K. Thambiratnam

Bidirectional multiwavelength Brillouin fiber laser generation in a ring cavity

Bidirectional multiwavelength Brillouin fiber laser (BFL) generation is demonstrated using a 25 km long single-mode fiber as a Brillouin gain medium in a ring cavity. Odd-order Brillouin Stokes waves appear in the backward direction whereas Brillouin pump and the even Stokes orders are in the forward direction with the line spacing 0.16 nm (∼20 GHz) between each two consecutive waves in forward and backward directions. In addition, by a combination of the backward and forward outputs, we have a higher number comb generation of a multiwavelength BFL with the line spacing 0.08 nm (∼10 GHz). The proposed configuration can work at any wavelength which is a benefit to the others.

2.0-

A compact Q-switched thulium-doped fiber laser (TDFL) operating near the 2.0- μm region is proposed and demonstrated. The proposed laser uses a 2-m-long thulium-doped fiber with a core absorption of 27 dB/m at 793 nm as the active medium and a graphene oxide (GO)-based saturable absorber (SA) as the Q-switching element. The SA is fabricated by optically depositing GO particles dissolved in distilled water onto the face of a fiber ferrule, which is then used to assemble the SA. The proposed TDFL is capable of generating pulses with a maximum repetition rate of 16.0 kHz and pulsewidths as narrow as 9.8 μs, as well as having maximum average output power and pulse energy of 0.3 mW and 18.8 nJ, respectively. The combination of the easily fabricated GO-based SA, together with the TDFLs ability to operate in the eye-safe region of 2.0 μm, gives the proposed Q-switched TDFL a high potential for a multitude of real-world applications, including range-finding, medicine, and spectroscopy.

\mu\hbox{m}

A high sensitivity pressure sensor design without a polymer transducer is demonstrated in this paper. The sensor uses a thin metal diaphragm as a pressure transducer instead of a polymer. The sensor is tested to a maximum pressure of 100 psi and has a sensitivity of 0.0115 nm/psi, which matches the calculated sensitivity of 0.0127 nm/psi. The sensor is provides accurate measurement of the pressure and shows good repeatability in its readings. The sensor is also tested at the flow loop of the University of Tulsa, and shows a good match with the pressure readings of the flow loop.

Q-Switched Thulium-Doped Fiber Laser With Graphene Oxide Saturable Absorber

In this work, the fabrication of a Zirconia-Erbium co-Doped Fiber (Zr-EDF) and its application in the generation of non-linear effects as well as use in a compact pulsed fiber laser system is described. The Zr-EDF is fabricated by the Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition (MCVD) technique in combination with solution doping to incorporate the glass modifiers and nucleating agent. The resulting preforms are annealed and drawn into fiber strands with a 125.0 ± 0.5 µm diameter. Two Zr-EDFs, ZEr-A and ZEr-B, are fabricated with erbium ion concentrations of 2800 and 3888 ppm/wt and absorption rates of 14.5 and 18.3 dB/m at 980 nm respectively. Due to its higher erbium dopant concentration, a 4 m long ZEr-B is used to demonstrate the generation of the Four-Wave-Mixing (FWM) effect in the Zr-EDF. The measured FWM power levels agree well with theoretical predictions, giving a maximum FWM power - 45 dBm between 1558 nm to 1565 nm, and the generated sidebands are as predicted. The non-linear coefficient of ZEr-B is measured to be 14 W−1km−1, with chromatic and slope dispersion values of 28.45 ps/nm.km and 3.63 ps/nm2.km respectively. The ZEr-B is also used together with a graphene based saturable absorber to create a compact, passively Q-switched fiber laser. Short pulses with a pulse width of 8.8 µs and repetition rate of 9.15 kHz are generated at a pump power of 121.8 mW, with a maximum average output power of 161.35 µW and maximum pulse energy value of 17.64 nJ. The fabricated Zr-EDF has many potential applications in multi-wavelength generation as well as in the development of compact, pulsed laser sources.

