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In recent years, there has been a growing interest towards compact high peak-power pulsed laser sources for applications such as LIDAR, range findings, remote sensing, communications and material processing. A common laser architecture used to realize these sources is the Master Oscillator Power Amplifier (MOPA), in which a master oscillator produces a highly coherent beam and a fiber amplifier boosts the output power, while preserving its main spectral properties. Phosphate glasses are recognized to be an ideal host material for engineering the amplification stage of a pulsed MOPA since they enable extremely high doping levels of rare-earth ions to be incorporated in the glass matrix without clustering, thus allowing the fabrication of compact active devices with high gain per unit length. With the aim of realizing compact optical fiber amplifiers operating at 1 and 1.5 µm, a series of highly Yb3+- and Yb3+/Er3+-doped custom phosphate glass compositions were designed and fabricated to be used as active materials for the core of the amplifiers. Suitable cladding glass compositions were explored and final core/cladding glass pairs were selected to realize single-mode and multi-mode optical fibers. Core and cladding glasses were synthesized by melt-quenching technique. The core glass was then cast into a cylindrical mold to form a rod, while the cladding glass was shaped into a tube by rotational casting method or extrusion technique. The latter has been extensively employed for the manufacturing of tellurite and germanate glass preforms, but only recently the first example of active phosphate fiber preform fabricated by this method has been reported by our research team. Phosphate fibers were then manufactured by preform drawing, with the preform being obtained by the rod-in-tube technique. Preliminary results of pulsed optical amplification at 1 and 1.5 µm are presented for a single-stage MOPA.

We will report the first demonstration of an optically cooled fiber amplifier. The fiber was made of silica, had a core doped with Yb, and was core-pumped to achieve both gain and cooling in the core via anti-Stokes fluorescence. Gains larger than 10 dB were measured while maintaining a negative average temperature change along the fiber.

We report what we believe to be the first radiation-balanced fiber amplifier - a device that provides optical gain while experiencing no temperature rise. The gain medium is a silica fiber with a 21 um-diameter core highly doped with Yb3+ (2.52 wt.%) and co doped with 2.00 wt.% Al to reduce concentration quenching. The amplifier was core-pumped with 1040 nm light to create anti-Stokes fluorescence (ASF) cooling and gain in the core at 1064 nm. Using a custom slow-light FBG sensor with mK resolution, temperature measurements were performed at multiple locations along the amplifier fiber. A 4.35-m fiber pumped with 2.62 W produced 17 dB of gain while the average fiber temperature remained slightly below room temperature. This advancement is a fundamental step toward the creation of ultra-stable lasers necessary to many applications, especially low-noise sensing and high-precision metrology., 8 pages including the supplementary material (SM). 5 figures in the main text, 2 in the SM

We report on a single-frequency fiber master oscillator power amplifier utilizing a polarization-maintaining step-index fiber with an Al/Ce/F core-glass composition doped with a very high Yb concentration (0.25 at.%). This design made it possible to use a very short fiber (~1 m) and to coil it in a tight radius (4 cm in the amplifier, while 2 cm gave similarly negligible bending loss) so that the packaged system is one of the most compact reported to date (~0.6 L). The use of a short fiber increased the threshold for stimulated Brillouin scattering well above 100 W while maintaining near-ideal beam quality. The fiber was pumped with a diode-pumped solid-state laser and cooled passively by spooling it on a grooved aluminum mandrel. The amplifier produced a strongly linearly polarized output at 1064 nm in the fundamental mode (M2 ≤ 1.2) with a 150 kHz linewidth and a power of 81.5 W for 107 W of launched pump power. No deleterious effects from the elevated thermal load were observed. The residual photodarkening loss resulting from the high Yb concentration, found to be small (~0.7 dB/m inferred at 1064 nm) with accelerated aging, reduced the output power by only ~20% after 150 h of operation.

Metallic nanowire-based transparent electrodes (TEs) are potential alternatives to indium tin oxide (ITO). To achieve a high performance [sheet resistance (Rs) 90%]...

