Passively mode-locked lasers with 172-GHz fundamental-mode repetition rate pulsed by carbon nanotubes

Song, Yong‐Won; Yamashita, Shinji; Goh, C.S.; Set, Sze Yun

doi:10.1364/ol.32.000430

Cited by 75 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…To date, SWNT-based SAs have been successfully used as mode-lockers in fiber lasers, [94,[96][97][98][145][146][147][148]153,156,186,191] waveguide lasers, [95] solid-state lasers, [149,150,189,311,312] and semiconductor lasers [155] at 1, 1.3, 1.55, 1.6, [97] and 1.9 mm. [152,207,313] A list of SWNT-based mode-lockers, their performance ranges, and specifications is presented in Table 1.…”

Section: Nanotube Composites As Mode-lockers For Ultrafast Lasersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[150] A repetition rate of 17.2 GHz was demonstrated in Ref. [155]. The maximum output power reported to date is 1.6 W. [158] To realize various functions, different configurations of SWNT-based SAs have been proposed, such as evanescent-field interaction in a tapered fiber, [146,154,191,313,327] in a D-shaped optical fiber, [322] and with vertically aligned SWNTs.…”

Section: Nanotube Composites As Mode-lockers For Ultrafast Lasersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nanotube–Polymer Composites for Ultrafast Photonics

et al. 2009

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Polymer composites are one of the most attractive near‐term means to exploit the unique properties of carbon nanotubes and graphene. This is particularly true for composites aimed at electronics and photonics, where a number of promising applications have already been demonstrated. One such example is nanotube‐based saturable absorbers. These can be used as all‐optical switches, optical amplifier noise suppressors, or mode‐lockers to generate ultrashort laser pulses. Here, we review various aspects of fabrication, characterization, device implementation and operation of nanotube‐polymer composites to be used in photonic applications. We also summarize recent results on graphene‐based saturable absorbers for ultrafast lasers.

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Section: Nanotube Composites As Mode-lockers For Ultrafast Lasersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Nanotube Composites As Mode-lockers For Ultrafast Lasersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanotube–Polymer Composites for Ultrafast Photonics

et al. 2009

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“…Alternative saturable absorbers based on single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and graphene are at the centre of an intense research effort [7,8], due to their broad operation range, low saturation power, easy fabrication, mechanical and environmental robustness, and quick recovery times . These have been used to mode-lock fiber [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23], waveguide [24], solid-state [25][26][27], and semiconductor lasers [28]. Present mode-locking technology typically relies on soliton-like operation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultrafast stretched-pulse fiber laser mode-locked by carbon nanotubes

et al. 2010

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Ultrafast fiber sources having short pulses, broad bandwidth, high energy, and low amplitude fluctuations have widespread applications. Stretched-pulse fiber lasers, incorporating segments of normal and anomalous dispersion fibers, are a preferred means to generate such pulses. We realize a stretched-pulse fiber laser based on a nanotube saturable absorber, with 113 fs pulses, 33.5 nm spectral width and ~0.07% amplitude fluctuation, outperforming current nanotube-based designs.

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“…SWNTs show large optical nonlinearity 25 , ultrafast carrier relaxation time 26 and high damage threshold 27 . They are compatible with optical fibres, and mode-locked laser operation at $1.5 mm has been demonstrated 15,16,[27][28][29][30][31][32] . The variation of nonlinear absorption is determined by the number of tubes in resonance with the incident light.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This implies great potential for wideband tuneable lasers. Previous mode-lockers relied on SWNT solutions 13 , layers grown or spray-coated over optical parts 29 , or polymer composites 15,28 . The last of these, polymer composites, allow homogeneous dispersion and easy integration.…”

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confidence: 99%

Wideband-tuneable, nanotube mode-locked, fibre laser

et al. 2008

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Ultrashort-pulse lasers with spectral tuning capability have widespread applications in fields such as spectroscopy, biomedical research and telecommunications [1][2][3] . Mode-locked fibre lasers are convenient and powerful sources of ultrashort pulses 4 , and the inclusion of a broadband saturable absorber as a passive optical switch inside the laser cavity may offer tuneability over a range of wavelengths 5 . Semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors are widely used in fibre lasers [4][5][6] , but their operating range is typically limited to a few tens of nanometres 7,8 , and their fabrication can be challenging in the 1.3 -1.5 mm wavelength region used for optical communications 9,10 . Single-walled carbon nanotubes are excellent saturable absorbers because of their subpicosecond recovery time, low saturation intensity, polarization insensitivity, and mechanical and environmental robustness [11][12][13][14][15][16] . Here, we engineer a nanotube -polycarbonate film with a wide bandwidth (>300 nm) around 1.55 mm, and then use it to demonstrate a 2.4 ps Er 31 -doped fibre laser that is tuneable from 1,518 to 1,558 nm. In principle, different diameters and chiralities of nanotubes could be combined to enable compact, mode-locked fibre lasers that are tuneable over a much broader range of wavelengths than other systems.The development of compact, diode-pumped, ultrafast fibre lasers as alternatives for bulk solid-state lasers is fast progressing. To date, short pulse generation has been particularly effective using passive mode-locking techniques 4 . At present, the dominant technology in passively mode-locked fibre lasers is based on semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) 6 . Conventional SESAMs use III -V semiconductor multiple quantum wells grown on distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) 3 . Their fabrication involves molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) 6 . To reduce the relaxation time to sub-picosecond levels, either postgrowth ion-implantation or low-temperature growth is normally required 6,17 . Furthermore, SESAMs are based on a resonant nonlinearity, which tends to limit wavelength tuneability 18,19 for the shortest pulse lasers 20 . Their operating bandwidth is further limited by the bottom DBR section, which has a finite bandwidth for high reflectivity 19 . For example, the bandwidth of conventional Al x Ga 12x As/AlAs SESAMs is limited to about 60 nm by the bottom Bragg mirrors 21 . Wider bandwidth, &200 nm, was achieved using novel material pairs with larger refractive index difference (for example, AlGaAs/CaF 2 ) 21 , or by replacing the DBRs with metallic mirrors 22 . However, so far, no widely tuneable mode-locked laser has been reported using these novel structures. Trade-offs between design parameters have to be made in order to obtain targeted device characteristics 10 . A tuning range over 100 nm was achieved by SESAMs in solidstate and fibre lasers 18,23 . The widest was 125 nm, for a Yb-doped fibre laser operating at 1 mm. However, two SESAMs with complementary spectral properties had to b...

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Passively mode-locked lasers with 172-GHz fundamental-mode repetition rate pulsed by carbon nanotubes

Cited by 75 publications

References 11 publications

Nanotube–Polymer Composites for Ultrafast Photonics

Nanotube–Polymer Composites for Ultrafast Photonics

Ultrafast stretched-pulse fiber laser mode-locked by carbon nanotubes

Wideband-tuneable, nanotube mode-locked, fibre laser

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