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The first results are presented that demonstrate the applicability of a coherent optical frequency-domain reflectometer based on a self-sweeping fiber laser for sensing. An array of various fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) was used as the sensing line. It is shown that FBGs with a reflection spectrum that lies outside the scan region of ​​our source can be used in the developed reflectometer. Using the frequency-domain reflectometry technique, it is possible to perform spatial separation of FBG sensors, even with the use of the same reflection wavelengths. The possibility of measuring the temperature has been experimentally demonstrated.

A single-frequency all-fiber thulium doped laser with distributed feedback is presented. The fiber Bragg grating with a phase shift, which is the cavity of the laser, is written in a highly-doped 36-mm segment of the thulium-doped fiber. The highest power of the single-frequency generation on the wavelength of 1919 nm reaches up to 80 mW at the power of the pumping radiation of 1.1 W. The generation linewidth is equal to 70 kHz. Relative intensity noises of the optical radiation do not exceed the level of 70 dB/Hz with the maximum at the frequency of 1.2 MHz.

We present results on the first demonstration of self-sweeping effect in a ring Er-doped fiber laser. Reverse self-sweeping (with decreasing wavelength) in a range of ~0.1 nm was obtained. Typical sweeping rate was 4 pm/s, which is sufficiently slower as compared with earlier reported fiber lasers. Dual longitudinal mode self-sweeping (similar to reported earlier in linear cavity Er-doped fiber laser) is obtained. The laser generates sequentially long overlapping pulses. Frequency of each subsequent pulse increases by one inter-mode spacing. However, the typical duration of dual-mode operation is ~10 ms, which is one order longer than in previous works. We demonstrated that increase in pump power causes deceleration of sweeping and elongation of dual-mode pulses up to 500 ms. The developed source can be used for fiber sensor interrogation.

In this work, a self-sweeping Yb-doped fiber laser generating quasi-CW radiation is demonstrated. The laser is based on a ring configuration allowing to form running and standing waves in separate sections of the cavity. The laser generates a sequence of single-frequency (linewidth of ~0.7 MHz) ultra long (~1 ms) rectangular pulses. The laser frequency changes from pulse to pulse by one inter-mode spacing (~10 MHz). The laser signal intensity is quasi-CW signal accompanied by regular bursts generating during frequency change, and the intensity never drops to zero. The features can be useful for long term averaging when measuring weak signals.

We experimentally demonstrate a linearly polarized self-sweeping Ho-doped fiber laser with lasing near 2100 nm. The laser feature is wavelength tuning with range of 10 nm without any spectral filters.

We report on investigation of sweeping regimes in a Tm-doped self-sweeping fiber laser. Influence of the active fiber length and pump wavelength on the wavelength self-sweeping regimes and it’s characteristics in the laser is demonstrated. It is expected that the research will help in optimization of output sweeping characteristics as well as in spectral dynamics management with pump power control.

We have demonstrated the possibility of making a Raman laser with a random distributed feedback ensured by an array of 57 fibre Bragg gratings with random phases and amplitudes inscribed in a 13-m-long polarisation-maintaining passive fibre. The linearly polarised cw output power at a wavelength of 1092.3 nm reaches 5.7 W. The laser linewidth at the highest output power is about 80 pm. In the nearthreshold regime, we observe single-frequency lasing with a linewidth under 100 kHz as determined by self-heterodyne measurements.

Narrowband Raman lasing in a polarization-maintaining two-core fiber (TCF) is demonstrated. Femtosecond point-by-point inscription of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) in individual cores produces a half-open cavity with random distributed feedback. The laser linewidth in the cavity with a single FBG inscribed in one core of the TCF reduced by similar to 2 times with respect to the cavity with a fiber loop mirror. It is shown that the inscription of two FBGs in different cores leads to the formation of a Michelson-type interferometer, leading to the modulation of generation spectra near threshold. This technique offers new possibilities for spectral filtering or multi-wavelength generation. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America

We have studied second-harmonic generation (SHG) of a cw single-frequency ytterbium-doped fibre laser, using a periodically poled silica fibre as a nonlinear medium for frequency conversion. All-fibre external cavity SHG has been investigated for the first time. A twofold increase in second-harmonic power in a fibre ring cavity has been demonstrated and possibilities of further optimising the fibre scheme have been analysed.

