We report an environmentally insensitive, all-fiberized, polarization-maintained (PM), self-starting, mode-locked Tm fiber laser cavity enabled by a single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) saturable absorber. This produces dissipative solitons at 1876 nm, with a repetition rate of 19.2 MHz, and a maximum average power of 21.5 mW, corresponding to a pulse energy of 1.1 nJ. The output pulse has a duration of 4.2 ps and can be compressed to 391 fs using a grating-based compressor. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of an all-fiberized, all-PM, dissipative-soliton, mode-locked thulium fiber laser using a SWNT saturable absorber.
We report an all-fiberized, dissipative-soliton, mode-locked thulium fiber laser enabled by a single-wall carbon nanotube saturable absorber operating at 1790 nm for deep-penetration three-photon microscopy in bio-medical imaging applications. The laser provides output pulses with a maximum pulse energy of 1.3 nJ and a minimum pulse duration of 310 fs after compression. With a new pump recycling design, a low pump threshold of 110 mW is observed. Consequently, a compact mode-locked thulium fiber laser cavity using a single-mode pump laser diode is successfully realized.
Stimulated Raman Histology (SRH) can be used for label-free histological tissue analysis. However the current approaches are limited to two Raman peaks, thus restricting chemically-specific insights. We present a broadband coherent Raman platform (CRP), which overcomes these limitations combining an all-fiber dual output laser and a multichannel lock-in amplifier. This enables the simultaneous detection of 38 channels across the entire CH spectrum (2800-3100 cm-1) in parallel, facilitating chemometric and multimodal tissue analysis. By incorporating AI-driven virtual H&E staining and tissue segmentation for diagnostic purposes, it advances SRH towards clinical-diagnostic.
We combine an all-fiber dual wavelength, self-synchronized laser and a dedicated multi-channel detection unit to perform state-of-the-art multiplex Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) microscopy. The system covers the full CH spectrum in 1 μs reaching shot-noise limited performances with 25 μW per detection channel. This all-inone solution is based on a passively synchronized dual-wavelength laser source with shot-noise limited relative intensity noise from 600 kHz and a modular multi-channel lock-in detection unit. The synergistic design between laser source and detection system simplifies multiplex SRS implementation for real-time full-chemical imaging.
We report the polarization, the interference far-filed pattern, the multimodal spectral emission and the power extraction of the emitted beam from a set of electrically-pumped random quantum cascade lasers in the terahertz range. By integrating, on chip, a non-linear multilayer graphene stack with the laser gain medium, we demonstrate self-induced phase-coherence between the naturally incoherent random modes. We then employ the devised random laser in a detectorless near-field imaging system, exploiting the intracavity reinjection of the laser field via self-mixing interferometry in a confocal microscope for speckle-free tomography with nm-size resolution
We report room temperature terahertz detection in hBN/graphene/hBN heterostructures. The obtained record combination of high-speed (response time < 1 ns) and high sensitivity (noise equivalent power ~ 100 pWHz-1/2) is enabled by the photo-thermoelectric effect.
Here we study the exciton valley relaxation dynamics in atomically thin MoS2 by non-equilibrium optical techniques. A spin polarized excitons population is selectively created in a single valley by circularly polarized ultrashort laser pulses resonant with the optical gap, while the subsequent decay of the valley polarization is measured as a rotation of a linearly polarized probe beam due to a transient Faraday effect. We show that the photoinduced valley polarization in monolayer MoS2 is quenched after few ps due to an efficient intervalley scattering channel and it displays a peculiar bi-exponential behavior. This rapid time scale is in a good agreement with an intervalley scattering mechanism mediated by an electron-hole exchange interaction. Moreover time resolved circular dichroism experiments performed in the same experimental condition confirms the fast valley relaxation dynamics observed with transient Faraday rotation technique.
