Ring Lasers
Ring Lasers
Ring Lasers
Abstract—Graphene oxide (GO) has been used for optical inten- as stretching CFBG, the wavelength tunability can be also
sity manipulation and short pulse shaping. Most interestingly, it achieved [23]. Very recently, single-layer graphene has been val-
can be used as a broadband light absorber. Such property has been idated the intrinsic broadband operation property [25]. Among
systematically investigated in this paper, in a broad wavelength
range from 1 to 2-μm. We fabricated one type of GO/polyvinyl al- carbon based materials, graphene oxide (GO), as an excellent
cohol (GO/PVA) film and use it as a saturable absorber (SA) in Er-, nonlinear optical material, can be employed for optical inten-
Yb-, and Tm-doped fiber ring lasers, respectively, to build pulsed sity manipulation and short pulse shaping [26]–[28]. These two
fiber lasers. It is demonstrated that broad range of mode-locking characteristics are developed as optical limiters (OLs) and sat-
in the 1-μm and 1.5-μm regions can be obtained. In addition, urable absorbers (SAs) [28]. OL allows a low transmission at
Q-switching around wavelength of 1870 nm can be obtained in a
Tm-doped fiber ring lasers. To the best our knowledge, this is the high light densities, which can be used for light protection and
broadest wavelength regime in which one type of GO SA film can in sensor focal-plane. While SA gives a low absorption at high
be used to build all-fiber pulsed ring lasers. light densities, which can be used to achieve ultrashort pulses
Index Terms—Fiber lasers, graphene oxide, mode-locking, in solid state lasers, waveguide lasers, fiber lasers and even
Q-switching, modulation depth. semiconductor lasers [29]–[34]. GO can be considered as an
insulating and disordered analogue of a highly conducting crys-
I. INTRODUCTION talline graphene [26]. However, the fast carrier relaxation and
ARIOUS carbon based materials, due to their unique large saturable absorption of few-layered GO indicate that oxi-
V and outstanding optical, magnetic, electronic and struc-
tural properties, have been intensively studied and applied in
dation mainly exists at the edge areas and has negligible effects
on ultrafast dynamics and optical nonlinearities [35].
many fields, such as ultrafast optics [1]–[7], biosensing [8], op- GO, as a cheap carbon material which can be mass produced,
tical modulator [9], and photodetector [10]–[12]. Single walled- has been widely utilized in passively mode-mocked lasers as
carbon nanotube (SWNT) and graphene have been applied in a SA. Recently, GO-based passively mode-locked fiber lasers
ultrafast optics [12]–[24]. SWNT has also been used in the have been demonstrated in Er-doped, Yb-doped, and Tm-doped
broadband technology by combining SWNTs with diameter fiber lasers, respectively [31], [36]–[39]. We have reported
distribution [15]. Through tuning the extra components such GO walled paper absorber that was applied in the Yb-doped
passively mode-locked fiber laser operating in the all-normal-
dispersion (ANDI) regimes [31]. Liu et al. demonstrated Er-
doped fiber lasers mode-locked by using a hollow-core photon-
Manuscript received November 29, 2013; revised February 17, 2014 and ics crystal fiber filled with GO solution [36]. Recently, Jung
March 9, 2014; accepted March 10, 2014. Date of publication March 20, 2014; et al. investigated the GO SA implemented on a side-polished
date of current version May 7, 2014. This work was supported by A∗ STAR fiber for femtosecond pulse generation in the 2-μm region [38].
SERC under Grant 112-290-4018 and A∗ STAR SERC Advanced Optics in En-
gineering Program under Grant 122 360 0004. This work was also supported However, all the aforementioned results are reported only in one
in part by the CAS/SAFEA International Partnership Program for Creative Re- particular operation wavelength region. It is not clear whether
search Teams. one type of GO SA film can perform in a wide spectral range
X. Li, Y. Tang, Z. Yan, B. Meng, and G. Liang are with the School of
Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Sin- as a SA, e.g. from the 1-μm region for Yb-doped fiber (YDF)
gapore 639798 (e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; ZYAN004@ laser, to the 1.5-μm region for Er-doped fiber (EDF) laser, and
e.ntu.edu.sg; [email protected]; [email protected]). up to the 1.9-μm region for Tm-doped fiber (TDF) laser. In
Y. Wang and H. Sun are with the Centre for Disruptive Photonic Tech-
nologies, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technologi- addition, even it can operate in different wavelength regions,
cal University, Singapore 637371 (e-mail: [email protected]; HDSun@ what would be the performance of those pulsed fiber lasers? All
ntu.edu.sg). these questions should be answered in order to better understand
X. Yu and Y. Zhang are with the Singapore Institute of Manufac-
turing Technology, Singapore 638075 (e-mail: [email protected]; the saturable absorption properties of GO so as to apply it to
[email protected]). the implementation of high performance pulsed fiber lasers in a
X. Cheng is with the JPT Electronics Pte., Ltd, Singapore (e-mail: broadband wavelength range.
[email protected]).
