Shigenori Nagano

Dispersion dependence of linewidth in actively mode-locked ring lasers

We numerically and experimentally study the effect of cavity dispersion in actively mode-locked ring lasers. The wavelength-swept laser with quite narrow linewidth is achieved by the combination of anomalous dispersion in a linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating and self-phase modulation-induced spectral broadening in semiconductor optical amplifier. By using this technique, a wavelength sweeping with rate of 120 kHz and range of 40 nm have been successfully demonstrated.

Optical Performance of Fiber Collimators Fabricated by Direct Splicing of Angled Fiber to Lens

Direct splicing is expected to markedly reduce the size and manufacturing cost of fiber collimators. We have successfully suppressed the return and the coupling losses of the fiber collimators fabricated by the direct splicing of an angled fiber to a lens. A return loss of 66.5 dB and a coupling loss of 0.13 dB on average were obtained. The tensile strength of the spliced portion was measured to be larger than 2.0 N. Moreover, the environmental tests of the fiber collimators showed sufficient reliability. Fiber collimators directly spliced with angled fibers can be used in various optical devices for telecommunication.

High-average and high-peak output-power terahertz-wave generation by optical parametric down-conversion in MgO:LiNbO3

A widely tunable terahertz (THz)-wave generation that has a high repetition rate and a narrow line width is demonstrated in this paper by injection-seeded THz-wave parametric generation (is-TPG) in a MgO:LiNbO3 crystal. By pumping the crystal using a passively Q-switched neodymium-doped yttrium vanadate microchip laser with a time duration of 140 ps and an average power of up to 5 W, a THz-wave output with an average output power of 30 μW, a peak power of 4 W, a pulse duration of 73 ps, and a pulse-repetition frequency of 100 kHz is obtained. To prevent laser damage and photorefractive damage to the crystal, the constraints on the pumping condition of the MgO:LiNbO3 crystal are experimentally studied by changing the pumping parameters. As a result, we achieved the stable generation of the THz-wave signal in the 100 kHz regime. Moreover, we performed THz-wave imaging by using the developed is-TPG source. The obtained THz image indicated that the developed system has a good stability over long periods of time.A widely tunable terahertz (THz)-wave generation that has a high repetition rate and a narrow line width is demonstrated in this paper by injection-seeded THz-wave parametric generation (is-TPG) in a MgO:LiNbO3 crystal. By pumping the crystal using a passively Q-switched neodymium-doped yttrium vanadate microchip laser with a time duration of 140 ps and an average power of up to 5 W, a THz-wave output with an average output power of 30 μW, a peak power of 4 W, a pulse duration of 73 ps, and a pulse-repetition frequency of 100 kHz is obtained. To prevent laser damage and photorefractive damage to the crystal, the constraints on the pumping condition of the MgO:LiNbO3 crystal are experimentally studied by changing the pumping parameters. As a result, we achieved the stable generation of the THz-wave signal in the 100 kHz regime. Moreover, we performed THz-wave imaging by using the developed is-TPG source. The obtained THz image indicated that the developed system has a good stability over long periods of time.

Phase stabilization of an actively mode-locked ring laser

A phase-resolved system based on swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) has to incorporate a phase-stabilized wavelength-swept light source. The phase variation is induced by fluctuation of a beginning swept frequency. The conventional phase-sensitive SS-OCTs use a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in order to avoid A-scan trigger fluctuations. However this method does not always solve the trigger fluctuation problem. In actively mode-locked ring lasers (AMLLs), the beginning swept frequency fluctuates by abrupt frequency change between the end of a sweep and the beginning of the subsequent one. To overcome this issue, we proposes a new phase stabilization method. By employing the method with an auxiliary reference configuration, the sweeping phase has successfully stabilized because the timing jitter is calculated by interference signals from the auxiliary reference path. In this research, we have proposed the phase stabilization method that has nanometer sensitivity with millisecond response. In addition, the method has successfully suppressed the depth dependence of phase instability.

Effect of linewidth enhancement factor in actively mode-locked ring laser

Fundamental performance of the swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) system is defined by its wavelength-swept laser. Especially narrower instantaneous spectral linewidth of the laser has the advantage in deeprange tomography. We have demonstrated narrow-linewidth actively mode-locked ring lasers (AMLL), employing anomalous dispersion configuration. The linewidth of an AMLL is determined by anomalous dispersion and self-phase modulation (SPM) in the semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). For such soliton-like phenomenon of AMLLs, numerical calculation predicts that both of large dispersion and small SPM make the linewidth narrower. Since the dispersion restricts wavelength sweeping range of AMLLs, too large dispersion cannot be used. To weaken the SPM effect, low linewidth enhancement factor α of SOA is desirable. Quantum-dot(QD)-based SOA offers low α-factor in comparison with quantum-well SOA (QWSOA). In this study, we employ a QDSOA as a gain medium in an AMLL and also use a QWSOA for comparison. The wavelength band of the QWSOA-AMLL is 1.5 μm and that of QDSOA-AMLL is 1.0 μm. Since we employed the 10 ps/nm of net dispersion in both configurations, the dispersion parameter β2 for the QDSOA-AMLL is approximately half of that for the QWSOA-AMLL. The measured full-width half-maximum (FWHM) linewidths in a static state were 0.08 nm for the QWSOA-AMLL and 0.04nm for the QDSOA-AMLL. In spite of the small β2 the QDSOA-AMLL achieves narrower spectral than the QWSOA-AMLL. We also confirmed that the interference signal was improved by adopting the QDSOA.