This manuscript presents a fully engineered fiber-optic magnetic field sensor based on the
Lorentz force. The sensor comprises a gold coated optical fiber that is soldered to a current carrying aluminum
ribbon. The ribbon vibrates in the presence of a magnetic field which is detected with fiber optic
interferometry. The mechanical-Q of the mechanism is measured to be 200±10% which is greater than
previous prototype designs by a factor between 2.7 and 11.3. This yields a higher resonant responsivity
and lower thermo-mechanical noise.
A systematic comparison of the phase noise performance for commercial off-the-shelf solid-state and semiconductor
laser technologies is presented. Specifically these technologies include, Nd:YAG lasers, Er-doped fiber lasers, external
cavity semiconductor lasers, and semiconductor DFB lasers. In addition to the measured phase noise performance,
price, output power, size, and other important variables for these different laser systems will be compared. Relative to
previously published results, the phase noise performance of inexpensive external cavity semiconductor lasers has
improved dramatically in recent years, now rivaling that of Er-doped fiber lasers.
The presence of laser phase noise (or frequency jitter) limits the resolution of a variety of interferometric sensors ranging from fiber optic acoustic sensors to gravitational wave detectors. At low frequencies, 0 to 100 kHz, the laser phase noise in semiconductor and diode pumped solid-state lasers is dominated by 1/f noise, the source of which is not well understood. We report on phase noise measurements for external cavity semiconductor lasers (ECSLs) utilizing a fiber Bragg grating in a compact butterfly package design produced by K2 Optronics. The results show that the phase noise is dominated by 1/f noise for low frequencies (10 to 100 kHz) transitioning to a white noise due to spontaneous emission for f > 100 kHz. We observed a factor of 40 improvement in the magnitude of the 1/f phase noise as compared to previously published results for a Hitachi HLP 1400 830 nm diode laser. The magnitude of the low frequency phase noise ranges from 100 to 10 microradians per meter per root Hz for frequencies ranging from 10 Hz to 2 kHz. These results are within a factor of 10 for phase noise measurements of the more expensive Lightwave Electronics Nd:YAG laser and a variety of Er-doped fiber lasers in this frequency range. For nominally similar ECSLs, experimental results indicate that the phase noise increases for lasers with larger leakage currents. Linewidth measurement results showed a Schawlow-Townes inverse power dependence for output powers up to 33 mWatts with the observed onset of a linewidth floor of 30 kHz. The RIN of the ECSLs varied from -120 to -155 dB Vrms per root Hz for frequencies ranging from 10 to 500 kHz. These RIN results are roughly equal to those observed for the Nd:YAG laser for frequencies less that 100 kHz. In summary, such low phase noise and RIN results make such ECSLs suitable for all but the most sensitive fiber optic sensing applications where the frequency range of interest is below 1 MHz.
Phase-shifted DFB fiber lasers (DFB-FL) can have two orthogonally polarized laser modes with a frequency offset proportional to the fiber birefringence. In order to achieve true single frequency operation one polarization mode must be extinguished. On the other hand, the existence of a polarization beat frequency (PBF) between the two states of polarization in a dual-mode DFB-FL can be utilized in a frequency-based fiber sensor. The underlying mechanisms leading to the quenching or preservation of the PBF must be controlled in either case. Twisting the DFB-FL to induce circular birefringence has been used to achieve single polarization-mode operation, though an explanation has been lacking. We present results of the reflection and transmission spectra, and the PBF, as a function of twist angle for two phase-shifted fiber gratings, and compare the results with recent theoretical calculations. We have also measured the PBF as a function of twist angle for the active case of a phase-shifted DFB-FL. Our results show that the PBF decreases monotonically as a function of twist angle for angles less than 700 degrees (over a 20 cm length), where the magnitude of the PBF signal can be suppressed by 20 dB or more. For larger twist angles, the magnitude of the PBF signal was not in general extinguished, in contrast to previously reported work. A possible explanation of such behavior will be presented in addition to a discussion of the applications of DFB-FLs as sensors.