Q. J. Wang is with the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and In this paper, we systematically investigated the GO SA prop-
with the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technologi- erties by using a Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser at different wave-
cal University, Singapore 639798 (e-mail: [email protected]). lengths tuned by optical parametric oscillator (OPO) technique
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. and a home-made passively mode-locked EDF laser. The opti-
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JSTQE.2014.2312952 cal SA property has been studied in three different wavelength
1077-260X © 2014 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
1101107 IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 20, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014
In the experiments, the GO sheets, fabricated by ultrasonic Fig. 1. (a) Linear transmission spectra of the GO/PVA films (green dashed
agitation after chemical oxidation of graphite, consist of few line) and the pure PVA films (red dashed line), in the wavelength range from
∼300 to 2500 nm. (b) Raman spectrum of GO/PVA films.
atomic layers with a thickness of 0.1–5 μm (typically from
1 to 3 layers). GO wall paper absorber is prepared by using
vertical evaporation method [29], [31]. The fabrication process where Is , αS and αN S are the saturation intensity, saturable,
of the GO is free of surfactant such as sodium dodecyl sulfate. and nonsaturable absorption, respectively.
GO/polyvinyl alcohol (GO/PVA) dispersion is mixed with 0.6 g The nonlinear SA properties of GO absorber are studied by
PVA powder and 0.25 mg GO aqueous solution at 90 ◦ C for 3 h. power-dependent measurements at different wavelengths with a
Then, the GO/PVA dispersion is poured into a polystyrene cell Ti:sapphire femtosecond lasers and an OPO system. SA proper-
to evaporate for several days. After evaporation the GO/PVA ties can be obviously observed with the increase of the incident
SA is formed. The average thickness of GO/PVA membrane is light intensity. The corresponding nonlinear transmission spec-
about 30 μm. We use a small piece of the GO SA film in the trum of the GO SA is shown in Fig. 2. The nonlinear transmis-
passively mode-locked fiber lasers by inserting the film between sion of the GO absorber has been measured at three different
two fiber connectors. In addition, the graphene oxide can also be wavelengths (i.e., 1.06, 1.5, 1.9 μm), respectively. Due to the ma-
fabricated by liquid phase exfoliation method, which is cheap terial scattering losses and the fiber connector-induced losses,
and easily scalable method [40], [41]. the measured minimum nonlinear transmission at low power
Fig. 1(a) shows the linear transmission spectrum of GO/PVA intensity are 65.8%, 70.6%, and 72.1%, respectively. The mea-
film and PVA thin film measured by using the UV-VIS-NIR sured values are smaller than the linear transmissions at the
spectrometer. The GO/PVA film experiences higher losses at corresponding wavelengths as shown in Fig. 2. The modulation
the wavelength regime below 500 nm. The linear transmissions depths of GO SA (i.e., αS ) are 20.6% at 1.06 μm, 16.1% at
at 1060, 1550, and 1900 nm are 78.1%, 83.7%, and 85.8%, 1.5 μm, and 12.8% at 1.9 μm. As seen in Fig. 2, we can cal-
respectively. culate that the saturation intensities (i.e., Is ) of the GO SA at
Fig. 1(b) shows the Raman spectrum of the GO/PVA SA film different wavelengths are about 1.41, 1.32, and 0.90 MW/cm2 ,
excited by a 532 nm laser. The spectrum shows two prominent respectively.