The performance of optical fibers is dependent on both the fiber design and the materials from which it is made. While much of the development over the past few decades has focused on fiber geometry and microstructuring, more recent analyses have shown clear benefits of addressing parasitic nonlinearities at the origins of their light–matter interactions. Reported here are results on intrinsically low Brillouin and thermo-optic core fibers, fabricated using modified chemical vapor deposition. Specifically, fibers in the Yb-doped A l 2 O 3 − P 2 O 5 − B 2 O 3 − S i O 2 system are developed based on how each glass constituent affects the material parameters that enable both stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) and transverse mode instability (TMI). One fiber, developed to be very heavily doped, exhibited thermo-optic and Brillouin gain coefficients up to ∼ 3 d B and 6 dB below conventional laser fibers, respectively. A second fiber, designed to approximate a commercial double-clad laser fiber, which necessitated lower doping levels, was output power scaled to over 1 kW with an efficiency over 70% and no observed photodarkening under conventional testing. Design curves for the enabling material properties that drive TMI and SBS also are provided as functions of compositions as a tool for the community to further study and develop intrinsically low-nonlinearity fiber lasers.

Interest in compact, single-frequency fiber amplifiers has increased within many scientific and industrial applications. The main challenge is the onset of nonlinear effects, which limit their power scaling. Here we demonstrate a compact, highpower, single-frequency, polarization-maintaining, continuous-wave fiber amplifier using only one amplification stage. We developed the fiber amplifier using a master oscillator fiber amplifier architecture, where a low-noise, singlefrequency, solid-state laser operating at 1064 nm was used as a seed source. We evaluated the amplifier's performance by using several state-of-the-art, small-core, Ytterbium (Yb)-doped fibers, as well as an in-house-made, highly Yb-doped fiber. An output power of 82 W was achieved with no sign of stimulated Brillouin scattering. A good beam quality and a polarization extinction ratio (PER) of < 25 dB were achieved. The compact fiber amplifier can be a competitive alternative to multi stage designed fiber amplifiers.

There is an increasing demand for compact, reliable and versatile sensor concepts for pH-level monitoring within several industrial, chemical as well as bio-medical applications. Many pHsensors concepts have been proposed, however, there is still a need for improved sensor solutionswith respect to reliability, durability and miniaturization but also for multiparameter sensing. Here wepresent a conceptual verification, which includes theoretical simulations as well as experimentalevaluation of a fiber optic pH-sensor based on a bio-compatible pH sensitive material not previouslyused in this context. The fiber optic sensor is based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometric technique,where the pH sensitive material is coated on a short, typically 20-25 mm thin core fiber splicedbetween two standard single mode fibers. The working principle of the sensor is simulated by usingCOMSOL Multiphysics. The simulations are used as a guideline for the construction of the sensorsthat have been experimentally evaluated in different liquids with pH ranging from 1.95 to 11.89. The results are promising, showing the potential for the development of bio-compatible fiber optic pH sensor with short response time, high sensitivity and broad measurement range. The developedsensor concept can find future use in many medical- or bio-chemical applications as well as inenvironmental monitoring of large areas. Challenges encountered during the sensor developmentdue to variation in the design parameters are discussed. MDPI Photonics Special Issue "Advanced Optical Materials and Devices"

Environmental monitoring of land, water and air, is an area receiving greater attention because of human health and safety concerns. Monitoring the type of pollution and concentration levels is vital, so that appropriate contingency plans can be determined. To effectively monitor the environment, there is a need for new sensors and sensor systems that suits these type of measurements. However, the diversity of sensors suitable for low, battery powered- and large area sensor systems are limited. We have manufactured and characterized a flexible pH sensor using laser processing and blade coating techniques that is able to measure pH between 2.94 and 11.80. The sensor consists of an interdigital capacitance with a pH sensitive hydrogel coating. Thin sensors can reach 95% of their final value value within 3 min, and are stable after 4 min. Good repeatability was achieved in regard to cycling of the sensor with different pH and multiple measurements from dry state. We have also studied the relation between an interdigital capacitance penetration depth and hydrogels expansion. We believe that our passive sensor is suitable to be used in low power and large area sensor networks.

