Disclosure of Invention
The purpose of the invention is as follows: the invention aims to provide an optical vortex optical fiber laser based on double vortex wave plates, wherein two identical optical vortex wave plates are inserted into a cavity of the optical fiber laser, and the output of cylindrical vector beams (including radial and angular polarized beams) and vortex beams is respectively realized by regulating and controlling the polarization state in the laser cavity.
The technical scheme is as follows: the invention comprises an annular cavity, wherein the annular cavity comprises a wavelength division multiplexer, a gain optical fiber, a space optical portion and a plurality of single-mode optical fibers which are sequentially connected end to end, the input end and the output end of the space optical portion are both connected with optical fiber collimators, the wavelength division multiplexer is connected with a light source, an optical isolator is connected on an optical fiber light path or a space light path of the space optical portion in the annular cavity, a polarization control module is integrated on the optical fiber light path or the space light path, the space optical portion comprises a plurality of vortex wave plates, and an output mirror is arranged between the vortex wave plates.
The input end of the space light part is connected with a second optical fiber collimator, and the output end of the space light part is connected with a first optical fiber collimator.
The space light part comprises a first vortex wave plate and a second vortex wave plate, an output mirror is arranged between the first vortex wave plate and the second vortex wave plate, wherein the first vortex wave plate is arranged on one side of the second optical fiber collimator, and the second vortex wave plate is arranged on one side of the first optical fiber collimator.
The single mode fiber comprises a first single mode fiber and a second single mode fiber, one end of the first single mode fiber is connected with the first optical fiber collimator, the other end of the first single mode fiber is connected with the second single mode fiber, and the other end of the second single mode fiber is connected with the wavelength division multiplexer.
The mode locking device comprises a first optical fiber jumper and a second optical fiber jumper, wherein the second optical fiber jumper is connected with the first single-mode optical fiber, and the first optical fiber jumper is connected with the second single-mode optical fiber.
The mode locking device is integrated to an optical fiber optical path or placed in a space optical path.
The first optical fiber jumper wire and the second optical fiber jumper wire are connected through an optical fiber coupler, and a saturable absorber is arranged between the first optical fiber jumper wire and the second optical fiber jumper wire.
The optical isolator adopts a space optical isolator arranged in an intracavity space optical path or an optical fiber isolator arranged in an intracavity optical fiber optical path.
The polarization control module adopts an optical fiber polarization controller arranged in an optical fiber light path or a combination of a half-wave plate and a quarter-wave plate arranged in a space light path, the half-wave plate and the quarter-wave plate are sequentially arranged along the light path, wherein the half-wave plate is arranged on one side of the second optical fiber collimator, and the other side of the quarter-wave plate is provided with a first vortex wave plate.
The gain fiber is a rare earth doped gain fiber, and the wavelength of light emitted by the gain fiber under excitation is larger than the cut-off frequency of the single-mode fiber in the device, so that the single-mode fiber works in a single-mode transmission state.
The working principle is as follows: by inserting the vortex half-wave plates with the same two surfaces into the laser cavity of the annular optical fiber laser, the transverse mode in the laser cavity realizes the conversion of Gaussian beam-vortex beam/cylindrical vector beam-Gaussian beam, so that the cylindrical vector beam and the vortex beam with continuously adjustable polarization are obtained.
Has the advantages that: the invention inserts the double vortex wave plate into the laser cavity of the fiber laser, on one hand, the strong Fresnel reflection effect generated by the combination of the single-sided vortex wave plate and the reflector in the prior art is solved, the unstable factor caused by the fact that the back reflection light returns to the optical fiber light path is greatly reduced, on the other hand, the utilization rate of the light beam in the cavity is greatly improved, the cylindrical vector light beam and the vortex light beam are obtained in the cavity on the premise of ensuring that the light of the optical fiber light path is all the fundamental mode, the use of few-mode optical fibers and mode selection devices is avoided, and therefore the ultra-short pulse cylindrical vector light beam and the vortex light beam with high purity and high utilization rate are obtained.
Detailed Description
The invention will be further explained with reference to the drawings.
The vortex wave plates with the same two surfaces are inserted into the cavity of the annular optical fiber laser, one surface of the vortex wave plates is used for converting the Gaussian beam in the cavity into a cylindrical vector beam or a vortex beam and then outputting the cylindrical vector beam or the vortex beam to the outside of the cavity, and the other surface of the vortex wave plates is used for converting the cylindrical vector beam or the vortex beam into the Gaussian beam so as to be coupled into the optical fiber again. The output of cylindrical vector beams (including radial and angular polarized beams) and vortex beams is respectively realized by regulating and controlling the polarization state in the laser cavity. Meanwhile, a mode locking device is added in the cavity, and an ultrashort pulse cylindrical vector light beam and a vortex light beam can be generated. The device has the advantages of high electro-optical efficiency, compact structure and the like.
