Biqiang Jiang

WS2 mode-locked ultrafast fiber laser

Graphene-like two dimensional materials, such as WS2 and MoS2, are highly anisotropic layered compounds that have attracted growing interest from basic research to practical applications. Similar with MoS2, few-layer WS2 has remarkable physical properties. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that WS2 nanosheets exhibit ultrafast nonlinear saturable absorption property and high optical damage threshold. Soliton mode-locking operations are achieved separately in an erbium-doped fiber laser using two types of WS2-based saturable absorbers, one of which is fabricated by depositing WS2 nanosheets on a D-shaped fiber, while the other is synthesized by mixing WS2 solution with polyvinyl alcohol, and then evaporating them on a substrate. At the maximum pump power of 600 mW, two saturable absorbers can work stably at mode-locking state without damage, indicating that few-layer WS2 is a promising high-power flexible saturable absorber for ultrafast optics. Numerous applications may benefit from the ultrafast nonlinear features of WS2 nanosheets, such as high-power pulsed laser, materials processing, and frequency comb spectroscopy.

Erbium-doped fiber laser passively mode locked with few-layer WSe2/MoSe2 nanosheets.

Few-layer transition-metal dichalcogenide WSe2/MoSe2 nanosheets are fabricated by a liquid exfoliation technique using sodium deoxycholate bile salt as surfactant, and their nonlinear optical properties are investigated based on a balanced twin-detector measurement scheme. It is demonstrated that both types of nanosheets exhibit nonlinear saturable absorption properties at the wavelength of 1.55 μm. By depositing the nanosheets on side polished fiber (SPF) or mixing the nanosheets with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution, SPF-WSe2 saturable absorber (SA), SPF-MoSe2 SA, PVA-WSe2 SA, and PVA-MoSe2 SA are successfully fabricated and further tested in erbium-doped fiber lasers. The SPF-based SA is capable of operating at the high pump regime without damage, and a train of 3252.65 MHz harmonically mode-locked pulses are obtained based on the SPF-WSe2 SA. Soliton mode locking operations are also achieved in the fiber laser separately with other three types of SAs, confirming that the WSe2 and MoSe2 nanosheets could act as cost-effective high-power SAs for ultrafast optics.

Cylindrical vector beam generation in fiber with mode selectivity and wavelength tunability over broadband by acoustic flexural wave.

Theoretical analysis and experimental demonstration are presented for the generation of cylindrical vector beams (CVBs) via mode conversion in fiber from HE11 mode to TM01 and TE01 modes, which have radial and azimuthal polarizations, respectively. Intermodal coupling is caused by an acoustic flexural wave applied on the fiber, whereas polarization control is necessary for the mode conversion, i.e. HE11x→TM01 and HE11y→TE01 for acoustic vibration along the x-axis. The frequency of the RF driving signal for actuating the acoustic wave is determined by the phase matching condition that the period of acoustic wave equals the beatlength of two coupled modes. With phase matching condition tunability, this approach can be used to generate different types of CVBs at the same wavelength over a broadband. Experimental demonstration was done in the visible and communication bands.

Bend measurement using an etched fiber incorporating a fiber Bragg grating

A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) based bend measurement method using an etched fiber is proposed that utilizes the coupling of the core mode to the cladding and radiation modes at the bending region. An etching region of 99 µm diameter that serves as bend sensing head is achieved at 10 mm upstream the FBG through processing in 40% hydrofluoric acid, while the FBG acts as a narrowband reflector to enhance the sensitivity. The power variation curves are obtained for a wide range of bend angles, but the performance is limited due to the presence of the loss peaks. The sensing response is improved by immersing the etching region in a refractive index matching gel. The results are analyzed by using curve fitting formulas and are in good agreement. A large dynamic range of -27° to +27° and sensitivity of 0.43 dBm/deg is achieved, which can be enhanced by reducing the etched diameter.