Networks of metallic nanowires are promising candidates for transparent and flexible electrodes, as alternatives to metal oxide based electrodes such as indium tin oxide (ITO). Such nanowire electrodes can have excellent performance, however, the mechanical and chemical stability of the electrodes are usually week. Here, we report a simple method for fabricating transparent and flexible gold electrodes that have excellent mechanical and chemical stability. Gold nanoparticles were synthesized and subsequently aggregated by adding sodium hydroxide into the solution. The aggregated nanoparticles were deposited on a polycarbonate (PC) filter membrane followed by flash light sintering (FLS). By using this method, transparent and flexible gold electrodes were produced, with electric properties found to be stable under mechanical treatment such as folding, peeling and rubbing and under chemical treatment such as water, ethanol, nitric acid and sodium hydroxide. A nanosecond pulsed (7-9 ns), solid state laser (SSL) at 355 nm coupled to a galvo-scanning mirror system was used for laser assisted processing (patterning and ablation) of the gold nanoparticle thin films to further increase the transparency. By careful evaluation of laser (pulse energy, repetition rate etc.) and scanning parameters (speed, pitch etc.) a resolution better than 10 um could be realized by this laser scanning system, which are used to optimize the transmission and conductivity of the FLS gold nanoparticle layer. It is found that this method have potential to produce mechanically and chemically stable electrodes with transmittance over 90% and sheet resistance less than 100 Ohm/sq.

MoS2 has been studied intensively during recent years as a semiconducting material in several fields, including optoelectronics, for applications such as solar cells and phototransistors. The photoresponse mechanisms of MoS2 have been discussed but are not fully understood, especially the phenomenon in which the photocurrent slowly increases. Here, we report on a study of the photoresponse flash-light-processed MoS2 films of different thicknesses and areas. The photoresponse of such films under different light intensities and bias voltages was measured, showing significant current changes with a quick response followed by a slow one upon exposure to pulsed light. Our in-depth study suggested that the slow response was due to the photothermal effect that heats the MoS2; this hypothesis was supported by the resistivity change at different temperatures. The results obtained from MoS2 films with various thicknesses indicated that the minority-carrier diffusion length was 1.36 µm. This study explained the mechanism of the slow response of the MoS2 film and determined the effective thickness of MoS2 for a photoresponse to occur. The method used here for fabricating MoS2 films could be used for fabricating optoelectronic devices due to its simplicity.

Long and short path length differences interferometric sensing modalities have been combined based on immobilizing hydrogel on thin-core optical fiber end face. Dual parameter sensing of hydrogel swelling and refractive index was demonstrated.

In this work we present an ink-jet printed temperature sensor consisting of PEDOT:PSS printed on paper suitable for packaging, flexible electronics and other printed applications. The substrate showed to have a large influence on both the resistance as well as the temperature sensitivity of the PEDOT:PSS ink. This effect is most likely due to NaCl content in the photo paper coating, which reacts with the PEDOT:PSS. The temperature coefficient of a prepared device of α = −0.030 relative to room temperature (22oC) was measured, which is higher than compared to for example Silicon α = −0.075.

In this work we have investigated the use of laser sintering of different ink-jet printed nano-particle links (NPIs) on paper substrates. Laser sintering is shown to offer a fast and non-destructive way to produce paper based printed electronics. A continuous wave fiber laser source at 1064 nm is used and evaluated in combination with a galvo-scanning mirror system. A conductivity in order of 2.16 * 107 S/m is reached for the silver NPI structures corresponding to nearly 35 % conductivity compared to that of bulk silver and this is achieved without any observable damage to the paper substrate.

In this work we present a compact, nanosecond pulsed, single frequency, single stage Yb-doped fiber amplifier by using an overall fiber core diameter of 20 μm. The key component is a custom made, compact, ultra-low noise, single frequency ring-cavity solid state laser (SSL) at 1064 nm used as a master oscillator. The SSL can be designed to provide nanosecond pulses with pulse energies in the sub-mJ range. Our ultimate goal is to develop a compact linearly polarized, single frequency, nanosecond pulsed laser source in an all-fiber format. Short (less than 1m), highly Yb-doped fibers have been used in order to suppress non-linear effects.

Excited state absorption (ESA) measurements performed on Yb-doped silica bers show the onset of a strong absorption band in the visible range. In this work, we perform experiments to investigate the possibility for ESA to be part of the induced optical losses (photodarkening) observed in Yb-doped ber lasers. Our results indicate that an ESA process, from the 2F5/2 excited state manifold in the Yb3+ ion to the charge-transfer state with absorption bands in the UV range, may constitute a transfer route for pump- and laser photons in the near-infrared range. © 2013 Copyright SPIE.