High Sensitivity Fiber Bragg Grating Pressure Sensor Using Thin Metal Diaphragm

In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a stable Brillouin-Erbium Fibre Laser (BEFL) capable of generating up to 17 lasing wavelengths in the Short-Wave length (S-band) region. The proposed setup uses a 7.7 km Dispersion Compensating Fibre (DCF) to act as a non-linear gain medium and a 30 m long Depressed-Cladding Erbium Doped Fibre (DC-EDF) as an optical amplifier for amplification in the S-band region. The proposed BEFL has an optimum tuning range of 1499 to 1502 nm and is capable of generating 17 lasing wavelengths with peak powers of between −20 to −15 dBm when injected with a Brillouin Pump (BP) of 5 dBm at 1499 nm and a Raman Pump (RP) of 300 mW at 1420 nm.

Fabrication and application of zirconia-erbium doped fibers

The effects of backward, forward, and bidirectional Raman pumping schemes on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) is investigated in this study. By using a linear cavity, we utilize residual Brillouin pump (BP) and Raman pump (RP) power after each transmission through a 25 km single-mode fiber (SMF) used as a gain medium. The SBS threshold power is reduced in the forward, backward, and bidirectional Raman pumping schemes by 2.5, 1.75, and 2.75 dB, respectively when the 1480 nm RP power is fixed at 150 mW and the BP wavelength is 1580 nm. Surprisingly, it is revealed that the SBS threshold reduction depends strongly and solely on Raman gain and it is independent of the Raman pumping schemes. In addition, the effect of Raman amplification on SBS is more effective at the SBS threshold, especially in the bidirectional and forward schemes.

17-channels S band multiwavelength Brillouin/Erbium Fiber Laser co-pump with Raman source

A semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) fiber-ring laser (SOAFRL) utilizing a fiber-Bragg grating (FBG) and lithium niobate (LiNbO3) modulator is demonstrated. The laser operates at a wavelength of 1547.64 nm, which is equal to the Bragg wavelength in the saturation region. By removing the LiNbO3 modulator in the ring, the laser shows a single-wavelength output, which has a lower peak power. The experimental results show that when reaching the saturation level, the system with the LiNbO3 modulator shows a higher saturation current and peak power compared to that of the system without the modulator. The effect of varying the modulation frequency on the laser output power is investigated. By incorporating the LiNbO3 modulator in the laser cavity, the side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) of the laser is significantly improved and a higher peak power can be obtained at a higher current.

Effects of different Raman pumping schemes on stimulated Brillouin scattering in a linear cavity

Abstract A concentric-fiber displacement sensor is demonstrated using a developed theory to support the experimental findings. The theoretical analysis uses an electromagnetic Gaussian beam approach to determine the transfer function of the sensor. The sensor has two operating ranges with a good linearity; namely, the front slope and back slope. On the front slope, the sensitivities are obtained at 3.6 and 2.1 mW/μm for the theoretical and experimental approaches, respectively; while on the back slope the sensitivities are 1.6 and 0.52 mW/μm for theoretical and experimental approaches, respectively. This sensor has many potential applications such as automated monitoring control, position control, and micro-displacement sensing in the hazardous regions.

High-power single-wavelength SOA-based fiber-ring laser with an optical modulator

A compact, passively Q-switched fiber laser with a tunable output is demonstrated. The proposed system uses a short length ytterbium doped fiber to create a very stable and compact optical circuit that uses black phosphorus (BP) as a saturable absorber to generate the desired short pulses. A stable Q-switch pulse train is obtained, with an operational wavelength range from 1056.6-1083.3 nm. Concurrently, a maximum pulse energy and minimum pulse width as well as a repetition rate range of 7.1 nJ, 4 μs and 6.0-44.8 kHz respectively was obtained. The proposed system will be able to cater to a multitude of applications that require a compact yet robust and cost-effective pulse laser.

Design and operation of a concentric-fiber displacement sensor

A highly stable tunable dual-wavelength fiber laser (TDWFL) using graphene as a means to generate a highly stable output is proposed and generated. The TDWFL comprises a 1 m long, highly doped erbium-doped fiber (EDF) acting as the linear gain medium, with a 24-channel arrayed waveguide grating acting as a wavelength slicer as well as a tuning mechanism to generate different wavelength pairs. The tuned wavelength pairs can range from 0.8 to 18.2 nm. A few layers of graphene are incorporated into the laser cavity to induce the four-wave-mixing effect, which stabilizes the dual-wavelength output by suppressing the mode competition that arises as a result of homogenous broadening in the EDF.