Towards the short - wavelength limit lasing at 1450 nm over 4 I 13 / 2 → 4 I 15 / 2 transition in silica - based erbium - doped fiber Nan

The transition rate of the stimulated emission at the higher energy levels of the excited states in a silica-based erbium-doped fiber can be enhanced by introducing fundamental-mode cutoff filtering mechanism. The electrons excited by optical pumping can more occupy the higher energy levels of the excited states when the transition rate for the lower energy levels (longer wavelengths) of the excited states is substantially suppressed. The achieved lasing wavelength can thus be moving toward the shorter wavelengths of the gain bandwidth. The laser transition between I13/2 → I15/2 multiplets of the silica-based erbium-doped fiber is known to emit fluorescence with the shortest wavelength around 1450 nm. We, for the first time, experimentally demonstrate a widely tunable fiber laser at the wavelength very close to 1450 nm by using a standard silica-based C-band erbium-doped fiber. The tuning range covers 1451.9-1548.1 nm, with the best temperature tuning efficiency as high as 57.3 nm/°C, by discretely introducing tunable fundamental-mode cutoff tapered fiber filters along a 16-m-long erbium-doped fiber under a 980 nm pump power around 200 mW. The signal-ASE-ratio can be higher than 45 dB whereas the FWHM of the laser lasing lights can be reduced below 0.2 nm by using an additional Fabry-Perot filter. ©2007 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (140.3510) Lasers, fiber; (060.2410) Fibers, erbium; (060.2320) Fiber optics amplifiers and oscillators; (170.1870) Dermatology; (999.9999) Fundamental-mode cutoff References and links 1. D. Y. Paithankar, J. M. Clifford, B. A. Saleh, E. V. Ross, C. A. Hardaway, and D. Barnette, “Subsurface skin renewal by treatment with a 1450-nm laser in combination with dynamic cooling,” J. of Biomedical Opt. 8, 545-551 (2003). 2. N. Fournier, S. dahan, G. Barneon, S. diridollou, J. M. Lagarde, Y. Gall, and S. Mordon, “Nonablative remodeling: clinical, histologic, ultrasound imaging, and profilometric evalution of a 1540 nm Er: glass laser,” Dermatol. Surg. 27, 799-806 (2001). 3. C. C. Wang, Y. M. Sue, C. H. Yang, and C. K. Chen, “A comparison of Q-switched alexandrite laser and intense pulsed light for the treatment of freckles and lentigines in Asian persons: A randomized, physicianblinded, split-face comparative trial,” J. of American Academy of Dermatology, 54, 804-810 (2006). 4. J. Rao and R. E. Fitzpatrick, “Use of the Q-switched 755-nm Alexandrite laser to treat recalcitrant pigment after depigmentation therapy for vitiligo,” Dermatol. Surg. 30, 1043-1045 (2004). 5. S. Shen, A. Jha, L. Huang, and P. Joshi, “980-nm diode-pumped Tm/Yb-codoped tellurite fiber for Sband amplification,” Opt. Lett. 30, 1437-1439 (2005). 6. E. R. M. Taylor, L. N. Ng, J. Nilsson, R. Caponi, A. Pagano, M. Potenza, and B. Sordo, “Thulium-doped tellurite fiber amplifier,” IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 16, 777-779 (2004). 7. Y. Akasaka and S. Yam, “Gain bandwidth expansion to S-plus band using fiber OPA pumped by gainclamping signal of a GS-TDFA,” in Proc. of OFC 2002, ThGG30 (2002). #86515 $15.00 USD Received 15 Aug 2007; revised 21 Nov 2007; accepted 21 Nov 2007; published 27 Nov 2007 (C) 2007 OSA 10 December 2007 / Vol. 15, No. 25 / OPTICS EXPRESS 16448 8. J. Zhang, S. Dai, S. Li, S. Xu, G. Wang, and L. Hu, “Characterization of broadband amplified spontaneous emission of erbium-doped tellurite fiber with D-shape cladding,” Mater. Lett. 58, 3532-3535 (2004). 