Open AccessStable generation of cylindrical vector beams with an all-fiber laser using polarization-maintaining and ring-core fibers
Author(s) -
Yimin Zhang,
Runxia Tao,
Hongxun Li,
Wentan Fang,
Zhipeng Dong,
Chao Dai,
Lixin Xu,
Changzhi Gu,
Wei Chen,
Yonggang Zhu,
Qiwen Zhan,
Peijun Yao
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.395757
Subject(s) - optics , materials science , polarization maintaining optical fiber , polarization (electrochemistry) , fiber laser , mode volume , laser , photonic crystal fiber , optical fiber , fiber optic sensor , optoelectronics , physics , chemistry
An all-fiber laser using polarization-maintaining and ring-core fibers that are capable of automatically generating stable TE 01 and TM 01 modes is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. Two vector-mode coupling long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) fabricated by a high-frequency CO 2 laser are used in the fiber laser to realize efficient coupling between HE 11 mode and TE 01 /TM 01 mode. The polarization dependence of the LPFGs is simulated using the coupled-mode theory and verified by experiments. A ring-core fiber is employed to support the stable propagation of TE 01 and TM 01 modes. By carefully aligning the polarization direction of the input light, the mode coupling ratios of both LPFGs exceed 15 dB. The mode purities of TE 01 and TM 01 modes are 92.4% and 97.3%, respectively. Owing to the all-polarization-maintaining structure, the laser output is highly stable under environmental disturbance. This laser can be used as a stable cylindrical vector beam source for a wide range of applications, including surface plasmon excitation, optical tweezers, high-resolution metrology and so on.