A new type of sweeping operation—dual-mode continuous-wave (CW) self-sweeping—is demonstrated in an erbium-doped fiber laser with a sweeping range of 2.8 nm in a region of 1605 nm. The laser generates two adjacent longitudinal modes of equal intensity, but at some moments of time, one of the modes with lower frequency begins to vanish and a new one with even higher frequency starts to grow. As a result, the self-sweeping of lasing frequency with CW intensity dynamics is observed.

The self-sweeping laser is the simplest sort of tunable laser without use of optical elements and electrical drivers for frequency tuning. Owing to broad sweeping range (more than 10 nm) and simplicity, self-sweeping fiber lasers are attractive sources for applications demanding tunable radiation such as sensors interrogation, spectral analysis, optical frequency domain reflectometry and so on. Currently the self-sweeping effect in fiber lasers was observed in different spectral regions covering range from 1 to 2.1 μm. In the paper, linearly-polarized Tm-doped fiber laser with sweeping range of more than 20 nm in the region of 1.92 μm has been experimentally demonstrated. The laser is based on singlemode polarization-maintaining Tm-doped fiber and pumped by home-made Er-doped fiber laser with wavelength of 1540 nm. The cavity is formed by highly-reflective fiber loop mirror and right-angle cleaved fiber end. The main feature of the laser is generation of periodic μs-scale pulses where each of them contains practically only single longitudinal mode radiation with linewidth of ~1 MHz. The laser frequency is changed from pulse to pulse by one intermode beating frequency of the laser ~8 MHz. The sweeping rate is increased with pump power up to 10 nm/sec. The average output power exceeds 400 mW. The developed laser source can be used for atmospheric remote sensing as well as for interrogation of the sensors based on fiber Bragg gratings and is applied to measure spectrum of water absorption lines in air.

The laser wavelength in self-sweeping laser is linearly changing in time from start to stop wavelength without use of optical elements and electrical drivers for frequency tuning. Absolute difference between the start and stop wavelength values (sweeping span) characterizing the sweeping process is one of the key characteristics of any tunable source. Owing to broad sweeping span (more than 10 nm) and simplicity, self-sweeping fiber lasers are attractive sources for applications demanding tunable radiation such as sensors interrogation, spectral analysis, optical frequency domain reflectometry and so on. Self-induced nature of the sweeping process leads to fluctuations of the sweeping span borders. We demonstrate in this talk implementation of fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) for control and stabilization of start and stop wavelengths in the self-sweeping laser. We showed that the short-wavelength FBG helps to initialize the sweeping process and long-wavelength FBG blocks the laser line sweeping in long-wavelength region. The last effect is associated with mismatch of longitudinal mode structures of the laser and FBG-based selector. As a result, fluctuations of the sweeping span borders decreased by one or two orders of magnitude down to several picometers. In addition, we studied influence of the parameters for FBG-based selectors such as reflections and mode structure on quality of sweeping range stabilization. The results allow to improve the characteristics of self-sweeping fiber laser which can be used for different sensing applications such as atmospheric remote sensing and interrogation of the sensors based on fiber Bragg gratings.

We report on investigation of dynamic grating (DG) evolution in an Yb-doped self-sweeping fiber laser in the absence of pumping radiation. The DG is recorded in the laser active medium by the laser radiation itself and is responsible for observed frequency self-sweeping effect. Results of the investigation show that the lifetime is about 1 ms, which is in a good agreement with the lifetime of upper level in ytterbium.

We report on the first demonstration of a linearly polarized cascaded Raman fiber laser based on a simple half-open cavity with a broadband composite reflector and random distributed feedback in a polarization maintaining phosphosilicate fiber operating beyond zero dispersion wavelength (~1400 nm). With increasing pump power from a Yb-doped fiber laser at 1080 nm, the random laser generates subsequently 8 W at 1262 nm and 9 W at 1515 nm with polarization extinction ratio of 27 dB. The generation linewidths amount to about 1 nm and 3 nm, respectively, being almost independent of power, in correspondence with the theory of a cascaded random lasing.

