Widely tunable, all-polarization maintaining, monolithic mid-infrared radiation source based on differential frequency generation in PPLN crystal

Abstract

We present a difference frequency generation based (DFG) mid-infrared (mid-IR) laser source using an all-polarization-maintaining-fiber (all-PM) amplifier capable of simultaneous amplification of 1064 nm and 1550 nm signals. The amplifier incorporates a single piece of a standard erbium:ytterbium (Er:Yb) co-doped double-clad (DC) active fiber and a limited number of off-the-shelf fiber-based components. Excited by a single 9 W multimode pump, the amplifier delivered over 12.1 dB and 17.8 dB gain at 1 µm and 1.55 µm, respectively. Due to an all-PM configuration, the amplifier was exceptionally convenient for DFG of mid-IR radiation in periodically polled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal, yielding an output power of ~200 µW in a wide spectral range spanning from 3300 to 3470 nm.

Dissipative soliton resonances in all-fiber Er-Yb double clad figure-8 laser

“…Further improvements will involve experimental verification of the possibility to construct a dual-wavelength version of the laser. Continuous Wave (CW) versions of dual-wavelength operation of Er:Yb configurations were presented in our previous work [29,30].Positive results will enable building a compact all-fiber source ideal for Difference Frequency Generation (DFG) of pulses in the Mid-IR wavelength region. Moreover, we plan to investigate the possibility of compressing the pulses using bulk grating compressor or adequate dispersion compensating fibers, as proposed by Chang et al [31].…”

Ultra-simple Dual-wavelength All-fiber Source for Mid-IR Optical Frequency Comb Generation via DFG in PPLN

“…This was possible by including wavelength division multiplexers before and after the active double clad fiber and using a 30 mW 1 µm seed diode in the setup. The idea of continuous wave (CW) dual-wavelength amplifiers was experimentally presented by our group in previous research papers [5,6]. The setup of the proposed laser is presented in Fig.…”

Optimization of erbium and ytterbium concentration in nanostructured core fiber for dual-wavelength fiber lasers

“…Multi-wavelength fiber lasers are of interest for applications in photonic component characterization, optical instrumentation, and optical sensing. In addition, narrow linewidth, dual-wavelength lasers can be used to generate microwave or mid-infrared radiation [2] In the wavelength range of about 1000 nm -1100 nm, Yb-doped fiber lasers (YDFLs) have shown very good qualities, especially for providing high-power [1], where very good results have been achieved with YDFLs, such as kW output powers, efficiencies as high as 80%, and very good M 2 values. At 1550 nm, fiber lasers are usually implemented using semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) or erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) as the gain medium [3][4].…”