Example 1
As shown in fig. 1, the present invention comprises a pump source 1 for pumping a gain fiber, including, but not limited to, a fiber-coupled-out semiconductor laser having an output wavelength of 976nm and a pump power of 0 to 600mW tunable. The pump source 1 is connected with a wavelength division multiplexer 2, and the pump light is coupled into the annular cavity, and the wavelength division multiplexer 2 includes but is not limited to 980nm/1064nm or 980nm/1310nm or 980nm/1550nm wavelength division multiplexers, and the coupling wavelength of the wavelength division multiplexer should be consistent with the wavelength of the stimulated radiation light of the gain fiber 3. The other end of the wavelength division multiplexer 2 is connected with the gain fiber 3, the gain fiber 3 is used as a working substance of the ring cavity and is a rare earth doped gain fiber including but not limited to ytterbium doped fiber, erbium doped fiber and the like, and the wavelength of light excited and radiated by the gain fiber 3 is larger than the cut-off frequency of the single mode fiber in the device, so that the single mode fiber works in a single mode transmission state.
The gain fiber 3 is connected with an optical isolator, the optical isolator enables the optical path in the ring cavity to have unidirectionality, the optical isolator can adopt a space optical isolator and is arranged in the space optical path in the cavity, and a fiber optic isolator 5 can also be adopted and is arranged in the optical path of the fiber in the cavity, as shown in figures 1 and 2. The other end of the fiber isolator 5 is connected to a polarization control module, which may use a fiber polarization controller 62 in the fiber optical path, as shown in fig. 1, or a combination of a half-wave plate 75 and a quarter-wave plate 74 in the spatial optical path, as shown in fig. 2. The fiber polarization controller 62 can control the polarization state in the cavity, thereby controlling the output light to be a cylindrical vector beam or a common vortex beam; the other end of the optical fiber polarization controller 62 is connected with a second optical fiber collimator 82, the second optical fiber collimator 82 outputs the light beam in the optical fiber to the spatial light part 7, and since a strong fresnel reflection effect exists between the spatial light and the optical fiber collimator, an FC/APC joint can be adopted to access the collimator in the actual operation process so as to reduce unstable factors caused by that the back reflected light returns to the light path; in the spatial light portion 7, a first vortex wave plate 72, an output mirror 73 and a second vortex wave plate 71 are sequentially arranged along the optical path direction, the output mirror 73 is used for outputting the ultrashort pulse cylindrical vector light beam or the vortex light beam, and the polarization state distribution in the cavity is not affected, including but not limited to a 45-degree light splitting flat plate, a non-polarization beam splitting cube and the like.
Taking the output vortex beam as an example, suppose that the light output by the second fiber collimator 82 is right-handed circularly polarized light 21; the left-handed circularly polarized vortex light beam 22 is obtained by transmitting the left-handed circularly polarized vortex light beam 22 to the first vortex wave plate 72, the left-handed circularly polarized vortex light beam 22 outputs a part of the second vortex light beam 25 through the output mirror 73 and transmits a part of the first vortex light beam 23, the first vortex light beam 23 passes through the second vortex wave plate 71 again, and the right-handed circularly polarized Gaussian light beam 24 is obtained by transmitting the left-handed circularly polarized vortex light beam 22 and the first vortex light beam (fig. 3 (d)), which is the Gaussian light beam passing through the two vortex wave plates. In the actual operation process, if the topological charge number of the vortex wave plate is large, the light beam can be focused and collimated by the focusing and collimating module and then coupled into the first single-mode fiber 4 through the first fiber collimator 81; the other end of the first single-mode fiber 4 is connected with a mode locking assembly 33, the mode locking assembly 33 is used for forming ultrashort pulses and comprises a first fiber jumper 31 and a second fiber jumper 32, and the second fiber jumper 32 is connected with the first single-mode fiber 4; the first optical fiber jumper 31 and the second optical fiber jumper 32 are connected by an optical fiber coupler, and a saturable absorber is arranged between the two jumpers so as to form an ultrashort pulse in the cavity; the other end of the first optical fiber jumper 31 is connected with the wavelength division multiplexer 2 through the second single-mode optical fiber 12 to form an annular cavity.
The mode locking mode used in fig. 1 is true mode locking with an absorber, and the device of the invention can also be used for mode locking with an absorber manually, such as Nonlinear Polarization Rotation (NPR), nonlinear ring magnifier (NALM), nonlinear fiber ring mirror (NOLM), and the like. The mode locking device can be integrated into the optical fiber circuit and can also be placed into a space optical circuit, and methods for integrating the mode locking device into the optical fiber circuit include but are not limited to drop coating jumper heads, D-shaped or tapered optical fiber deposition, photonic crystal fiber filling and the like. The mode locking device can be removed to achieve the generation of a continuous cylindrical vector beam and a vortex beam, as shown in fig. 2.
Adjusting the polarization state in the cavity can obtain a cylindrical vector light beam, see fig. 3(b), which is an angular vector light; see fig. 3(c), which is a radial vector light, both beams are special cylindrical vector light beams. Other cylindrical vector beams can be output, see fig. 3(e), and are cylindrical vector beams with an included angle of 45 degrees with each point of the standard radial polarized light, and only the polarization module 62 needs to be adjusted to enable the polarization angle of the linearly polarized light output by the optical fiber collimator 82 and the zero-degree fast axis included angle of the vortex wave plate 72 to be 45 degrees; similarly, see FIG. 3(f) for a cylindrical vector beam at 30 degrees to each point of standard radially polarized light.
