum of microspheres. The simulations are carried out in the vicinity of a dipole source rather than a typical plane-wave beam excitation, thus providing an effective analogue of the fluorescent dye or nanoparticle coatings used in experiment. The analysis of a single dipole source at different positions on the surface or inside a microsphere, serves to assess the relative efficiency of nearby radiating TE and TM modes, characterizing the profile of the spectrum. By varying the number, positions and alignments of the dipole sources, different excitation scenarios can be compared to analytic models, and to experimental results. The energy flux is collected via a nearby disk-shaped region. The resultant spectral profile shows a dependence on the configuration of the dipole sources. The power outcoupling can then be optimized for specific modes and wavelength regions. The development of such a computational tool can aid the preparation of optical sensors prior to fabrication, by preselecting desired the optical properties of the resonator.
Whispering-gallery modes have been studied extensively for biosensing applications. Whilst the vast majority of work undertaken has focused on high Q factor resonators, with the main improvement being a reduction of the resonator size to improve sensitivity, we have chosen a different pathway by starting with resonators that exhibit extremely high refractive index sensitivity but low Q factor. A way forward to overcome this limitation is to introduce a gain medium and operate the resonator above its lasing threshold. This has been shown to result on average in a 5 fold increase in the Q factor. With the lasing threshold itself being dependent on the Q factor, amongst other parameters, the Q factor enhancement can be exploited to either reduce the lasing threshold or alternatively enable smaller resonators to be operated above their lasing threshold. As a demonstration we present a 10 μm diameter polystyrene microsphere lasing in aqueous solution for refractive index sensing applications, which to the best of our knowledge is the smallest polystyrene microsphere laser ever demonstrated in these conditions.
Recently we demonstrated that a dye-doped microresonator positioned onto the tip of a suspended core Microstructured Optical Fiber can be used as a dip sensor. In this architecture, the resonator is located on an air hole next to the fiber core, enabling a significant portion of the sphere to overlap with the guided light emerging from the fiber tip. When the resonator is excited through the suspended core fiber it exhibits an unusually high radiative efficiency, which was initially attributed to the higher excitation efficiency enabled by this architecture.
Here we demonstrate that it is possible to enhance the radiative emission of a microresonator attached to the suspended core fiber tip by changing the size of the resonator and how it is positioned on the fiber tip. In particular, we have found that the way in which the sphere interacts with the air hole cavity of the suspended core fiber significantly changes its emission characteristics. We found that the enhancement was dependent upon the interaction between the modes of the resonator with the confined geometry of the suspended core fiber rather than a higher excitation efficiency alone. We also evaluate the impact of the radiative enhancement on the WGM lasing threshold in different configurations.
A model is presented for calculating the performance of fluorescence-based optical-fibre sensors that considers the full
vectorial nature of optical-fibre electromagnetic-field solutions making it suitable for modeling microstructured optical
fibres with wavelength and sub-wavelength-scale features. By applying the model to a specific fibre geometry it is
shown that high-index, small core (subwavelength) fibres allow for enhanced fluorescence capturing due to the
formation of a thin, high-intensity layer at the core-cladding boundary. The model is evaluated in this regime for two
sensing configurations of particular interest for future sensing systems, a side-access sensor for liquid-based sensing and
a thin-layer (surface) sensor. Both configurations can offer improvements for fluorescence-based sensing.
A general model of excitation and fluorescence recapturing by the forward and backward modes of filled microstructured
optical fibres (MOFs) is developed for fluorecence-based fibre optic sensors. It is demonstrated
that the light-matter overlap alone does not determine the optimal fibre choice for maximum sensing efficiency.
Fibre designs with sub-wavelength features and high-index glasses exhibit localised regions of high intensity, and
we show that these regions can lead to approximately two orders of magnitude enhancement of fluorescence recapturing.
We demonstrate higher efficiency of fluorescence recapturing into backward modes in comparison with
that of forward modes. We present experimental results for both backward and forward flourescence recapturing
and demostrate a good qualitative agreement between the numerical model and experimental results.
