Les lasers ultra-rapides fibrés sont aujourd’hui incontournables dans de nombreuses applications industrielles et scientifiques du fait de leur stabilité, de leur compacité et des hautes puissances disponibles. Les performances actuelles, rendues accessibles par le développement de fibres à larges aires modales et le concept d’amplification à dérive de fréquence, sont toutefois complexes à mettre oeuvre et limitées par l’utilisation de composants massifs pour les étapes de compression et d’étirement des impulsions. Ces travaux de thèse, à la fois expérimentaux et numériques, avaient pour objectif d’explorer des régimes dynamiques originaux basés sur l’utilisation de fibres actives spécifiques combinant large aire modale et propriétés dispersives adéquates pour la génération d’impulsions ultra-courtes de haute énergie. Les études numériques ont ainsi permis de montrer que des régimes impulsionnels à haute dispersion normale pouvaient être atteints en exploitant les phénomènes de résonnance et de couplage de modes dans des fibres de Bragg ou à profil en W. L’étude de l’influence des paramètres de la cavité laser sur le mécanisme de verrouillage de modes a permis d’identifier des configurations attractives pour la montée en puissance. La mise en oeuvre expérimentale de ces concepts a notamment permis le développement d’une source laser à soliton dissipatif produisant des impulsions énergétiques (38 nJ, 700 fs après compression) à des longueurs d’ondes autour de 1560 nm, record pour ce type d’oscillateur. La réalisation expérimentale de sources ultra-rapides basées sur des fibres actives spécifiques combinées au phénomène de couplage de mode ont permis d’identifier les potentialités et limitations de ces architectures originales à fortes dispersions totales pour la montée en énergie. / Ultrafast fiber lasers represent today a ubiquitous technology in various industrial and research applications thanks to their inherent advantages such as compactness, stability and high power. The best performances to date, mostly relying on large mode area fibers and chirped pulse amplification, however require complex experimental developments and are limited by the use of bulk components for pulse stretching and compression. The experimental and numerical work presented in this PhD thesis aimed at exploring original dynamical regimes based on specific active fibers combining large mode area and high dispersions for the generation of high-energy ultra-short pulses. The numerical studies then showed that pulsed regimes with high normal dispersions could be reached by exploiting resonance and mode-coupling phenomena in Bragg or W-type fibers. Studying the influence of the cavity parameters on mode-locking mechanisms allowed to target attractive configurations for energy scaling. The experimental implementation of this concept allowed the development of a dissipative soliton source delivering record high-energy chirped pulses (38 nJ, 700 fs after compression) at 1560 nm. The realization of ultrafast sources based on specific active fibers combined to mode-coupling phenomena then brought the possibility to identify the potentiality and limitations of these particular architectures with high dispersions for energy scaling.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:38:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Henrique Guimaraes Rosa.pdf: 6486656 bytes, checksum: 6fc9fe7875ed2cceb89c9f5179b9f028 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-25 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / In this thesis, we present results on the fabrication, transfer and characterization of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene and exfoliated graphene over glass and optical fiber substrates, to study optical properties of graphene and its application as a saturable absorber for Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL). Monolayer CVD graphene and stacked CVD graphene samples were fabricated and characterized, transferred to the transverse face of optical fibers, and a study on the relation between the optical properties of graphene samples and the properties of ultrashort laser pulses generated in (EDFL) was performed. Furthermore, we have developed a technique for transferring exfoliated nanomaterials which allowed us to transfer exfoliated graphene onto optical fiber s faces and align the graphene flake to the fiber core. With this transfer technique it is possible to fabricate samples with controlled number of graphene layers onto optical fiber faces. As application, we demonstrate ultrashort pulse generation in Erbium-doped fiber laser with exfoliated monolayer graphene samples as saturable absorber. This is the first time that ultrashort laser pulses are generated with a single exfoliated monolayer graphene sample. / Nesta tese, apresentamos resultados sobre a fabricação, transferência e caracterização de grafeno CVD (grafeno fabricado por deposição química de vapor chemical vapour deposition) e de grafeno esfoliado em substratos de vidro e em fibras ópticas, para o estudo das propriedades ópticas do grafeno e sua aplicação como absorvedor saturável em laser à fibra dopada com Érbio (EDFL). Foram fabricadas e caracterizadas amostras de grafeno CVD monocamada e de grafeno CVD empilhado, transferidas para a face transversal de fibras ópticas, e com estas amostras foram feitos estudos sobre a relação entre as propriedades ópticas do grafeno e as propriedades de pulsos ultracurtos gerados em EDFL. Além disto, desenvolvemos uma técnica para a transferência de nanomateriais esfoliados que permitiu a transferência de grafeno esfoliado para fibras ópticas e seu alinhamento com o núcleo da fibra. Com esta técnica de transferência é possível fabricar amostras com controlado número de camadas de grafeno em fibra óptica. Como aplicação, demonstramos a geração de pulsos em EDFL com uma amostra de grafeno esfoliado monocamada como absorvedor saturável. Esta é a primeira vez que pulsos ultracurtos são gerados em lasers à fibra com amostra de grafeno esfoliado de uma única camada sobre a face transversal da fibra óptica.