We report mode-locking of an optically pumped VECSEL using a graphene-based saturable absorber mirror (GSAM). Self-starting and stable modelocked operation is demonstrated with 473 fs pulses at 1.5 GHz repetition rate and 949 nm center wavelength. Wavelength tuning is achieved over a 46 nm bandwidth. We discuss the mirror design, the fabrication of the GSAMs, and give an outlook on further optimization of the design, including dielectric top coatings to protect the graphene and to increase the flexibility in the design.
In the past decade, passively modelocked optically pumped vertical external cavity surface emitting lasers (OPVECSELs), sometimes referred to as semiconductor disk lasers (OP-SDLs), impressively demonstrated the potential for generating femtosecond pulses at multi-Watt average output powers with gigahertz repetition rates. Passive modelocking with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) is well established and offers many advantages such as a flexible design of the parameters and low non-saturable losses. Recently, graphene has emerged as an attractive wavelength-independent alternative saturable absorber for passive modelocking in various lasers such as fiber or solid-state bulk lasers because of its unique optical properties. Here, we present and discuss the modelocked VECSELs using graphene saturable absorbers. The broadband absorption due to the linear dispersion of the Dirac electrons in graphene makes this absorber interesting for wavelength tunable ultrafast VECSELs. Such widely tunable modelocked sources are in particularly interesting for bio-medical imaging applications. We present a straightforward approach to design the optical properties of single layer graphene saturable absorber mirrors (GSAMs) suitable for passive modelocking of VECSELs. We demonstrate sub-500 fs pulses from a GSAM modelocked VECSEL. The potential for broadband wavelength tuning is confirmed by covering 46 nm in modelocked operation using three different VECSEL chips and up to 21 nm tuning in pulsed operation is achieved with one single gain chip. A linear and nonlinear optical characterization of different GSAMs with different absorption properties is discussed and can be compared to SESAMs.
Recently, great effort has been devoted to waveguide lasers, because of their inherent simplicity with respect to
fiber lasers. Actually, due to their compactness, such lasers are expected to achieve a higher temporal coherence,
making them attracting for fiber optical reflectometry, distribute sensing, and range finding applications. Furthermore,
the availablity of fast saturable absorbers based on carbon nanotubes allows for a cheap and reliable
implementation of the passive mode-locking technique with the potential for generating high repetition rate pulse
trains. Such lasers will provide low-noise and inexpensive pulsed sources for applications in optical communications,
optically sampled analog-to-digital converters, and spectral line-by-line pulse shaping. We report here on
advanced waveguide lasers, operating both in continuous wave and pulsed regimes, based on active waveguides
fabricated by femtosecond laser writing in a phosphate glass substrate. A single longitudinal mode waveguide
laser providing more than 50 mW with 21% slope efficiency was demonstrated. Furthermore, by combining a high
gain waveguide and an innovated fiber-pigtailed saturable absorber based on carbon nanotubes, a mode-locked
ring laser providing transform limited 1.6-ps pulses was also demonstrated.
Carbon coatings of thickness down to 2 nanometers are needed to increase the storage density in magnetic hard disks and reach the 100 Gbit/in2 target. Methods to measure the properties of these ultrathin hard films still have to be developed. We show that combining Surface Brillouin Scattering (SBS) and x-ray reflectivity measurements the elastic constants of such films are accessible. Tetrahedral amorphous carbon films of thickness down to about 2 nm were deposited on Si by an S bend filtered cathodic vacuum arc, achieving a continuous coverage on large areas free of macroparticles. Film thickness and mass density are measured by x-ray reflectivity: densities about 3 g/cm3 are found, indicating a significant sp3 content. The dispersion relations of surface acoustic waves are measured by SBS. We show that for thicknesses above approximately 4 nm these waves can be described by a continuum elastic model based on a single homogeneous equivalent film. The elastic constants can then be obtained by fitting the dispersion relations, computed for given film properties, to the measured dispersion relations. For thicknesses of 3 nm or less qualitative differences among films are well measurable, but quantitative results are less reliable. We have thus shown that we can grow and characterise nanometer size tetrahedral amorphous carbon films, which maintain their high density and peculiar mechanical properties down to around 4-nm thickness, satisfying the requirements set for the hard disk coating material.
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