The objective of this thesis was to explore the usefulness of all-fiber modulators for laser applications. The modulators were all based on refractive index change achieved in the core of the studied fiber- components, exploiting either the elasto-optic effect or the electro-optic effect. This was realized with the aid of electrodes inside the fiber cladding close to the core that provided either thermal stress in the core, or an electric field across the core. The electrodes consisted of low melting-point alloys, such as BiSn and AuSn, which were pushed into the hole-fiber, in the liquid state, which then solidified to form solid electrodes filling the entire hole. Together with an analyzer such as a polarizer or an interferometer the achieved refractive index modulation in the core could then be translated into an amplitude modulation of the guided light, which was subsequently utilized for switching fiber-lasers to generate cavity dumped, Q-switched, or mode-locked pulses. The fast rise/fall-time of a few nanoseconds for the elasto-optic devices was due to the fast thermal expansion of the electrodes. The maximum repetition rate, however, was limited to a few tens of kHz, due to the slow thermal processes for dissipation of the applied energy. The electro-optic fiber components, which displayed similar rise/fall-times on the other hand, showed a much higher cut-off frequency of 16 MHz. The electro-optic, all-fiber switch was also employed to select single pulses at 1 MHz repetition rate out of a 7 MHz train of pulses. Additionally, simulations using the finite element method were performed in order to gain insight and to explain the underlying processes of the observed response of a long-period grating written in a 2-hole fiber with electrodes, when applying HV-pulses to one of these. The thesis shows that the studied fiber-components show great potential of becoming complementary devices with high damage threshold for all-fiber laser applications in the future. / <p>QC 20121129</p>

Significant technological advances of the last years have been possible by developments in Optofluidics, which is a field that deals with the integration of optics and microfluidics into single devices. The work described in this thesis is based on five scientific publications related to the use of fiber optic technology to build integrated optofluidic devices. The first three publications are within the field of life-science and point towards in-vivo and point-of-care applications, whereas the last two publications cover the study and the use of plasmonic nanoparticles for electrical modulation of light. Aiming at developing useful tools for in-vivo biological applications, the first publication consists of designing and testing a functional optical fiber for real-time monitoring and selective collection of fluorescent microparticles. This probe relies on a microstructured optical fiber with a hole along its cladding, which is used to selectively aspirate individual particles of interest once their fluorescence signal is detected. On the same line of research, the second publication contemplates the fabrication of a fiber probe that traps single microparticles and allows for remote detection of their optical properties. This probe is also based on a microstructured fiber that enables particle trapping by fluidic forces. The third publication addresses the development of an all-fiber miniaturized flow cytometer for point-of-care applications. This system can analyze, with excellent accuracy and sensitivity, up to 2500 cells per second by measuring their fluorescence and scattering signal. A novel microfluidic technique, called Elasto-inertial microfluidics, is employed for aligning the cells into a single-stream to optimize detection and throughput. The fourth publication involves the experimental and theoretical study of the electrical-induced alignment of plasmonic gold nanorods in suspension and its applicability to control light transmission. This study is done by using an all-fiber optofluidic device, based on a liquid-core fiber, which facilitates the interaction of light, electric fields, and liquid suspensions. Results show that nanorods can be aligned in microseconds, providing a much better performance than liquid-crystal devices. Finally, the fifth publication consists of an upgrade of the previous device by integrating four electrodes in the cladding of the liquid-core fiber. This improvement enables nanosecond response time and the possibility of digitally switching nanorods between two orthogonal aligned states, overcoming the limitation of slow thermal relaxation. The work presented here shows that optofluidics based on optical fibers is a robust and convenient platform, as well as a promising direction for the developing of novel instruments in fields such as life-science, non-linear optics, plasmonic, and sensing. / <p>QC 20171018</p>

No description available.

Fiber based ultrashort pulse laser sources are desirable for many applications; however generating high peak powers in fiber lasers is primarily limited by the onset of nonlinear effects such as self-phase modulation, stimulated Raman scattering, and self-focusing. Increasing the fiber core diameter mitigates the onset of these nonlinear effects, but also allows unwanted higher-order transverse spatial modes to propagate. Both large core diameters and single-mode propagation can be simultaneously attained using photonic crystal fibers. Thulium-doped fiber lasers are attractive for high peak power ultrashort pulse systems. They offer a broad gain bandwidth, capable of amplifying sub-100 femtosecond pulses. The longer center wavelength at 2 ?m theoretically enables higher peak powers relative to 1 [micro]m systems since nonlinear effects inversely scale with wavelength. Also, the 2 [micro]m emission is desirable to support applications reaching further into the mid-IR. This work evaluates the performance of a novel all-fiber pump combiner that incorporates a thulium-doped photonic crystal fiber. This fully integrated amplifier is characterized and possesses a large gain bandwidth, essentially single-mode propagation, and high degree of polarization. This innovative all-fiber, thulium-doped photonic crystal fiber amplifier has great potential for enabling high peak powers in 2 [micro]m fiber systems; however the current optical-to-optical efficiency is low relative to similar free-space amplifiers. Further development and device optimization will lead to higher efficiencies and improved performance.