In this paper, we will investigate microwire fibers for low-loss terahertz transmission. Microwires, air-clad wire
waveguides with diameter smaller than the operating wavelength (a few μm), have an enhanced evanescent
field and tight wave confinement resulting in a low loss waveguide structure for the terahertz (T-ray) frequency
regime. Based on our experimental data for the bulk material absorption of four glasses (F2, SF6, SF57 and
Bismuth) and a polymer (PMMA), we calculate the normalized field distribution, power fraction outside the
wire and effective loss. It will be shown that regardless of material, the effective loss of all microwires converges
to the same order < 0.01 cm-1.
Using a short pulse (~ 1 ns) and a pre-injected CW beam as the probe beam in the pump-probe configuration of Brillouin-based distributed sensors, we develop a spectrum deconvolution method, which considers the location correlation of the strain distribution, to find the number of Brillouin peaks and their frequencies in the Brillouin profile and hence achieve accurate strain information at cm spatial resolution.
By combining a DC and a short pulse (~ 1 ns) laser as the probe beam in the pump-probe configuration of Brillouin-based fiber optic sensors, we have developed a new two-stage method to achieve both high accuracy strain/temperature measurement and spatial resolution (order of cm ). Brillouin profile of such a configuration has a two-fold structure consisting of a Lorentzian- and a Gaussian- like portions. Lorentzian-like portion, although gathering information from all over the fiber, has localized and position-dependent information that can be extracted and employed in a signal processing method for high accuracy and resolution measurements. Level of DC to pulse power affects both the position-dependent information of the Lorentzian peak and its SNR relative to Gaussian peak. An optimum level of DC to pulse power for best SNR and position detection capability is discussed.
Microstructured optical fibers (MOFs), including Holey and multi-layered fibers have attracted great interest both in applications and theory due to their wide range of novel optical properties particularly adjustable nonlinearity. Up to date, analytical/numerical models have been developed to determine the electromagnetic fields distribution in the transverse directions and for various MOFs. We have developed a general three dimensional (considering cylinderical symmetry) analytical-numerical model of Stimulated Brillouin scattering in MOFs in which both electromagnetic field distribution in the transverse direction and its propagation due to a nonlinear effect (Brillouin scattering) is studied. The model has been employed to describe the Stimulated Brillouin Scattering phenomena in single and multi-mode core-cladding fibers. We examine how the structure of such a fiber like core size, index profile, and the laser wavelength affect the Brillouin profile in single and multi-mode regimes. We refer to a specific application of Brillouin scattering in fibers i.e. Brillouin based fiber optic sensors and specify the parameter space (core size, index profile, wavelength) for optimum sensing capability.
We solved the three coupled partial differential equations in transient regime for the probe-pump Brillouin sensor to explain the sub-peaks in Brillouin loss spectra, which have been experimentally observed. We discovered that the Fourier spectrum of the pulsed signal and the off-resonance oscillation attributed to sub-peaks. The off-resonance oscillation at frequency [v - vB] is the oscillation in the Brillouin time domain when the beat frequency v of the two counter-propagating laser beams does not match the local Brillouin frequency vB. This is important in differentiating the sub-peaks from strain/temperature peaks.
We propose a double linewidth pseudo-Voigt profile to handle the spectral shape variances caused by short pulse interactions during the Brillouin scattering process in optical fibers. When short pulses are used, their broad frequency spectra contribute to the overall Brillouin spectrum. Hence, the convoluted spectrum consists of CW light scattering plus the broad frequency spectrum from the short pulse.
The extinction ratio of an Electro Optic Modulator (EOM) limits the accuracy of BOTDA measurement of Brillouin-based fiber optic sensors. An EOM with a finite extinction ratio yeilds Brillouin frequency peaks from outside the spatial resolution. This result in confusion in locating the true strain and temperature and error in detecting the Brillouin frequency. The effects of different parameters such as extinction ratio, pulse power and pump power wil be discussed.
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