An operation of a linearly polarized Raman fiber laser with random distributed feedback based on a polarization-maintaining twin-core fiber (TCF) is demonstrated for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The results indicate that the TCF allows one to obtain laser generation with a linewidth that is about five times smaller than that for the random laser based on a conventional fiber with similar parameters. The reasons for narrowing include both the weakening of nonlinear effects due to the power density reduction and the spectrally selective properties of the TCF.

In this paper, we present the results of femtosecond point-by-point inscription of fiber Bragg gratings in different cores of multicore fibers for applications in 3D shaping sensors, Raman and random fiber lasers based on dual-core fiber.

Application of femtosecond point-by-point inscription technique make it possible to form fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) in different cores of multicore fibers as mirrors of laser cavity. In this paper, we present various configurations of Raman laser based on dual-core fiber. Due to the use of the inscribed FBG in the cavity of dual-core fiber, lasing threshold is reduced and the output power stability is increased, comparing to existing schemes.

The method of femtosecond laser inscription by slit-apertured beam is applied for fabrication of long-period fiber gratings in polarization-maintaining Panda-type fiber. Polarization properties as well as ambient refractive index sensitivity are investigated for the inscribed gratings. It is shown that the method allows us to create high-quality element for the use as spectral filter of high-power fiber laser as well as high-temperature sensor.

Optical spectrum is one of the most important characteristics of a laser radiation. Many spectral techniques are proposed and developed for spectral measurement, which are based on diffraction gratings, heterodyne or stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) amplification. For the last one, the signal radiation is amplified via SBS when frequency difference between pump wave and signal under test corresponds to Brillouin shift in a fiber (∼10 GHz) within the bandwidth of the Brillouin gain window (∼20 MHz) [1]. A spectrum under test can be reconstructed through scanning of the pump wave frequency. One should note that unamplified signal components being outside the SBS gain window propagate to the output with amplified components and thereby can deteriorate the dynamic range in the optical spectrum analyzer (OSA). This fact complicates the detection a weak spectral component in the presence of stronger one at a closely spaced frequency. To suppress the influence of unamplified signal the technique of polarization pulling is can be applied [2]. In this case, the specific polarization state matching is used. In the present paper, another way of separation of amplified and unamplified signals is proposed. We suggest to modulate intensity of tunable pump radiation similarly to lock-in detection.

We proposed and demonstrated a simple scheme for measurement optical spectrum based on stimulated Brillouin scattering and self-sweeping laser without external driver and tunable elements. The resolution and measuring range of proposed analyzer is measured as 20 MHz and 5 THz respectively. The ways of improvement the characteristics of device are discussed.

We demonstrate a random Raman fiber laser (RRFL) based on an array of 57 fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) with length of 4 cm and random phases and amplitudes. The laser emits up to 5.7 W of narrow-band CW radiation at 1092.3 nm. The linewidth measured by self-heterodyne technique at 2W pumping amounts to about 185 kHz.

In this chapter we briefly review the basic principles of Raman fiber lasers operating via random distributed feedback, including details of feedback mechanism, various cavity designs, and corresponding power and spectral characteristics, as well as their statistical properties. We also compare performances of the random Raman fiber lasers (RRFLs) with that for conventional Raman fiber lasers (RFLs) with linear cavity based on two reflectors. The performance analysis includes polarization management, optimization of conversion efficiency, cascaded generation of higher Stokes orders, opportunities for short-wavelength generation via direct pumping by high-power laser diodes, or frequency doubling of random Raman fiber laser radiation. Pulsed operation of random Raman fiber lasers via active or passive Q-switching is also analyzed. The analysis shows that the output characteristics of Raman fiber lasers with random distributed feedback reached to the moment already outperform in many aspects those for conventional Raman fiber lasers. The unique performance of random fiber lasers opens the door to their application in advanced technologies, such as long-distance amplifier-free transmission and remote sensing, low-coherence IR, and visible sources for bio-imaging and others.

