Polarization-maintaining, high-energy, wavelength-tunable, Er-doped ultrashort pulse fiber laser using carbon-nanotube polyimide film.

A high-energy, wavelength-tunable, all-polarization-maintaining Er-doped ultrashort fiber laser was demonstrated using a polyimide film dispersed with single-wall carbon nanotubes. A variable output coupler and wavelength filter were used in the cavity configuration, and high-power operation was demonstrated. The maximum average power was 12.6 mW and pulse energy was 585 pJ for stable single-pulse operation with an output coupling ratio as high as 98.3%. Wide wavelength-tunable operation at 1532-1562 nm was also demonstrated by controlling the wavelength filter. The RF amplitude noise characteristics were examined in terms of their dependence on output coupling ratio and oscillation wavelength.

[1]  M. Nakazawa,et al.  147 fs, 51 MHz soliton fiber laser at 1.56 µm with a fiber-connector-type SWNT/P3HT saturable absorber , 2008, 2009 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and 2009 Conference on Quantum electronics and Laser Science Conference.

[2]  M. Nakazawa,et al.  A passively mode-locked femtosecond soliton fiber laser at 1.5 µm with a CNT-doped polycarbonate saturable absorber , 2008, 2009 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and 2009 Conference on Quantum electronics and Laser Science Conference.

[3]  Y. Sakakibara,et al.  Mode-locked fiber lasers based on a saturable absorber incorporating carbon nanotubes , 2003, OFC 2003 Optical Fiber Communications Conference, 2003..

[4]  I H White,et al.  Wideband-tuneable, nanotube mode-locked, fibre laser. , 2008, Nature nanotechnology.

[5]  Samuli Kivistö,et al.  Carbon nanotube films for ultrafast broadband technology. , 2009, Optics express.

[6]  Evgueni M. Dianov,et al.  Mode-locked 1.93 μm thulium fiber laser with a carbon nanotube absorber , 2008 .

[7]  K. Tamura,et al.  Soliton fiber ring laser stabilization and tuning with a broad intracavity filter , 1994, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[8]  M. Fermann.  Ultrafast Fiber Oscillators , 2002 .

[9]  Masataka Nakazawa,et al.  Polymer saturable absorber materials in the 1.5 microm band using poly-methyl-methacrylate and polystyrene with single-wall carbon nanotubes and their application to a femtosecond laser. , 2006, Optics letters.

[10]  M. Andrejco,et al.  A polarization maintaining, dispersion managed, femtosecond figure-eight fiber laser. , 2006, Optics express.

[11]  Shinji Yamashita,et al.  Carbon nanotube mode lockers with enhanced nonlinearity via evanescent field interaction in D-shaped fibers. , 2007, Optics letters.

[12]  S. Namiki,et al.  Sub-200-fs pulsed erbium-doped fiber laser using a carbon nanotube-polyvinylalcohol mode locker , 2006 .

[13]  J W Nicholson,et al.  Optically driven deposition of single-walled carbon-nanotube saturable absorbers on optical fiber end-faces. , 2007, Optics express.

[14]  Kenji Kintaka,et al.  Optically uniform carbon nanotube-polyimide nanocomposite: application to 165 fs mode-locked fiber laser and waveguide , 2005 .

[15]  G. Imeshev,et al.  Ultra-compact dispersion compensated femtosecond fiber oscillators and amplifiers , 2005, (CLEO). Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, 2005..

[16]  M. Nakazawa,et al.  Environmentally stable, simple passively mode-locked fiber ring laser using a four-port circulator. , 2009, Optics express.

[17]  Masud Mansuripur,et al.  Femtosecond laser pulse generation with a fiber taper embedded in carbon nanotube/polymer composite. , 2007, Optics letters.

[18]  J. Limpert,et al.  Self-starting self-similar all-polarization maintaining Yb-doped fiber laser. , 2005, Optics Express.

[19]  Ian Bennion,et al.  In-fiber microchannel device filled with a carbon nanotube dispersion for passive mode-lock lasing. , 2008, Optics express.

[20]  K. Itoh,et al.  All-polarization-maintaining Er-doped ultrashort-pulse fiber laser using carbon nanotube saturable absorber. , 2008, Optics express.

[21]  P. Ajayan,et al.  Ultrafast optical switching properties of single-wall carbon nanotube polymer composites at 1.55 μm , 2002 .

[22]  S. Yamashita,et al.  Saturable absorbers incorporating carbon nanotubes directly synthesized onto substrates and fibers and their application to mode-locked fiber lasers. , 2004, Optics letters.

[23]  S. Yamashita,et al.  Single-walled carbon nanotubes for high-energy optical pulse formation , 2008 .

[24]  J G Fujimoto,et al.  Real-time, ultrahigh-resolution, optical coherence tomography with an all-fiber, femtosecond fiber laser continuum at 1.5 microm. , 2004, Optics letters.