Andrzej Mikuła

Investigation on pulse shaping in fiber laser hybrid mode-locked by Sb 2 Te 3 saturable absorber

We report a study on a hybrid mode-locked fiber laser with two saturable absorbers: slow and fast, integrated in a single device. Amorphous antimony telluride (Sb(2)Te(3)) layer was deposited on side-polished fiber to form the slow saturable absorber due to the third order nonlinear susceptibility of Sb(2)Te(3). Additionally, an unsymmetrical design of the device causes polarization-dependent losses and together with polarization controller allows to use a nonlinear polarization evolution to form the artificial fast saturable absorber. Sub-200 fs soliton pulses with 0.27 nJ of pulse energy were generated in the hybrid mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser. Differences in the dynamics of mode-locked laser are further investigated with the use of slow and fast saturable absorbers solely, and compared with the hybrid device. Joint operation of two saturable absorbers enhances the laser performance and stability. The conducted experiments allowed to define roles of each mechanism on the pulse shaping in the laser cavity.

Sb 2 Te 3 -deposited D-shaped fiber as a saturable absorber for mode-locked Yb-doped fiber lasers

We present a study on a antimony telluride (Sb2Te3)-deposited side-polished fiber device as a saturable absorber for Yb-doped mode-locked fiber lasers. Thin layers of Sb2Te3 with variable length were deposited by a pulsed magnetron sputtering technique. We demonstrate measured characteristics of the device and show that it can be treated as a hybrid component - tunable polarizer with saturable absorption properties. The polarizing extinction ratio varies from 1.5 dB up to 17.1 dB with increasing length of the deposition. The fiber components were employed in all-normal Yb-doped fiber cavities. All devices enabled for mode-locked operation by means of hybrid mode-locking or nonlinear polarization evolution mechanism. In particular, the laser with 2 mm long Sb2Te3 absorber emitted 5.9 ps pulses with 4 mW of average output power.

All-polarization-maintaining-fiber laser Q-switched by evanescent field interaction with Sb2Te3 saturable absorber

Abstract. We report on the generation of 152-nJ Q-switched pulses in all-polarization-maintaining Er-doped fiber laser. The laser is passively modulated by the antimony telluride (Sb2Te3) layer sputtered on a surface of the side-polished fiber in order to exploit the evanescent field interaction in optically nonlinear material. The laser cavity is designed in an extremely simple way comprising, in addition to fibers, only one component and the saturable absorber, forming a robust, compact, and stable source of short pulses. The repetition rate might be tuned from 42 kHz up to 132 kHz. The shortest recorded pulse duration was the 857 ns.

The influence of the long-range order on the vibrational spectra of structures based on sodalite cage

Zeolites are a group of tecto-aluminosilicates with numerous practical applications, e.g. gas separators, molecular sieves and sorbents. The unique properties result from porous structure of channels and cages which are built from smaller units - the so-called Secondary Building Units (SBU), and sometimes also larger groups (Breck, 1974; Ciciszwili et al., 1974; Mozgawa, 2008; Čejka and van Bekkum, 2005). The aim of this study was the examination of the influence of long-range order on vibrational spectra of sodalite and zeolite A. Ab initio calculations (geometry optimizations and vibrational spectra calculations) of sodalite cage and selected SBU were carried out by means of Gaussian09 (Frisch et al., 2009) (in the case of isolated clusters) and Crystal09 (Dovesi et al., 2005, 2009) (for periodic structures). The obtained results were compared with the experimental spectra of sodalite and zeolite A crystal structures, synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. These results allowed analyzing of the long-range ordering influence on the vibrational spectra, as well as the identification of the characteristic vibrations in β cage based frameworks. It has been found, that based on small structural fragment (SBU) models a characteristic vibrations can be identify. However, full spectra analysis and especially the interpretation of far-infrared region of the spectra require using periodic models under the influence of translational crystal lattice.

