Simultaneous Wavelength-Swept Generation in NIR and SWIR Bands Over Combined 329-nm Band Using Swept-Pump Fiber Optical Parametric Oscillator

Author

Kuo, Bill P P ; Alic, Nikola ; Wysocki, Paul F. ; Radic, Stojan

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of California, San Diego, CA, USA

Volume

29

Issue

4

fYear

2011

Firstpage

410

Lastpage

416

Abstract

We report the demonstration of a new wavelength-swept source. Utilizing narrowband, widely tunable fiber optical parametric process as the gain and the wavelength selection mechanism in a ring laser topology, simultaneous access to two distinct bands (NIR and SWIR) over 329 nm was achieved. A nonmechanical cavity-tuning mechanism allowed for ultrafast sweep rate, limited primarily by the speed of the tunable pump source confined to a conventional 1550-nm band. With the experimentally verified order-of-magnitude enhancement in sweep range and speed, the source opens a path for spectral scanning at an unprecedented speed and range while relying on existing tuning technologies.

Keywords

high-speed optical techniques; laser tuning; optical fibres; optical parametric oscillators; optical pumping; ring lasers; swept-frequency oscillators; NIR bands; SWIR bands; nonmechanical cavity-tuning; ring laser topology; simultaneous wavelength-swept generation; spectral scanning; swept-pump fiber optical parametric oscillator; tunable pump source; ultrafast sweep rate; wavelength 1550 nm; wavelength 329 nm; wavelength selection; Optical parametric amplifiers; parametric mixers; tunable lasers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2010.2089674

Filename

5609174