We report on spectral characterization technique of self-organized dynamical distributed feedback (DDFB) in a self-sweeping Yb-doped fiber laser. The DDFB is originated from gain and refraction index gratings formed (recorded by standing waves) in the laser's active medium and dynamically changes during frequency self-sweeping operation. Dynamic nature of the feedback requires fast characterization (reading) of corresponding reflection spectrum. The reading process can be separated from the recording one in time due to sufficiently long characteristic time of the dynamical gratings. The DDFB spectra are measured during off-state of the self-sweeping laser with a tunable probe radiation near the dynamical grating reflection maximum. The spectra reconstructed in a range of ~1 GHz from a sequence of shorter probe wave scans have narrow sharp peak with width of ~50 MHz and reflectivity of about 0.1%. A good agreement between theory and experimental results is demonstrated.

We experimentally demonstrate for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, a Nd-doped fiber laser with wavelength self-sweeping. The main feature of the laser is the generation of periodic microsecond pulses, where each of them contains practically only single longitudinal mode radiation with a linewidth of about 1 MHz. The laser frequency changes from pulse to pulse with high linearity by one intermode beating frequency of the laser ∼7.1 MHz. The laser generates a linearly polarized radiation near wavelength of 1.06 μm with a self-sweeping range of up to 1.8 nm.

We demonstrate a Tm-doped fiber laser which operates in three self-sweeping regimes, depending on pump power: (1) a single-frequency self-sweeping operation with a normal scanning direction; (2) a multi-frequency operation with a reverse direction, and; (3) wavelength stopping. In the last case, the wavelength can be stopped at an arbitrary value in the range from 1912 nm to 1923 nm, depending on the prehistory of spectral dynamics of the laser. The wavelength fluctuations in the case of wavelength stopping are below our measurement resolution of 50 pm within 5 min. As a result, we have manually controlled the laser wavelength with pump power adjustment. This result can extend the potential practical applications of self-sweeping lasers.

Random fiber lasers operating via the Rayleigh scattering (RS) feedback attract now a great deal of attention as they generate a high-quality unidirectional laser beam with the efficiency and performance comparable and even exceeding those of fiber lasers with conventional cavities. Similar to other random lasers, both amplification and random scattering are distributed here along the laser medium being usually represented by a kilometers-long passive fiber with Raman gain. However, it is hardly possible to utilize normal gain in conventional active fibers as they are usually short and RS is negligible. Here we report on the first demonstration of the RS-based random lasing in an active fiber. This became possible due to the implementation of a new Bi-doped fiber with an increased amplification length and RS coefficient. The realized Bi-fiber random laser generates in a specific spectral region (1.42 μm) exhibiting unique features, in particular, a much narrower linewidth than that in conventional cavity of the same length, in agreement with the developed theory. Lasers of this type have a great potential for applications as Bi-doped fibers with different host compositions enable laser operation in an extremely broad range of wavelengths, 1.15–1.78 μm.

Conventional tools for measurement of laser spectra (e.g. optical spectrum analysers) capture data averaged over a considerable time period. However, the generation spectrum of many laser types may involve spectral dynamics whose relatively fast time scale is determined by their cavity round trip period, calling for instrumentation featuring both high temporal and spectral resolution. Such real-time spectral characterisation becomes particularly challenging if the laser pulses are long, or they have continuous or quasi-continuous wave radiation components. Here we combine optical heterodyning with a technique of spatio-temporal intensity measurements that allows the characterisation of such complex sources. Fast, round-trip-resolved spectral dynamics of cavity-based systems in real-time are obtained, with temporal resolution of one cavity round trip and frequency resolution defined by its inverse (85 ns and 24 MHz respectively are demonstrated). We also show how under certain conditions for quasi-continuous wave sources, the spectral resolution could be further increased by a factor of 100 by direct extraction of phase information from the heterodyned dynamics or by using double time scales within the spectrogram approach.