9. J. Zhang, S. Dai, S. Xu, G. Wang, and L. Hu, “Fabrication and amplified spontaneous emission spectrum of Er-doped tellurite glass fiber with D-shape cladding,” J. Alloys Compd. 387, 308-312 (2005). 10. M. C. Ho, K. Uesaka, M. Marhic, Y. Akasaka, and L. G. Kazovsky, “200-nm-Bandwidth fiber optic amplifier combining parametric and Raman gain,” J. Lightwave Technol. 19, 977981 (2001). 11. E. Desurvire and J. R. Simpson, “Evaluation of I15/2 and I13/2 Stark-level energies in erbium-doped aluminosilicate glass fibers,” Opt. Lett. 15, 547-549 (1990). 12. N. K. Chen, K. C. Hsu, S. Chi, and Y. Lai, “Tunable Er-doped fiber amplifiers covering S and C + L bands over 1490-1610 nm based on discrete fundamental-mode cutoff filters,” Opt. Lett. 31, 2842-2844 (2006). 13. M. A. Arbore, Y. Zhou, H. Thiele, J. Bromage, and L. Nelson, “S-band erbium-doped fiber amplifiers for WDM transmission between 1488 and 1508 nm,” in Proc. of OFC 2003, WK2 (2003). 14. M. Foroni, F. Poli, A. Cucinotta, and S. Selleri, “S-band depressed-cladding erbium-doped fiber amplifier with double-pass configuration,” Opt. Lett. 31, 3228-3230 (2006). 15. E. Desurvire, Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers: Principles and applications (Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1994), Chap. 1. 16. M. A. Arbore, “Application of fundamental-mode cutoff for novel amplifiers and lasers,” in Proc. of OFC 2005, OFB4 (2005). 17. D. S. Gasper, P. F. Wysocki, W. A. Reed, and A. M. Venqsarkar, “Evaluation of chromatic dispersion in erbium-doped fibers,” in Proc. of LEOS 1993, FPW4.2 (1993). 18. N. K. Chen, S. Chi, and S. M. Tseng, “Wideband tunable fiber short-pass filter based on side-polished fiber with dispersive polymer overlay,” Opt. Lett. 29, 2219-2221 (2004). 19. H. Ahmad, N. K. Saat, and S. W. Harun, “S-band erbium-doped fiber ring laser using a fiber Bragg grating,” Laser Phys. Lett. 2, 369-371 (2005). 20. A. Bellemare, M. Karasek, C. Riviere, F. Babin, G. He, V. Roy, and G. W. Schinn, “A broadly tunable erbium-doped fiber ring laser: experimentation and modeling,” IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quan. Electron. 7, 22-29 (2001). 21. J. Yang, S. Dai, N. Dai, L. Wen, L. Hu, and Z. Jiang, “Investigation on nonradiative decay of I13/2 → I15/2 transition of Er-doped oxide glasses,” J. Lumin. 106, 9-14 (2004). 22. S. Sudo, Optical Fiber Amplifiers: Materials, Devices, and Applications (Artech House, Boston, 1997), Chap.1. 23. N. K. Chen, S. Chi, and S. M. Tseng, “An efficient local fundamental-mode cutoff for thermo-optic tunable Er-doped fiber ring laser,” Opt. Express 13, 7250-7255 (2005). 24. N. K. Chen and S. Chi, “Novel local liquid-core single mode fiber for dispersion engineering using submicron tapered fiber,” in Proc. of OFC 2007, JThA5 (2007). 25. W. L. Barnes, R. I. Laming, E. J. Tarbox, and P. R. Morkel, “Absorption and emission cross section of Er doped silica fibers,” IEEE J. Quan. Electron. 27, 1004-1010 (1991). 26. X. S. Jiang, Q Yang, G. Vienne, Y. H. Li, L. M. Tong, J. J. Zhang, and L. L. Hu, “Demonstration of microfiber knot laser,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, Art. no. 143513 (2006).