Power scalable &gt;25 W supercontinuum laser from 2 to 25 μm with near-diffraction-limited beam and low output variability

Alexander, Vinay V.; Shi, Zhennan; Islam, M. N.; Ke, Kevin; Freeman, M. J.; Ifarraguerri, Agustin I.; Meola, Joseph; Absi, Anthony; Leonard, Jim; Zadnik, Jerome A.; Szalkowski, Anthony S.; Boer, Gregory J.

doi:10.1364/ol.38.002292

Cited by 36 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…An advantage of SC laser architecture presented here is the ability to scale up the average output power, while maintaining the same spectral extent, by increasing the repetition rate and the corresponding pump powers. For example, we recently reported an SC laser using similar architecture, where the average SC output power is scaled up from 5 to 25.7 W in a spectrum covering the SWIR band from ∼2 to 2.5 μm, by increasing the repetition rate from ∼0.2 to ∼1.1 MHz and using a power amplifier pumped with ∼112 W of pump power [30]. We also show that this SC laser platform is truly power scalable in that the SC maintains a near constant spectrum, good beam quality, and low-output variability as the average output power is scaled up, making the SC lasers potentially ideal illumination sources for long-distance remote sensing and hyperspectral imaging applications.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field trial of active remote sensing using a high-power short-wave infrared supercontinuum laser

et al. 2013

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Field trial results of a 5 W all-fiber broadband supercontinuum (SC) laser covering the short-wave infrared (SWIR) wavelength bands from ~1.55 to 2.35 μm are presented. The SC laser is kept on a 12 story tower at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base and propagated through the atmosphere to a target 1.6 km away. Beam quality of the SC laser after propagating through 1.6 km is studied using a SWIR camera and show a near diffraction limited beam with an M(2) value of <1.3. The SC laser is used as the illumination source to perform spectral reflectance measurements of various samples at 1.6 km, and the results are seen to be in good agreement with in-lab measurements using a conventional lamp source. Spectral stability measurements are performed after atmospheric propagation through 1.6 km and show a relative variability of ~4%-8% across the spectrum depending on the atmospheric turbulence effects. Spectral stability measurements are also performed in-lab and show a relative variability of <0.6% across the spectrum.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field trial of active remote sensing using a high-power short-wave infrared supercontinuum laser

et al. 2013

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“…Previous tower testing was performed using a 5W SWIR SCL (SSCL) prototype operating from 1.5 − 2.4µm with a broadand SWIR camera and a SWIR point-sample field spectrometer. [10][11][12] This initial testing demonstrated the robust opeartion of the SSCL and the ability to retrieve spectral reflectance of materials using the SSCL as the sole source of illumination. Further SSCL development has resulted in a 64W breadboard SSCL operating over a spectral range of 1.0 − 1.8µm.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Tower testing of a 64W shortwave infrared supercontinuum laser for use as a hyperspectral imaging illuminator

et al. 2014

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Hyperspectral imaging systems are currently used for numerous activities related to spectral identification of materials. These passive imaging systems rely on naturally reflected/emitted radiation as the source of the signal. Thermal infrared systems measure radiation emitted from objects in the scene. As such, they can operate at both day and night. However, visible through shortwave infrared systems measure solar illumination reflected from objects. As a result, their use is limited to daytime applications. Omni Sciences has produced high powered broadband shortwave infrared super-continuum laser illuminators. A 64-watt breadboard system was recently packaged and tested at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to gauge beam quality and to serve as a proof-of-concept for potential use as an illuminator for a hyperspectral receiver. The laser illuminator was placed in a tower and directed along a 1.4km slant path to various target materials with reflected radiation measured with both a broadband camera and a hyperspectral imaging system to gauge performance.

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“…Our approach of SC generating directly inside the fiber amplifier is significantly simpler and allows reaching high output powers in excess of several Watts [4]. The SC generation directly from the Tm-doped fiber amplifier with average power of 25 W was demonstrated in [17], and this is not the limit. Even more important for a number of applications is the spectral flatness of the radiation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Flat-Top Supercontinuum and Tunable Femtosecond Fiber Laser Sources at 1.9–2.5 μm

Klimentov

Tolstik

Dvoyrin

et al. 2016

J. Lightwave Technol.

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, Journal of Lightwave Technology Abstract -We report the high-energy flat-top supercontinuum covering the mid-infrared wavelength range of 1.9-2.5 μm as well as electronically tunable femtosecond pulses between 1.98-2.22 μm directly from the thulium-doped fiber laser amplifier. Comparison of experimental results with numerical simulations confirms that both sources employ the same nonlinear optical mechanism -Raman soliton frequency shift occurring inside the Tm-fiber amplifier.To illustrate that, we investigate two versions of the compact diode-pumped SESAM mode-locked femtosecond thulium-doped all-silica-fiber-based laser system providing either broadband supercontinuum or tunable Raman soliton output, depending on the parameters of the system. The first system operates in the Raman soliton regime providing femtosecond pulses tunable between 1.98-2.22 μm. Wide and continuous spectral tunability over 240 nm was realized by changing only the amplifier pump diode current. The second system generates high-energy supercontinuum with the superior spectral flatness of better than 1 dB covering the wavelength range of 1.9-2.5 μm, with the total output energy as high as 0.284 μJ, the average power of 2.1 W at 7.5 MHz repetition rate. We simulate the amplifier operation in the Raman soliton self-frequency shift regime and discuss the role of induced Raman scattering in supercontinuum formation inside the fiber amplifier. We compare this system with a more traditional 1.85-2.53 μm supercontinuum source in the external highly-nonlinear commercial chalcogenide fiber using the Raman soliton MOPA as an excitation source.The reported systems 1 can be readily applied to a number of industrial applications in the mid-IR, including sensing, stand-off detection, medical surgery and fine material processing.

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Power scalable >25 W supercontinuum laser from 2 to 25 μm with near-diffraction-limited beam and low output variability

Cited by 36 publications

References 13 publications

Field trial of active remote sensing using a high-power short-wave infrared supercontinuum laser

Field trial of active remote sensing using a high-power short-wave infrared supercontinuum laser

Tower testing of a 64W shortwave infrared supercontinuum laser for use as a hyperspectral imaging illuminator

Flat-Top Supercontinuum and Tunable Femtosecond Fiber Laser Sources at 1.9–2.5 μm

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