Spatial hole burning in an active medium of a linear cavity Yb-doped fiber laser leads to formation of a dynamical fiber Bragg grating. Reflectivity of the grating (~5%) is measured for the first time.

We report the first measurements of the longitudinal power distribution in a twin-core optical fibre at different input light polarisations. Experimental evidence is presented that, because of the difference in birefringence between the cores, the power in them depends on which core the beam is launched into. Experimental data are interpreted in terms of a modified polarisation model for mode coupling in twin-core fibres which takes into account the birefringence of the cores. In addition, we demonstrate for the first time the use of the polarisation properties of a twincore fibre for mode locking in a fibre laser.

We experimentally demonstrate a linearly polarized Tm-doped fiber laser with sweeping range up to 26 nm in the region of 1.92 μm. The main feature of the laser is generation of periodic microsecond pulses in which each contains practically only single longitudinal mode radiation. The laser frequency changes from pulse to pulse with high linearity by one intermode beating frequency of the laser ∼8 MHz. The developed source is applied to measure spectrum of water absorption lines in air.

We report on spectral range stabilization in a self-sweeping laser by adding a narrowband fiber Bragg grating (FBG) to the output mirror in the Michelson configuration. The effects of FBG reflectivity and optical path difference in the Michelson interferometer on the laser spectral dynamics are investigated. Optimization of the interferometer allows us to demonstrate broadband (over 16 nm) self-sweeping operation and reduction of the start and stop wavelength fluctuations by two orders and one order of magnitude (∼100 and 15 times) for start and stop bounds, respectively (down to several picometers). The proposed approaches significantly improve quality of the spectral dynamics and facilitate application of the self-sweeping lasers.

Generation of regular pulses of linearly polarized radiation with periodic self-induced laser line sweeping by ~10 nm near central wavelength of ~1460 nm has been demonstrated for the first time in an all-fiber Bismuth laser without any tuning element. It has been shown that the radiation of each pulse is single-frequency, and the pulse-to-pulse frequency shift is as low as 1 MHz corresponding to one intermode interval in 100-m long laser cavity. The measured intra-pulse frequency chirp is below 1 MHz while the pulses are long (~10 μs) and overlapping. Thus the sweeping is nearly continuous in frequency and time domains.

We present a method to measure in real-time the instantaneous generation spectrum of fiber lasers over consecutive cavity round-trips.

Investigation of a self-sweeping fiber laser with regular dynamics shows that the phases of modes generated with different pulses are not random. A superposition of 18 consequent laser pulses inside an external ring fiber cavity highlights their coherent combining into a train of nanosecond pulses.

Dynamic population inversion gratings induced in an active medium by counter-propagating optical fields may have a reverse effect on writing laser radiation via feedback they provide. In this Letter we report, to the best of our knowledge, on the first demonstration of an open-cavity fiber laser in which the distributed feedback is provided by a dynamic grating "written" in a Yb-doped active fiber, either by an external source or self-induced via a weak (∼0.1%) reflection from an angle-cleaved fiber end. It has been shown that meters-long dynamic grating is formed with a narrow bandwidth (50 MHz) and a relatively high-reflection coefficient (7%) securing single-frequency operation, but the subsequent hole-burning effects accompanied by new grating formation lead to the switching from one longitudinal mode to another. providing a regular pulse-mode dynamics. As a result, periodically generated pulse trains cover a spectrum range of several terahertz delivering millions of cavity modes in sequent pulses.

We proposed and demonstrated an all-fiber scheme for optical spectrum measurement based on stimulated Brillouin scattering and frequency self-sweeping laser without external driver and frequency tunable elements. The resolution and measuring range of proposed analyzer is measured to be 23 MHz and 5 THz respectively. The ways for improvement of the device characteristics are discussed.

We report high-resolution real-time measurements of spectrum evolution in a fibre. The proposed method combines optical heterodyning with a technique of spatio-temporal intensity measurements revealing fast spectral dynamics of cavity-based systems.