Abstract Although gain-switching is a simple, well-established technique for obtaining ultrashort optical pulses generated with laser diodes, the optical energy in a pulse achievable from commercial structures using this technique is no more than moderate and the ‘spiking’ behaviour seen at turn-on is likely to evolve into trailing oscillations. This thesis investigates, develops and improves laser diodes in order to offer experimentally verified solutions for maximizing the optical energy so as to achieve a peak power of several watts in a single optical pulse of picosecond-range duration in the gain-switching operation regime, and for suppressing the energy located in any trailing pulses to a negligible level relative to the total optical pulse energy. This was addressed by means of either (i) an ultrashort pump current pulse with an amplitude range ~(1–10) A or (ii) custom laser diode structures, both options being capable of operating uncooled at room temperature (23±3°C). For the first solution a unique superfast gallium arsenide (GaAs) avalanche transistor was utilized as a switch in order to achieve an injection current pulse with a duration of < 1 ns, which is short enough to generate only a first optical ‘spike’ when pumping a commercial laser diode. The most promising structure with regard to the second solution was an edge-emitting semiconductor laser having a strongly asymmetric broadened double heterostructure with a relatively thick active layer. Laser pulses with full width at half maximum (FWHM) of ~100 ps and an optical energy of >3 nJ but with some trailing oscillations were achieved in experiments employing injection current pulses in the nanosecond range with an amplitude of ≤17 A, generated using inexpensive silicon (Si) electronics. The performance was improved by introducing a saturable absorber (SA) into the laser cavity, which suppressed the formation of trailing oscillations, resulting in a single optical pulse. / Tiivistelmä ”Gain switching” (vahvistuskytkentä) on tunnettu tekniikka lyhyiden (<100 ps) optisten pulssien generoimiseen laserdiodeilla. Kaupallisia laserdiodirakenteita käyttäen optinen energia rajoittuu kuitenkin 10…100 pJ:n tasolle. Tällöinkin, erityisesti suurilla energiatasoilla, optisessa pulssissa ilmenee voimakkaita jälkioskillaatioita. Tässä väitöskirjassa tutkittiin ja kehitettiin kokeellisesti varmennettuja laserdiodilähetinrakenteita tavoitteena saavuttaa >1 nJ:n optisen pulssin energia ja ~100 ps:n pulssinpituus gain-switching -toimintamoodissa. Tavoitteena oli myös minimoida jälkipulssien energia. Tutkimuksen pääsisältönä on kaksi toimintaperiaatetta: Toisessa tekniikassa päähuomio kohdistuu laseridiodin virta-ajuriin, johon kehitettiin elektroniikka, joka kykenee tuottamaan nopeita virtapulsseja laajalla pulssivirta-alueella. Virtapulssin nopeuden kasvattamisen (<1 ns) osoitettiin edistävän gain switching -ilmiötä. Toisena tekniikkana tutkittiin räätälöityä laserdiodirakennetta, joka sisäisen toimintansa perusteella tuottaa dynaamisessa ohjaustilanteessa tehokkaan ja nopean laserpulssin. Kummankin periaatteen osoitettiin toimivan huonelämpötilassa (23±3°C) ilman erillistä jäähdytystä. Ensimmäisessä ratkaisussa käytettiin nopeaa gallium-arsenidi (GaAs) -avalanchetransistoria virtakytkimenä, jolla saavutettiin <1 ns FWHM injektiovirtapulssi 10 A:n virtatasolla. Tällainen virtapulssi on riittävän lyhyt virittämään ”gain switching” -ilmiön nJ-energiatasolla. Lupaavin rakenne toiseksi ratkaisuksi oli reunaemittoiva puolijohdelaseri, jossa epäsymmetrinen aaltoputki ja aktiivinen alue ovat sijoitettu normaalista laserdiodirakenteesta poiketen rinnakkain. Tällä rakenteella voitiin tuottaa ~100 ps levyisiä (FWHM) ja >3 nJ optisen kokonaisenergian omavia laserpulsseja edullisella pii-pohjaisella (Si) elektroniikalla luoduilla 1.5–2 ns:n (FWHM) ≤17 A injektiovirtapulsseilla. Suorituskykyä saatiin edelleen parannettua istuttamalla saturoiva absorbaattori (SA) laserin optiseen onteloon. Tämän osoitettiin vähentävän jälkioskillaatioiden muodostumista.