New approach for determination of the influence of long-range order and selected ring oscillations on IR spectra in zeolites

Vibrational spectroscopy can be considered as one of the most important methods used for structural characterization of various porous aluminosilicate materials, including zeolites. On the other hand, vibrational spectra of zeolites are still difficult to interpret, particularly in the pseudolattice region, where bands related to ring oscillations can be observed. Using combination of theoretical and computational approach, a detailed analysis of these regions of spectra is possible; such analysis should be, however, carried out employing models with different level of complexity and simultaneously the same theory level. In this work, an attempt was made to identify ring oscillations in vibrational spectra of selected zeolite structures. A series of ab initio calculations focused on S4R, S6R, and as a novelty, 5-1 isolated clusters, as well as periodic siliceous frameworks built from those building units (ferrierite (FER), mordenite (MOR) and heulandite (HEU) type) have been carried out. Due to the hierarchical structure of zeolite frameworks it can be expected that the total envelope of the zeolite spectra should be with good accuracy a sum of the spectra of structural elements that build each zeolite framework. Based on the results of HF calculations, normal vibrations have been visualized and detailed analysis of pseudolattice range of resulting theoretical spectra have been carried out. Obtained results have been applied for interpretation of experimental spectra of selected zeolites.

Periodic model of LTA framework containing various non-tetrahedral cations.

A simplified periodic model of Linde Type A zeolite (LTA) structure with various selected mono- and di-valent extra-framework cations was formulated. Ab initio calculations (geometry optimization and vibrational spectra calculations) using the proposed model were carried out by means of Crystal09 program. The resulting structures and simulated spectra were analyzed in detail and compared with the experimental ones. The presented results show that in most cases the proposed model agrees well with experimental results. Individual bands were assigned to respective normal modes of vibration and the changes resulting from the selective substitution of extra framework cations were described and explained.

Periodic model of an LTA framework.

Zeolites are a group of microporous aluminosilicate frameworks with numerous applications in, for example, catalysis and ion-exchange and sorption processes. One of the most important tools for analyzing the properties of zeolite structures is vibrational spectroscopy. However, the complexity of these structures often leads to difficulties when attempting to interpret the resulting spectra, so an additional complementary tool is required: computational methods. The aim of this study was to formulate a simplified periodic model of an LTA framework containing alkali metal cations (either Li+, Na+, K+, Rb+, or Cs+) and to perform a set of ab initio calculations aimed at assessing the influence of these cations on the properties of the vibrational spectra of the LTA framework. Additionally, chemical bonding was analyzed by means of electron density topology analysis. Results obtained were compared with experimental spectra for alkali metal forms of zeolite A. It was found that the vibrational spectra obtained using the proposed model agree well with the corresponding experimentally derived spectra, meaning that the model can be used to analyze real spectra in detail.

Vibrational Spectroscopy of Zeolites

In this chapter, the ab initio calculations have been used to analyze the structural properties and vibrational spectra of selected zeolites. The spectra obtained as a result of theoretical calculations along with their interpretation were used to describe the experimental spectra of real zeolite structures. Presented results show that in the experimental spectra of zeolites one can distinguish the bands associated with characteristic vibrations of a bigger element of the structure, composed of tetrahedra, the primary building blocks. It was also shown that the composite envelopes of particular bands are significantly affected by component bands associated with characteristic vibrations of building units that form zeolite structures.

All-normal dispersion Yb-doped fiber laser mode-locked by Sb2Te3 topological insulator

In this paper we demonstrate a preliminary work done on employing antimony telluride (Sb2Te3) topological insulator as a saturable absorber for Yb-doped fiber lasers. The material was deposited onto a side-polished fiber by means of a pulsed magnetron sputtering technique. Fabricated absorber was implemented in an all-normal dispersion cavity and allowed for self-starting dissipative soliton generation. The laser emitted stable pulse train at a repetition rate of 17.07 MHz with 4.25 nm broad output spectrum centered around 1039.4 nm. Average output power amounted to 0.54 mW with 32 pJ pulse energy.

Tm:GdVO4 microchip laser Q-switched by a Sb2Te3 topological insulator

We report on the first application of a topological insulator based on antimony telluride (Sb2Te3) as a saturable absorber (SA) in a bulk microchip laser. The transmission-type SA consisted of a thin film of Sb2Te3 (thickness: 3 nm) deposited on a glass substrate by pulsed magnetron sputtering. The saturable absorption of the Sb2Te3 film was confirmed for ns-long pulses. The microchip laser was based on a Tm:GdVO4 crystal diode-pumped at ∼802 nm. In the continuous-wave regime, this laser generated 3.54 W at 1905-1921 nm with a slope efficiency η of 37%. The Q-switched laser generated a maximum average output power of 0.70 W at 1913 nm. The pulse energy and duration were 3.5 μJ and 223 ns, respectively, at a repetition rate of 200 kHz. The Sb2Te3 SAs are promising for passively Q-switched waveguide lasers at ∼2 μm.