Kevin Hsu

Amplified, frequency swept lasers for frequency domain reflectometry and OCT imaging: design and scaling principles

We demonstrate a high-speed, frequency swept, 1300 nm laser source for frequency domain reflectometry and OCT with Fourier domain/swept-source detection. The laser uses a fiber coupled, semiconductor amplifier and a tunable fiber Fabry-Perot filter. We present scaling principles which predict the maximum frequency sweep speed and trade offs in output power, noise and instantaneous linewidth performance. The use of an amplification stage for increasing output power and for spectral shaping is discussed in detail. The laser generates ~45 mW instantaneous peak power at 20 kHz sweep rates with a tuning range of ~120 nm full width. In frequency domain reflectometry and OCT applications the frequency swept laser achieves 108 dB sensitivity and ~10 mum axial resolution in tissue. We also present a fast algorithm for real time calibration of the fringe signal to equally spaced sampling in frequency for high speed OCT image preview.

Swept source optical coherence tomography using an all-fiber 1300-nm ring laser source

The increased sensitivity of spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) has driven the development of a new generation of technologies in OCT, including rapidly tunable, broad bandwidth swept laser sources and spectral domain OCT interferometer topologies. In this work, the operation of a turnkey 1300-nm swept laser source is demonstrated. This source has a fiber ring cavity with a semiconductor optical amplifier gain medium. Intracavity mode selection is achieved with an in-fiber tunable fiber Fabry-Perot filter. A novel optoelectronic technique that allows for even sampling of the swept source OCT signal in k space also is described. A differential swept source OCT system is presented, and images of in vivo human cornea and skin are presented. Lastly, the effects of analog-to-digital converter aliasing on image quality in swept source OCT are discussed.

Efficient single-frequency fiber lasers with novel photosensitive Er/Yb optical fibers

Boron- and germanium-doped highly photosensitive cladding is used in a novel design to achieve photosensitive Er/Yb-doped fibers, permitting short, strong gratings (length approximately 1 cm, reflectivity >99%) to be written without hydrogenation. The high absorption at 980 nm in Er/Yb fibers permits efficient pump absorption over a short device length, which is ideal for achieving highly efficient single-frequency fiber lasers. Both single-frequency Bragg-grating reflector and distributed-feedback lasers with slope efficiencies of 25% with respect to launched pump power have been realized in such fibers.

High performance single frequency fiber grating-based erbium/ytterbium-codoped fiber lasers

The device characteristics of Er/sup 3+/,Yb/sup 3+/ single frequency fiber lasers are reported. A 5-cm long 1550-nm distributed feedback fiber laser with 4 mW output power is shown to have excellent specifications in terms of optical linewidth, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), relative intensity noise, side-mode suppression and polarization purity. For higher power applications, a 1.5 cm single frequency Er/sup 3+/,Yb/sup 3+/ grating-based fiber laser with 60 mW output power and a net efficiency of 12% is demonstrated.

5-GHz pulsed fiber Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot laser mode-locked using carbon nanotubes

We demonstrate passive mode-locking of a short-cavity (/spl sim/2 cm) fiber Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot laser by incorporating a carbon-nanotube-based saturable absorber. Stable pulses are generated with a pulsewidth as short as 0.68 ps at a repetition rate as high as 5.18 GHz. This is the smallest femtosecond fiber pulsed laser ever demonstrated to date.

Flexible miniature compound lens design for high-resolution optical coherence tomography balloon imaging catheter.

We report on a new optics design for an optical coherence tomography (OCT) balloon imaging catheter. The design involves a miniature compound gradient-index (GRIN) rod lens, which consists of a fiber optic mode-field reducer and relay rod lenses to achieve predictable high lateral resolution at a desired large working distance. The compound lens design significantly simplifies the engineering process for an OCT catheter and enables 3-D full circumferential cross sectional imaging of large luminal organs such as human esophagus. An as-designed OCT catheter is developed and demonstrated for real-time in vivo swine esophagus imaging in a 3-D spiral fashion.

Fourier domain mode-locked swept source at 1050 nm based on a tapered amplifier

While swept source optical coherence tomography (OCT) in the 1050 nm range is promising for retinal imaging, there are certain challenges. Conventional semiconductor gain media have limited output power, and the performance of high-speed Fourier domain mode-locked (FDML) lasers suffers from chromatic dispersion in standard optical fiber. We developed a novel light source with a tapered amplifier as gain medium, and investigated the FDML performance comparing two fiber delay lines with different dispersion properties. We introduced an additional gain element into the resonator, and thereby achieved stable FDML operation, exploiting the full bandwidth of the tapered amplifier despite high dispersion. The light source operates at a repetition rate of 116 kHz with an effective average output power in excess of 30 mW. With a total sweep range of 70 nm, we achieved an axial resolution of 15 microm in air (approximately 11 microm in tissue) in OCT measurements. As our work shows, tapered amplifiers are suitable gain media for swept sources at 1050 nm with increased output power, while high gain counteracts dispersion effects in an FDML laser.

Continuous and discrete wavelength tuning in Er:Yb fiber Fabry–Perot lasers

Continuous and discrete single-frequency tuning in the 1.5-μm wavelength region are demonstrated by incorporation of erbium:ytterbium phosphosilicate fibers in single and compound fiber Fabry–Perot cavity configurations. Continuous wavelength tuning was obtained over 3.3 nm in a single-cavity laser of 218-μm cavity length. Discrete wavelength tuning was achieved over 9.59 nm in a compound-cavity laser having a 2-mm gain section.

Tunable erbium-doped fiber ring laser precisely locked to the 50-GHz ITU frequency grid

A discretely tunable, single-frequency erbium-doped fiber ring laser demonstrates frequency locking to the 50-GHz ITU frequency grid with an accuracy of /spl plusmn/0.3 GHz and stability of /spl plusmn/0.05 GHz over a 50-nm tuning range. An output power of 7 mW and an extinction ratio of 45 dB make this single-frequency laser useful for a variety of DWDM applications.

Single-mode tunable erbium:ytterbium fiber Fabry–Perot microlaser

A compact tunable single-mode fiber laser at 1535 nm is developed by use of a novel combination of high-gain erbium:ytterbium (Er:Yb) phosphate-glass fiber within a fiber Fabry-Perot cavity. We demonstrate what we believe to be the shortest Er:Yb phosphate-glass fiber Fabry-Perot laser ever reported, having a 100-microm cavity length and a continuous wavelength tuning range over 4.52 nm (limited by the sharp fiber gain peak). An alternative three-mirror laser design has also demonstrated single-mode lasing operation.