Graphene-coated tilted fiber-Bragg grating for enhanced sensing in low-refractive-index region

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a method to significantly extend the sensitive window of tilted fiber-Bragg grating (TFBG) into low-refractive-index region with the integration of graphene coating. The coupling between cladding modes of TFBG and graphene coating results in an obvious modification of the cladding-mode envelope, which provides a sensitive regime relying on graphenes complex refractive index. Interacting the graphene-coated TFBG with various aqueous solutions, we observe strongly enhanced sensitivity in the low-refractive-index region of 1-1.428, which is about 10-fold extended from that of the unloaded TFBG. The graphene-coated TFBGs present great potentials in the biochemical sensing window.

Ultrafast all-fiber based cylindrical-vector beam laser

Cylindrical-vector beams (CVBs) with axial symmetry in polarization and field intensity are gathering increasing attention from fundamental research to practical applications. However, a majority of the CVBs are generated by modulating light beams in free space, and the temporal durations are far away from the ultrafast regime. Here, an ultrafast all-fiber based CVB laser is demonstrated via intermodal coupling in two mode fibers. In the temporal domain, chirp-free pulses are formed with combined actions of the ultrafast saturable absorption, self-phase modulation, and anomalous dispersion. In the spatial domain, the lateral offset splicing technique and a two mode fiber Bragg grating are adopted to excite and extract CVBs, respectively. The ultrafast CVB has an annular profile with a duration of 6.87 ps and a fundamental repetition rate of 13.16 MHz, and the output polarization status is switchable between radially and azimuthally polarized states. This all-fiber-based ultrafast CVB laser is a simple, lo...

Optical vortex generation with wavelength tunability based on an acoustically-induced fiber grating

We presented a method to actualize the optical vortex generation with wavelength tunability via an acoustically-induced fiber grating (AIFG) driven by a radio frequency source. The circular polarization fundamental mode could be converted to the first-order optical vortex through the AIFG, and its topological charges were verified by the spiral pattern of coaxial interference between the first-order optical vortex and a Gaussian-reference beam. A spectral tuning range from 1540 nm to 1560 nm was demonstrated with a wavelength tunability slope of 4.65 nm/kHz. The mode conversion efficiency was 95% within the whole tuning spectral range.

Graphene-controlled fiber Bragg grating and enabled optical bistability

We report a graphene-assisted all-optical control of a fiber Bragg grating (FBG), which enables in-fiber optical bistability and switching. With an optical pump, a micro-FBG wrapped by graphene evolves into chirped and phase-shifted FBGs, whose characteristic wavelengths and bandwidths could be controlled by the pump power. Optical bistability and multistability are achieved in the controlled FBG based on a shifted Bragg reflection or Fabry-Perot-type resonance, which allow the implementation of optical switching with an extinction ratio exceeding 20 dB and a response time in tens of milliseconds.

Optical heterodyne micro-vibration measurement based on all-fiber acousto-optic frequency shifter

We provide an optical heterodyne detection configuration based on an all-fiber acousto-optic structure, which acts as both frequency shifter and coupler simultaneously, with a resolution of 0.01 nm from 10 kHz to 90 kHz.

Graphene-induced unique polarization tuning properties of excessively tilted fiber grating

By exploiting the polarization-sensitive coupling effect of graphene with the optical mode, we investigate the polarization modulation properties of a hybrid waveguide of graphene-integrated excessively tilted fiber grating (Ex-TFG). The theoretical analysis and experimental results demonstrate that the real and imaginary parts of complex refractive index of few-layer graphene exhibit different effects on transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) cladding modes of the Ex-TFG, enabling stronger absorption in the TE mode and more wavelength shift in the TM mode. Furthermore, the surrounding refractive index can modulate the complex optical constant of graphene and then the polarization properties of the hybrid waveguide, such as resonant wavelength and peak intensity. Therefore, the unique polarization tuning property induced by the integration of the graphene layer with Ex-TFG may endow potential applications in all-in-one fiber modulators, fiber lasers, and biochemical sensors.