We report on experimental studies of random lasing realized in optical fibers with the use of Brillouin amplification and Rayleigh backscattering employed as a distributed feedback instead of a cavity mirror. In our experiment 25-km-long high quality standard telecom single-mode fiber was employed for Rayleigh reflection uniformly distributed over all fiber length. We have observed a clear competition between a classical Brillouin scattering and Brillouin lasing. Presence of extended fluctuation-free fragments in the recorded oscilloscope traces highlights Stokes power statistics typical for laser radiation rather than for Brillouin process. The results of the experiments are in a perfect agreement with the model of Brillouin - Rayleigh cooperative process in long fibers.

Single-frequency operation of a 1.03 μm fiber laser with random distributed feedback (RDFB) is demonstrated. The laser cavity is based on a 4 cm long fiber Bragg grating (FBG) consisting of 10 homogeneous subgratings with random phase and amplitude of refractive index modulation inscribed in a polarization maintaining (PM) Yb-doped fiber. Such RDFB laser generates single longitudinal mode with output power up to 25 mW, which is 3.5 times higher than that for a DFB laser based on regular π-shifted FBG of the same length in the same fiber. The single-frequency linewidth is measured to be

Influence of the laser cavity parameters (an active fiber length and output coupling losses) and the temperature of elements (active fiber and pump laser diode) on the sweeping range in an Yb-doped self-sweeping laser is investigated. The obtained results show that the sweeping spectral region is shifted to shorter wavelengths for shorter active fibers and with increasing absorbed power. This allows one to obtain self-sweeping operation in a broad range within a ytterbium gain bandwidth from 1028 to 1080 nm. At the same time, there are optimal cavity parameters at which the sweeping span is the broadest (>20 nm). Good agreement between the experimental sweeping range and the calculated maximum gain wavelength is demonstrated.

The effect of broad-range self-sweeping in Yb-doped fiber laser has been demonstrated experimentally for the first time. The self-sweeping effect is observed in an all-fiber laser configuration with a double-clad Yb-doped fiber and a cavity formed by a broad-band fiber loop mirror and Fresnel reflection from one cleaved end. The sweep range is limited by the width of the broad-band reflector and reaches up to 16nm. It is found that the self-sweeping effect is related to selfpulsations. So the sweep rate is increased with an increase in pump power and is decreased with increasing cavity length. RF and optical spectra (linewidth is measured to be not more than 100 MHz) show that during the evolution of a single pulse a small number of longitudinal modes take a part in lasing. Based on these results we propose a model describing dynamics of the laser frequency. The model is based on the spatial hole burning effect and the gain saturation in Yb laser transition, and takes into account self-pulsations of the laser. Theoretical estimation for pulse to pulse change of lasing frequency is in good agreement with experimental data.

We present the first experimental demonstration of strong coupling between the core modes in multi-core fibers (MCF) regardless of large spacing (~28μm) between them. The effect is very sensitive to bending of the fiber and is observed in the MCF laser as well as in the probe beam schemes. We explain the observed effect by a mechanism of the mode coupling based on their indirect interaction inside the fiber via intermediate cladding mode, analogues to the Bragg mode. 70% of power conversion from one core to another with beating length of tens of centimeters in 4-core MCF is measured.

The selector-free single-frequency operation of an Yb-doped fiber laser with scanning in the range of ?20?nm is demonstrated. The frequency and intensity evolution is shown to be driven by a self-induced phase grating in the active fiber defined by gain saturation in a standing-wave. A theory has been developed that describes well the main features of the experiment and provides possibilities for optimization of laser parameters. Perspectives for utilizing the self-scanned laser in fundamental studies and practical applications are discussed.

We present what is believed to be the first experimental demonstration of a new mechanism of mode coupling in multicore fibers (MCFs) based on their indirect interaction inside the fiber via intermediate mode, analogous to the Bragg mode, which is very sensitive to bending of the fiber. Very strong coupling between the core modes regardless of large spacing (approximately 28 microm) between them has been demonstrated in the MCF laser as well as in the probe beam schemes. 70% of power conversion from one core to another with beating length of tens of centimeters in 4-core MCF is measured.