No description available.

This work relates to the remote sensing technologies to determine wind velocity and its related phenomena. Laser-based pulsed systems with heterodyne detection allow a very sensitive measurement of particles’ velocity in the atmosphere. The heterodyne detection theory and the essential principles and properties of this technology are presented. An all-fiber coherent Doppler lidar system in master-oscillator power-amplifier design with a novel multi-wavelength channel configuration was developed and introduced, characterized, and validated in this work. The fiber amplifier is a crucial component of multi-channel all-fiber systems and is therefore discussed with special emphasis on non-linear effects and pulse distortions. A novel feedback controlled pulse-shaping unit was developed to control pulse energy and the shape of the amplified pulses of each channel. Each and every wavelength-channel creates an independent speckle pattern, which is demonstrated by hard targets with diffuse character and atmospheric single-shot measurements, and compared with theoretical results. Utilizing four channels, the precision of the measured wind velocity can be improved and this feature is demonstrated with measured atmospheric return signals. A correlation technique is presented, which enables the enhancement of the SNR at higher backscattered powers by utilizing multiple channels. The multi-wavelength system was designed to work with four wavelength-channels, which also allow measurements along the same line-of-sight with different channel configurations. These channels can be different in pulse shape, pulse length, and pulse repetition frequency. In this work, the resulting benefits of using multiple channels are shown with atmospheric measurements and scientific discussion of these is presented.:1. Introduction to the subject 2. Introduction to pulsed coherent Doppler lidar 3. Methodology: Multi-channel coherent Doppler lidar system 4. Erbium-doped fiber amplifier in a multi-channel lidar 5. Correlation properties of a multi-channel lidar system 6. Benefits of a multi-channel coherent Doppler lidar 7. Conclusions A. Wind measurement examples B. Range gate weighting function for different pulse shapes / Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit der Fernerkundungstechnologie zur Erfassung der Windgeschwindigkeit und den damit verbundenen Phänomenen. Die heterodyne Detektion der laserbasierten gepulsten Systeme ermöglicht eine sehr sensitive Messung von Partikelgeschwindigkeiten in der Atmosphäre. Sowohl die Theorie der heterodynen Detektion als auch die wesentlichen Eigenschaften und Grundsätze werden in dieser Arbeit diskutiert. Ein neuartiges faserbasiertes kohärentes Doppler Mehrkanal-Lidarsystem wurde entwickelt, vorgestellt, charakterisiert und validiert. Dabei ist der faserbasierte Verstärker eine wesentliche Komponente in diesem System und wird somit in Bezug auf Nichtlinearitäten und Impulsverzerrungen besonders analysiert. Eine neuartige geregelte Impulsformung wurde entwickelt, um die Impulsenergie und die Impulsform unabhängig für jeden Kanal zu stabilisieren. Jeder einzelne Kanal erzeugt ein unabhängiges Specklebild, welches durch Messungen am festen Ziel und durch atmosphärische Messungen präsentiert und mit theoretischen Berechnungen verglichen wird. Somit wird unter der Verwendung aller vier Kanäle des Systems die Geschwindigkeitsgenauigkeit erhöht, welches durch atmosphärische Messungen dargelegt wird. Zudem wird eine Korrelationstechnik vorgestellt, die das SNR bei höherer Rückstreuintensität weiter erhöht. Das Mehr-Wellenlängensystem wurde für vier Kanäle ausgelegt, welches eine Beobachtung der Atmosphäre entlang der Sichtlinie unter sonst gleichen Bedingungen ermöglicht. Diese Kanäle können sich sowohl in der Impulsform, in der Impulslänge als auch in der Pulsfolgefrequenz unterscheiden. Diese Arbeit zeigt die wesentlichen Vorteile eines solchen Mehrkanal-Lidarsystems mit atmosphärischen Messungen und wissenschaftlichen Ausarbeitungen.:1. Introduction to the subject 2. Introduction to pulsed coherent Doppler lidar 3. Methodology: Multi-channel coherent Doppler lidar system 4. Erbium-doped fiber amplifier in a multi-channel lidar 5. Correlation properties of a multi-channel lidar system 6. Benefits of a multi-channel coherent Doppler lidar 7. Conclusions A. Wind measurement examples B. Range gate weighting function for different pulse shapes