Photodarkening spectra were studied for Yb-fibers co-doped with Al, Al/Ce or Al with H2-loading and it is proposed that the pump-induced color centers in Yb/Al-doped silica fibers mainly consist of Yb2+ and AlOHC.

UV-induced absorption is investigated for three different ytterbium doped laser materials. It is found that the induced transmission loss originates from the formation of Yb2+-ions and hole-related defects.

We have recently shown that the photodarkening (PD) resistivity in Yb/Al-doped fibers can be greatly improved by adding cerium (CE) to the core glass composition. We are now further investigating the laser performance and logn term stability of Yb/Ce/Al fibers in high inversion applications such as 980nm lasers and amplifiers. Our objective is to study the limitations of Yb/Ce/Al fibers and elaborate on their potential of becoming the next generation of fibers for high power fiber lasers and applifiers.

A linearly polarized fiber laser emitting at 979 nm with an output power of 2 W is presented. By using a photodarkening-resistant Yb/Ce/Al-codoped silica fiber, degradation-free operation is achieved over several hours.

In this paper we present how charge transfer processes influences the induced optical losses (photodarkening) in ytterbium doped fiber lasers. The location of the charge transfer absorption band is strongly composition dependent and is correlated to the valence stability of the ytterbium ion in the silicate glass matrix. An improved photodarkening performance can in general be observed for a charge-transfer band shifted to shorter wavelengths, although other routes are also possible to reduce photodarkening. Other parameters that affect the laser performance, such as absorption and emission cross section, must also be considered.

In this paper we will present paths to reduce the extent of photodarkening in ytterbium doped fiber lasers based on the aluminosilicate glass matrix. This will enable higher powers and longer operating lifetimes.

A strong charge-transfer band at UV-wavelengths is found to play a major role for the observed induced optical losses (photodarkening) in ytterbium doped high-power fiber lasers. This is correlated to the valence stability of the ytterbium ion in the silicate glass matrix, which we believe is the origin of photodarkening. We have performed UV-irradiation experiments on ytterbium-doped preform samples and accelerated photodarkening experiments on Yb-doped fibers, by using 915nm high power diodes. Our results show that photodarkening can be reduced, to low levels, either by preparing the preform glass in a reducing atmosphere or by hydrogen loading the fiber in a pressure chamber at room temperature.

Charge transfer (CT) transitions and UV induced color centers in Yb:YAG single crystals have been investigated. A simultaneous pair formation of a stable Yb2+ ion and a hole related (O -) color center (hole polaron) are observed through a CT-process. Slightly different types of hole related color centers are formed in Yb:YAG crystals containing small levels of iron impurities. Furthermore, excitation spectroscopy on the UV irradiated Yb:YAG samples could confirm an energy transfer process between Yb3+ and Yb2+ ions. The findings are important for an increased knowledge of the physical loss mechanisms observed in Yb-doped laser materials, such as the nonlinear decay process in Yb:YAG crystals as well as the photodarkening phenomenon in Yb-doped fiber lasers.

In this work we present experimental evidence that the valence instability of the ytterbium ion play a key role for the observed photodarkening mechanism in Yb-doped fiber lasers. Luminescence and excitation spectroscopy performed on UV irradiated Yb/Al doped silica glass preforms and near-infrared diode pumped photodarkened fibers show a concentration increase of Yb(2+) ions. A concentration decrease in Yb(3+) could also be observed for the UV irradiated preform. The findings contribute to an increased understanding of the kinetic processes related to photodarkening in Yb-doped high power fiber lasers.

In this work we measure how photodarkening affects the optical efficiency for three different Yb/Al-doped silica fibers operating at 980 nm, one of which is codoped with cerium. A volume Bragg grating is used for linewidth control and added rejection of amplified spontaneous emission. Several hours of degradation-resistant operation is obtained with the Ce-codoped fiber, while for the Yb/Al doped fibers a large drop in efficiency is observed within the first hour of operation. Our results show that Yb/Ce/Al-doped fibers could be excellent candidates for high-power 980 nm fiber laser sources.

We report on a tunable ytterbium-doped fiber laser bridging the gap from three-level lasing around 980 nm to true four-level lasing at 1066 nm. Wavelength-locking and -tuning was achieved by an external volume-Bragg grating (VBG). Results are compared with a numerical analysis based on a spectrally resolved rate equation analysis.