In this paper, we demonstrated a novel, all-fiber highly sensitive bend sensor based on a four-core fiber rod with a diameter of 2.1 mm. We observed a high resolution of the sensor at a level of 3.6 × 10−3 m−1. Such a sensor design can be used in harsh environments due to the relatively small size and all-fiber configuration, containing no adhesive, nor welded joints.
A pulsed regime of short-cavity, heavily erbium-doped fiber lasers is of high interest for its possible applications in telecommunications and sensorics. Here, we demonstrate these lasers in two configurations, distributed feedback laser and compare it with a classic Fabry-Perot type laser. We have managed to create lasers that function stably with cavities as small as 50 mm. Pulse properties such as amplitude, frequency and duration, are in a good agreement with our theoretical analysis, which takes into account spontaneous emission. We report the observation of the thermal switching effect, which consists of the pulsing regime changing to CW upon cooling the laser cavities down to the liquid nitrogen temperature. We theoretically show that this effect may be explained by weakening of the up-conversion process responsible for the pulsed regime. The slowing of the up-conversion processes is due to the energy mismatch in this process, which is overcome by interaction with phonons. At low temperatures, the number of phonons decreases and pulsing switches off.Fiber lasers based on erbium-doped silica glass are actively used in modern fiber optics. [1][2][3][4][5] Erbium lasers operating at wavelengths near 1.5 μm are widely used in telecommunications, 6-10 optical sensing, 11-13 and radiophotonics. 14
ASSOCIATED CONTENT
Photoluminescence spectra and decay kinetics of bismuth inclusions in silica optical fibres containing fluorine additive in the core glass are studied in the vicinity of a wavelength of 1420 nm at temperatures of 80-900 K under a continuous wave (CW) and a pulsed diode laser pump at a wavelength of 808 nm. At high fluorine concentration and low temperatures, luminescence decay kinetics becomes essentially bi-exponential, typical lifetimes being 720 and 1200 µs. Hydrogen and deuterium loading at pressures of up to 125 bar leads to a decrease of the steady-state luminescence intensity and lifetime. We attribute this to the appearance of an energy transfer bridge from bismuth clusters to vibrational degrees of freedom of diatomic molecules. It is found that in the presence of H(2) or D(2) molecules experiencing random walking in silica, luminescence decay kinetics stop following a single exponential function even in fluorine-free silica-core fibre, deviation from the single exponent being greater at higher temperatures. The induced quenching rate increases with the increase of temperature as well and is greater for H(2) molecules. All conditions being equal, the equilibrium concentration of hydrogen molecules is greater in heavily fluorinated silica. At temperatures below ~250 K, the presence of dissolved molecules has no effect, which speaks for the primary importance of having rotational degrees of freedom of migrating interstitial diatomic molecules in an excited state for effective quenching of bismuth electronic excitations. It is found that the influence of dissolved deuterium is weaker than that of hydrogen. We attribute this feature to a greater angular momentum of the D(2) molecule and correspondingly smaller energy of the molecule's rotational quantum. The results of the experiments show that bismuth clusters mainly located in voids of the silica network, rather than bismuth point defects, are responsible for near-infrared luminescence.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.