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High-efficiency Brillouin random fiber laser using all-polarization maintaining ring cavity
Optics Express
|August 10, 2017
Summary
We developed a high-efficiency Brillouin random fiber laser (BRFL) using polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF). This PMF-BRFL demonstrates superior lasing efficiency and reduced noise compared to standard fiber lasers.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and Laser Technology
- Optical Engineering
- Materials Science
Background:
- Brillouin random fiber lasers (BRFLs) are crucial for various applications requiring stable light sources.
- Conventional BRFLs often face limitations in lasing efficiency and noise performance.
- Polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF) offers unique properties for enhancing optical feedback and gain mechanisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the performance of a novel Brillouin random fiber laser (BRFL) utilizing polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF) as both gain medium and feedback element.
- To compare the lasing efficiency and noise characteristics of the PMF-BRFL with conventional BRFL configurations.
- To assess the impact of PMF on reducing phase fluctuation, frequency jitter, and susceptibility to external disturbances.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a BRFL incorporating a 2-km PMF gain medium and a 500-m PMF for distributed Rayleigh scattering feedback.
- Comprehensive characterization of lasing efficiency and relative intensity noise (RIN) under varying conditions.
- Comparative analysis against BRFLs with half-open ring cavity and bidirectional pumping linear open configurations, as well as standard single-mode fiber (SMF) based BRFLs.
Main Results:
- Achieved a high lasing efficiency of 25% in the PMF-BRFL.
- Demonstrated significantly enhanced lasing efficiency and sub-kHz linewidth in the PMF-BRFL with a half-open ring cavity.
- Observed effective suppression of RIN and frequency instability induced by mechanical and thermal noise compared to SMF-based BRFLs.
- Attributed performance gains to polarization-matched efficient Brillouin gain in PMFs.
Conclusions:
- The proposed PMF-BRFL offers a high-efficiency and robust solution for stable laser generation.
- Utilizing PMF as both gain medium and feedback element in BRFLs significantly improves lasing performance and noise suppression.
- This advanced BRFL design holds promise for applications demanding high spectral purity and resilience to environmental disturbances.
