Hybrid Fourier domain modelocked laser utilizing a fiber optical parametric amplifier and an erbium doped fiber amplifier

Abstract

To our knowledge, we report the first Fourier domain modelocked laser (FDML) constructed using optical parameter amplifier (OPA) in conjunction with an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), centered at ~1556nm. We utilized a onepump OPA and a C-band EDFA in a series configuration with a polygon-grating wavelength filter to generate a hybrid FDML spectrum. Results demonstrate a substantially higher output power, better spectral shape and significantly more stable bandwidth than individual configurations. We believe this technique has the potential to enable several amplifiers to complement individual deficiencies resulting in improved spectral shapes and power generation for imaging applications such as optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Fourier Domain Mode Locking Laser Sweeping Based On Optical Parametric Amplification

“…For fiber OPA, thanks for its femtosecond response time [8], high gain [9] and wide gain bandwidth [10], it enables us to vary the sweeping wavelength range by changing the position of pump wavelength with potential gain bandwidth of 200 nm. Hybrid FDML using OPA has been demonstrated by Cheng et al [11] using polygon filter as the tunable filter and with an extra EDFA adding inside the cavity. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a FDML using OPA as the only gain medium without extra EDFA inside the cavity and using fiber Fabry-Perot filter (FFP-TF) as tunable filter.…”