Peter Weßels

Stabilized lasers for advanced gravitational wave detectors

Second generation gravitational wave detectors require high power lasers with more than 100 W of output power and with very low temporal and spatial fluctuations. To achieve the demanding stability levels required, low noise techniques and adequate control actuators have to be part of the high power laser design. In addition feedback control and passive noise filtering is used to reduce the fluctuations in the so-called prestabilized laser system (PSL). In this paper, we discuss the design of a 200 W PSL which is under development for the Advanced LIGO gravitational wave detector and will present the first results. The PSL noise requirements for advanced gravitational wave detectors will be discussed in general and the stabilization scheme proposed for the Advanced LIGO PSL will be described.

Stabilization and power scaling of cladding pumped Er:Yb-codoped fiber amplifier via auxiliary signal at 1064 nm

To the best of our knowledge we report for the first time on an Yb-sensitized Er-doped cladding pumped fiber amplifier which is simultaneously seeded by two single-frequency lasers operating at 1556 nm and 1064 nm, respectively. This mode of operation ensures stable amplifier operation by reducing the gain around 1 microm wavelength to the large signal gain value, while having no significant effect on the slope efficiency of the amplification process at 1556 nm when pumping at 976 nm. We were able to demonstrate stable output power of 8.7 W at 1556 nm with an amplifier gain of > 22 dB, a co-propagating pumping scheme and the power limitation only being set by the available amount of pump power.

Brillouin scattering spectra in high-power single-frequency ytterbium doped fiber amplifiers.

We report on theoretical and experimental investigations on spontaneous and stimulated Brillouin scattering during operation of a high-power single-frequency polarization-maintaining ytterbium doped fiber amplifier. For different amplifier configurations with co- and counter-propagating seed and pump radiation the evolution of Brillouin scattering spectra was investigated with a heterodyne detection scheme. Spontaneous Brillouin gain spectra at low powers were additionally investigated using a pump-probe technique. The data obtained from these experiments have been compared with a theoretical model based on coupled intensity equations. A Brillouin scattering suppression has been investigated theoretically and experimentally with externally applied temperature gradients along the fiber resulting in up to 3.5 dB suppression and 115 W of amplifier output power.

Novel suppression scheme for Brillouin scattering

We demonstrate a new scheme for the efficient suppression of Brillouin scattering of a single-frequency laser source in a 72 m-long Neodymium-doped fiber amplifier by simultaneous amplification of two seed lasers separated in wavelength by two times the Brillouin-shift. This scheme can be independently employed in addition to conventional methods of suppressing stimulated Brillouin scattering enabling further power scaling of existing systems.

Dependence of Er:Yb-codoped 1.5 μm amplifier on wavelength-tuned auxiliary seed signal at 1 μm wavelength

We report on experiments performed with a cladding-pumped single-mode Er:Yb-codoped single-frequency fiber amplifier simultaneously seeded by a distributed-feedback diode at 1556 nm and a tunable external-cavity diode laser emitting at a wavelength of about 1 μm wavelength. The influence of the output wavelength of the external-cavity laser on amplification and reabsorption behavior of the Yb emission as well as the amplifier performance at a wavelength of 1556 nm is examined experimentally.

Gain dynamics and refractive index changes in fiber amplifiers: a frequency domain approach

Gain dynamics and refractive index changes in fiber amplifiers are important in many areas. For example, the knowledge of the frequency responses for seed and pump power modulation are required to actively stabilize low noise fiber amplifiers. Slow and fast light via coherent population oscillations rely on the change of group index to delay or advance pulses, and refractive index changes in fiber amplifiers are a possible explanation for mode fluctuations in high power fiber amplifiers. Here, we analyze the frequency dependent influence of seed and pump power modulation on the fiber amplifier output power and the refractive index. We explain the observed power and refractive index modulation with an analytic model originally developed for telecom amplifiers and discuss a further simplification of the model.

Er-doped photonic crystal fiber amplifier with 70 W of output power

We report for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, on a large mode area Er-doped photonic crystal fiber laser system. The fiber core had a diameter of 40 μm and NA of <0.04 leading to a mode field diameter of about 31 μm around 1550 nm wavelength. More than 70 W of single-frequency output power at 1556 nm could be extracted using a master-oscillator power-amplifier scheme. Near diffraction limited output beam quality has been verified by measuring the TEM(00) content with a nonconfocal scanning ring cavity.

Intrinsic reduction of the depolarization in Nd:YAG crystals

The output power of linearly polarized Nd:YAG lasers is typically limited by thermally induced birefringence, which causes depolarization. However, this effect can be reduced either by use of some kind of depolarization compensation or by use of crystals which are cut in [110]- and [100]-direction, instead of the common [111]-direction. Investigations of the intrinsic reduction of the depolarization by use of these crystals are presented. To our knowledge, this is the first probe beam-experiment describing a comparison between [100]-, [110]- and [111]-cut Nd:YAG crystals in a pump power regime between 100 and 200 W. It is demonstrated that the depolarization can be reduced by a factor of 6 in [100]-cut crystals. The simulations reveal that a reduction of depolarization by use of a [110]-cut crystal in comparison with a [100]-cut crystal only becomes possible at pump powers in the kW region. Analysis also shows that the bifocusing for [100]-cut is slightly smaller and more asymmetrical than for [111]-cut.

Power- and frequency-noise characteristics of an Yb-doped fiber amplifier and actuators for stabilization.

The interferometric gravitational-wave detector LISA requires laser sources with 1W of output power and low frequency and power noise as well as actuators for further power and frequency stabilization. We report on power- and frequency noise measurements of an Yb-doped fiber amplifier seeded by a nonplanar ring oscillator and identify actuators for both power and frequency stabilization of such a system.

Beam quality degradation of a single-frequency Yb-doped photonic crystal fiber amplifier with low mode instability threshold power.

A current limit in power scaling of Yb-doped fiber amplifiers is the sudden onset of mode instabilities. We investigated this effect on a single-frequency Yb-doped photonic crystal fiber amplifier with a low mode instability threshold power. By measuring the overlap of the fiber output beam with the fundamental mode of an external cavity to be about 95%, we could exclude significant modal power transfer below a sharp power threshold. Furthermore, we directly measured the frequency resolved intensity noise spectra. No fluctuations in the overall output power were observed, but for the modal content different oscillation regimes were identified.