Example 2
As shown in fig. 2, the mode locking module 33 in fig. 1 is removed, and a continuous cylindrical vector beam or a general vortex beam can be output, which is different from that of embodiment 1 in that the polarization control module in fig. 2 is disposed in a spatial optical path portion. The continuous cylindrical vector beam or common vortex beam generating device comprises a pumping source 1 for pumping a gain fiber; a wavelength division multiplexer 2 for coupling pump light into the gain fiber; a gain fiber 3 for operating the laser cavity as a laser cavity; an optical isolator 5 for making the optical path in the ring cavity unidirectional; fiber collimators 81 and 82 for mutually coupling light in the optical fiber and spatial light; a quarter wave plate 74 and a half wave plate 75 for controlling the polarization state within the cavity; vortex wave plates 71 and 72 for interconverting the intracavity beam modes; an output mirror 73 for outputting an ultrashort pulse cylindrical vector beam or a vortex beam; single mode optical fibers 4 and 12 for connecting the entire optical path.
The pumping source 1 is connected with the wavelength division multiplexer 2 and used for coupling pumping light into the annular cavity; the tail end of the wavelength division multiplexer 2 is connected with a gain optical fiber 3, and the gain optical fiber 3 is used as a working substance of the annular cavity; the other end of the gain fiber 3 is connected with a fiber isolator 5, and the fiber isolator 5 enables the optical path in the annular cavity to have unidirectionality; the other end of the optical fiber isolator 5 is connected with a second optical fiber collimator 82, the second optical fiber collimator 82 outputs the light beam in the optical fiber to the spatial light part 7, and due to the fact that a strong Fresnel reflection effect exists between the spatial light and the optical fiber collimator, an FC/APC joint can be adopted to be connected into the collimator in the actual operation process, so that unstable factors caused by the fact that back reflected light returns to a light path are reduced; in the space light part, a half-wave plate 75, a quarter-wave plate 74, a first vortex wave plate 72, an output mirror 73 and a second vortex wave plate 71 are arranged in sequence along the light path direction; consistent with embodiment 1, the polarization state distribution in the cavity can be controlled by rotating the half-wave plate 75 and the quarter-wave plate 74, so as to select the mode of output light, and if the topological charge number of the vortex wave plate is large, the light beam can be coupled into the first single-mode fiber 4 through the first fiber collimator 81 after being focused and collimated by the focusing and collimating module; the other end of the first single-mode fiber 4 is connected with the wavelength division multiplexer 2 through a second single-mode fiber 12 to form an annular cavity.
The following derivation is made for beam transverse mode conversion of spatial light paths using jones vectors.
Assuming that the gaussian beam output by the fiber collimator is right-handed circularly polarized light, the process of passing the light through the first vortex wave plate can be represented by the jones matrix as:
wherein m is the topological charge number of the vortex wave plate;
the radius of a specific position of the vortex wave plate and the included angle of a fast axis of 0 degree are included; theta is an included angle between the 0-degree fast axis of the vortex wave plate and the polarization angle of the light beam. As can be seen from the above formula, the first vortex wave plate outputs a vortex beam with topological charge number m, as can be seen from FIG. 3 (d). One part of the light beam is reflected out of the output cavity, and the other part of the light beam is transmitted back into the cavity again. The vortex beam returning to the cavity can be represented by jones matrix by a second vortex wave plate as:
as can be seen from the above formula, the generated vortex light beam passes through the second vortex wave plate and then has the spiral phase factor
Is cancelled out and is converted into a right-handed circularly polarized gaussian beam again. When the topological charge number of the vortex wave plate is larger, the Gaussian beam converted by the double vortex wave plates can be focused and coupled into the optical fiber by using the focusing and collimating module.
Assuming that the gaussian beam output by the fiber collimator is linearly polarized light, the process of the beam passing through the first vortex wave plate can be represented by a jones matrix as follows:
wherein alpha is the included angle between linearly polarized light and the x axis. As can be seen from the above formula, the output of the first vortex wave plate is a cylindrical vector beam, and when α is 45 °, the output light can be seen in fig. 3 (e); when α is 30 °, the output light can be seen in fig. 3 (f). The included angle between the polarization state of the light beam and the polarization angle of the standard radial polarized light in each direction is alpha, one part of the light beam is reflected out of the cavity, and the other part of the light beam is transmitted back to the cavity again. The vortex beam returning to the cavity can be represented by jones matrix by a second vortex wave plate as:
through the formula, after the generated cylindrical vector light beam passes through the second vortex wave plate, the polarization state singularity of the cylindrical vector light beam is counteracted, the cylindrical vector light beam is converted into the linearly polarized Gaussian light beam again, and the polarization state of the cylindrical vector light beam is consistent with the polarization state of the light beam incident to the first vortex wave plate.