peaks (i.e., D band at 1336 cm−1 , and G band at 1612.4 cm−1 ). D
band can be interpreted as the structural imperfections induced
by the attachment of hydroxyl and epoxide groups on the carbon III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
basal plane. The G band is related to the first-order scattering The GO sheet was mixed with the PVA as the SA film. A
from the E2g mode. Only a tiny 2-D band is found, indicating piece of GO SA with size of 2 mm2 is placed into the fiber
that the GO films of considerable thickness were coated. There connectors to form a mode locker. Fig. 3 shows the general
are some other peaks as well as the background as seen in the experimental setup for the GO SA film applied in different
Raman spectrum. They are caused by some acrylic or some other rear-earth doped fiber ring lasers. The GO SA film is inserted
polymers in the SA films, induced in the fabrication processes. into three different fiber ring cavities, which uses 0.8-m YDF
The nonlinear SA property of GO as a function of light in- (CorActive YB164 with core diameter of around 6 μm, cladding
tensity can be expressed as [3], [42] diameter of 125 μm, Numerical Aperture of 0.14, and Core Ab-
sorption of about 500 dB/m at 976 nm. The group velocity
αS dispersion (GVD) is about −43.33 ps/nm/km at 1030 nm.), 0.8-
α(I) = + αN S (1)
1 + I/Is EDF (Liekki Er80-8/125 with Mode Field Diameter of about
LI et al.: BROADBAND SATURABLE ABSORPTION OF GRAPHENE OXIDE THIN FILM AND ITS APPLICATION IN PULSED FIBER LASERS 1101107
(a)
(a)
(b)
(b)
(c) (c)
Fig. 4. Passively mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser based on GO film at
Fig. 5. Passively mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser based on the GO film at
a pump power of 78 mW. (a) Spectrum, (b) the corresponding pulse train,
a pump power of 80 mW. (a) Spectrum (The center wavelength is 1559.6 nm),
(c) single pulse durations with measured result and Gaussian fit result. (The
(b) corresponding pulse train, (c) autocorrelation (AC) trace of the pulse. If a
center wavelength is 1029.5 nm.).
Sech2 profile is assumed for fitting, the pulse duration is the width of AC trace
divided by a factor of 1.54.
V. CONCLUSION
The ultra-broadband SA property of GO/PVA films has been
studied in three different wavelength ranging from 1 to 2 μm.
This type of GO SA film has been investigated in three-
wavelength fiber ring lasers based on Yb-, Er-, and Tm-doped
fibers, respectively. The experimental results demonstrated that
(b) shows the spectra and the corresponding oscilloscope trace.
the modulation depths of the SA vary at different wavelengths.
The center wavelength is 1871 nm and only the substrate of the
Mode locking of dissipative soliton and conventional soliton
spectrum becomes broadened when Q-switching are observed
can be obtained at 1.06 and 1.56 μm, respectively, whereas Q-
in the temporal domain. The pulse width is about 35 μs, and the
switching can be obtained at the wavelength of 1.87 μm. To the
output power is about 20 mW.
best of our knowledge, this is the broadest wavelength regime
With further increasing the power of the EDFA, the repetition
in which one type of GO SA film can operate in all-fiber pulsed
rate of the Tm-doped Q-switched fiber laser increases from
ring lasers.
12.5 to 33 kHz and the pulse width decreases from 20.5 to
12.5 μs. Fig. 7(a) shows the corresponding pulse trains observed
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LI et al.: BROADBAND SATURABLE ABSORPTION OF GRAPHENE OXIDE THIN FILM AND ITS APPLICATION IN PULSED FIBER LASERS 1101107
[49] X. Liu, J. Lagsgaard, and D. Turchinovich, “Monolithic highly stable Yb- Guozhen Liang was born in Fujian, China, in 1986. He received the B.S. de-
doped femtosecond fiber lasers for applications in practical biophotonics,” gree in physics from the University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei,
IEEE J. Sel. Topics Quantum Electron., vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 1439–1450, China, in 2010. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in micro-
Jul./Aug. 2012. electronics at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang
[50] J. W. Nicholson, S. Ramachandran, and S. Ghalmi, “A passively- Technological University, Singapore. His current research interests include the
modelocked, Yb-doped, figure-eight, fiber laser utilizing anomalous- development of high performance terahertz quantum cascade lasers, terahertz
dispersion higher-order-mode fiber,” Opt. Exp., vol. 15, pp. 6623–6628, plasmonics, and integrated graphene devices.
2007.
[51] X. Liu, “Mechanism of high-energy pulse generation without wave break-
ing in mode-locked fiber lasers,” Phys. Rev. A, vol. 82, pp. 053808-1–
053808-5, 2010. Handong Sun is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Physical
[52] P. Wan, L. M. Yang, and J. Liu, “High pulse energy 2 μm femtosecond and Mathematical Science since 2007. He received the Bachelor’s degree in
fiber laser,” Opt. Exp., vol. 21, pp. 1798–1803, 2013. physics from the Dalian University of Technology, Master’s and the Ph.D.