Photonic-crystal distributed-feedback (PCDFB) lasers, in which the DFB grating is defined on a two-dimensional lattice, have the potential to provide near-diffraction-limited, spectrally pure sources of radiation. The conventional 1D DFB laser and also the angled-grating DFB (a-DFB) laser are special cases of the PCDFB geometry. For a first proof-of-principle demonstration, optical lithography and dry etching were used to pattern a 2nd-order two-dimensional rectangular lattice whose grating was tilted by 20 degree(s) relative to the facet normal. The antimonide type-II W active region emitted at (lambda) = 4.6-4.7 micrometers . For pulsed optical pumping, the emission line was much narrower (7-10 nm) than those of Fabry-Perot and (alpha) -DFB lasers fabricated from the same wafer, and the beam quality was enhanced by as much as a factor of 5 compared with the (alpha) -DFB. The observation of two distinct lines in the PCDFB spectrum is attributed to a near-degeneracy of grating resonances at two different symmetry points of the Brillouin zone for the rectangular lattice. Quantum-cascade (QC) PCDFB lasers are shown to be particularly attractive in the mid-IR spectral range since their linewidth enhancement factor, which governs the carrier-induced refractive index change, is close to zero. Using a time-domain Fourier-transform algorithm, we estimate that rectangular-lattice QC lasers should emit in a single mode up to a stripe width of approximately equals may be employed to maintain spectral and spatial coherence over stripes as wide as 3 mm.
We have studied the far-field characteristics of mid- infrared angled-grating distributed feedback ((alpha) -DFB) lasers with W active regions as a function of etch depth, stripe width, and optical pumping intensity. Whereas near- diffraction-limited output is obtained for 50 micrometers stripes at 10 times threshold, the beam quality degrades rapidly when either the stripe width or the pump intensity is increased. A key finding is that most of the degradation may be attributed to the onset of Fabry-Perot-like lasing modes that propagate along the direct path normal to the facets. We further show that these parasitic modes may be effectively eliminated by using ion bombardment to create angled virtual mesas surrounded by loss regions. The bombarded structures show substantial improvement of the beam quality for wide pump stripes and high pump intensities, with only a modest reduction in the efficiency.
Expanded mode alignment tolerant optical structures will play an important role in low-cost, large-scale packaging of optoelectronic devices. In this paper, we present two expanded mode structures for operation at 1.55 micrometers . Our devices use single epitaxial growth and conventional fabrication schemes. High butt-coupling efficiencies (> 40%) to a single mode fiber with relaxed alignment tolerances were achieved. The first of our devices uses adiabatic transformation over 500 micrometers . The second device uses resonant coupling over a much shorter region of 200 micrometers . The second scheme offers an interesting possibility for monolithic integration of active-passive components. We present the design and simulation results of such an integrated device.
We report on two techniques developed at the University of Maryland, College Park for fabricating expanded mode laser arrays. Both of these techniques use single epitaxial growth and conventional fabrication techniques. The first of these techniques is based on adiabatic mode transformation from a tightly confined active waveguide to a loosely confined large underlying passive waveguide over a mode transmission region 500 micrometers long. The devices butt couple to a standard single mode fiber with a coupling loss of 3.6 dB and reduced farfield divergence angles of 22 degree(s) and 9 degree(s) in the transverse and lateral directions respectively. The excess mode transformation loss is 1.3 dB. The second device is based on a novel resonant coupling scheme between two waveguides of different dimensions and refractive indices. The mode is transformed over a taper length of 200 micrometers with excess mode transformation loss of 0.6 dB. Butt coupling efficiencies of 41% (3.8 dB coupling loss) is achieved to a standard single mode fiber. The farfield divergence angles achieved are 24 degree(s) and 13 degree(s) in the transverse and lateral directions respectively.
Intrinsically large mode semiconductor lasers and mode transformers monolithically integrated with semiconductor lasers, are two promising approaches for making alignment tolerant structures that can be used for passive alignment to single mode optical fibers. This technique, in conjunction with a recently developed silicon waferboard integration scheme, will significantly simplify the assembly process and the packaging of transmitter laser arrays. The passive alignment technique consists of octagonal electrodeposited copper bosses to physically register the laser chip with percussion etched inverted pyramidal receptacles and v-grooves in a silicon substrate.
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