[53] S. Kobtsev, S. Kukarin, and Y. Fedotov, “Ultra-low repetition rate mode- degrees from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Hong
locked fiber laser with high-energy pulses,” Opt. Exp., vol. 16, pp. 21936– Kong University of Science and Technology, respectively. His research interests
21941, 2008. include optoelectronic materials and devices, semiconductor physics; optical
[54] Z. Zheng, C. Zhao, S. Lu, Y. Chen, Y. Li, H. Zhang, and S. Wen, “Mi- spectroscopy; nano-materials and technology.
crowave and optical saturable absorption in graphene,” Opt. Exp., vol. 20,
pp. 23201–23214, 2012.
[55] S. Chen, C. Zhao, Y. Li, H. Huang, S. Lu, H. Zhang, and S. Wen, “Broad-
band optical and microwave nonlinear response in topological insulator,” Xia Yu received the B.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees from the School of Electrical
Opt. Mater Exp., vol. 4, pp. 587–596, 2014. and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in
[56] C. A. Zaugg, Z. P. Sun, V. J. Wittwer, D. Popa, S. Milana, T. S. Kulmala, February 2003 and April 2007, respectively. From June 2006 until September
R. S. Sundaram, M. Mangold, O. D. Sieber, M. Golling, Y. Lee, J. H. Ahn, 2008, she worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the school of EEE, NTU.
A. C. Ferrari, and U. Keller, “Ultrafast and widely tuneable vertical- She is currently an Assistant Research Scientist in the Precision Measurements
external-cavity surface-emitting laser, mode-locked by a graphene- Group, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), Agency
integrated distributed Bragg reflector,” Opt. Exp., vol. 21, pp. 31548– for Science Technology and Research (A∗STAR). Her research interests include
31559, 2013. photonic crystal-based devices, microstructured waveguides, photonic sensors,
and surface plasmons.
Xueping Cheng received the B.Eng. and M.Eng. degrees from the Optoelec-
tronics Engineering Department, Huazhong University of Science and Tech-
Zhiyu Yan was born in Yunnan, China, in 1987. She received the B.Sc. degree
nology, China, in 1997 and 2001, respectively. He received the Ph.D. degree
in electronics information and technology from Beijing Normal University,
from Network Technology Research Centre, Nanyang Technological Univer-
Beijing, China, in 2010 and the M.Sc. degree in electronics from Nanyang
sity, Singapore. After receiving the M.Eng. degree, he carried out research in
Technological University, Singapore, in 2012. She is currently working toward
the FBG-based devices design and package in Network Technology Research
the Ph.D. degree at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research
Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. In early 2003, he joined
interests include fiber laser, supercontinuum generation.
Hewlett-Packard Singapore Pvt., Ltd., and worked in the area of Laser Ablation
and MEMS package. His research is mainly focused on the high power fiber
laser.
Yue Wang received the B.S. degree from Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in photonics at Nanyang Tech-
nological University, Singapore. His research interests include the study of linear
and nonlinear optical properties of semiconductor quantum dots, nanowires, and Qi Jie Wang received the Ph.D. degree in electrical and electronic engineering
2-D nanomaterials. from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in 2005. After the Ph.D.
degree, he worked at NTU. From 2007 to 2009, he joined the School of Engi-
neering and Applied Science, Harvard University, in Prof. Federico Capasso’s
Bo Meng was born in Liaoning, China, in 1984. He received the B.S. de- Group as a Postdoctoral Researcher. In October 2009, he was a joint Nanyang
gree in optical information science and technology from Harbin Engineering Assistant Professor at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Mi-
University, Harbin, China, and the M.S. degree from the Harbin Institute of croelectronics Division) and the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Technology, Harbin, China, in 2007 and 2009, respectively. He is currently (Physics and Applied Physics Division). His current research interests are to ex-
working toward the Ph.D. degree in microelectronics at the School of Electrical plore theoretically and experimentally nano-structured semiconductor and fiber-
and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His based materials, and nanophotonic devices (nanoplasmonics, photonic crystals,
current research interests include the development of tunable singlemode quan- and metamaterials) with an emphasis on investigating the fundamental proper-
tum cascade laser devices, physics and modulation of semiconductor lasers, ties (optical and electrical) of semiconductor and high power fiber lasers, and
mid-infrared plasmonics, and microfabrication. nanophotonic devices in the infrared frequency regimes.