The present invention concerns a multiple soliton comb generation method comprising the steps of: providing a single optical resonator configured to support a plurality of distinct spatial modes in which light can propagate; providing an optical pump laser source; simultaneously optically pumping a plurality of distinct spatial modes of the single optical resonator to simultaneously generate independent soliton states in the distinct spatial modes and generate a plurality of frequency combs.

Methods and apparatus for providing dispersion-managed dissipative Kerr solitons on-chip are provided. Microresonators are also provided for producing such solitons. The solitons may be enabled by real-time dynamical measurements on frequency combs. Methods are further provided to determine the temporal structure of the intracavity field in both the fast time axis, with ultrafast time-lens magnifiers at 600 fs timing resolutions, and the slow time axis via optical sampling with a synchronized fiber frequency comb reference. An order-of-magnitude enlarged stability zone of the dispersion-managed dissipative Kerr solitons is achieved versus the static regimes.

Example methods, devices, and systems for optical emission are disclosed. An example device can comprise one or more optical filters. The one or more optical filters can be configured to be coupled to an optical amplifier. The device can comprise a microresonator configured to receive an output of the one or more optical filters and output, based on parametric multiwave mixing, a frequency comb. The one or more optical filters and the microresonator can be integrated into a single chip.

An optical assembly provides dispersion control, modelocking, spectral filtering, and/or the like in a laser cavity. For example, the optical assembly may comprise a diffraction grating pair arranged to temporally and spatially disperse a beam on a forward pass through the optical assembly, a reflective device at an end of the optical assembly, and a focusing optic arranged to create a beam waist at the reflective device. The beam waist created at the reflective device may cause the beam to be inverted on a reverse pass through the optical assembly, and a temporal dispersion and a spatial dispersion of the beam may be doubled on the reverse pass through the optical assembly to form a temporally and spatially dispersed output from the optical assembly.

A pulse stretching fiber oscillator (or laser cavity) may comprise a chirped fiber Bragg grating (CFBG) and an optical circulator arranged such that a first portion of a beam that is transmitted through the CFBG continues to propagate through the laser cavity while a second portion of the beam that is reflected from the CFBG is stretched and chirped by the CFBG and directed out of the laser cavity by the optical circulator. Accordingly, a configuration of the CFBG and the optical circulator in the laser cavity may enable pulse stretching contemporaneous with outcoupling, which may prevent deleterious nonlinear phase from accumulating prior to stretching.

A pulse laser apparatus (100) for creating laser pulses (1), in particular soliton laser pulses (1), based on Kerr lens mode locking of a circulating light field in an oscillator cavity (10), comprises at least two resonator mirrors (11, 12, . . . ) spanning a resonator beam path (2) of the oscillator cavity (10), at least one Kerr-medium (21, 22, 23) for introducing self-phase modulation and self-focusing to the circulating light field in the oscillator cavity (10), at least one gain-medium (31) for amplifying the circulating light field in the oscillator cavity (10), and a tuning device (40) for setting a first mode-locking condition and a second mode-locking condition of the oscillator cavity (10) such that an intra-cavity threshold-power for mode-locking at the first mode-locking condition is lower than that at the second mode-locking condition, wherein the first mode-locking condition is adapted for starting or shutting-down of the Kerr lens mode locking and the second mode-locking condition is adapted for continuous Kerr lens mode locking and a resonator-internal peak-power of the circulating light field is higher at the second mode-locking condition than at the first mode-locking condition. Furthermore, a method of operating a pulse laser apparatus is described.

A fiber laser system based in solitonic passive mode-locking, including a laser diode to emit and deliver an optical signal of a first wavelength; a single-fiber laser cavity including a dichroic mirror, a SESAM and a polarization maintaining highly-doped active fiber, to receive the emitted signal and to emit a pulsed optical signal of a second wavelength, generating laser light in the form of mode-locked ultrashort pulses; a unit coupling the laser diode to the single-fiber laser cavity; and an isolator device protecting the cavity from back reflections. The solitonic mode-locked ultrashort pulses are comprised in a range of 100 fs<10 ps with repetition rates of hundreds MHz to tens of GHz.

A pulse laser apparatus (100) for creating laser pulses (1), in particular soliton laser pulses (1), based on Kerr lens mode locking of a circulating light field in an oscillator cavity (10), comprises at least two resonator mirrors (11, 12, . . . ) spanning a resonator beam path (2) of the oscillator cavity (10), at least one Kerr-medium (21, 22, 23) for introducing self-phase modulation and self-focusing to the circulating light field in the oscillator cavity (10), at least one gain-medium (31) for amplifying the circulating light field in the oscillator cavity (10), and a tuning device (40) for setting a first mode-locking condition and a second mode-locking condition of the oscillator cavity (10) such that an intra-cavity threshold-power for mode-locking at the first mode-locking condition is lower than that at the second mode-locking condition, wherein the first mode-locking condition is adapted for starting or shutting-down of the Kerr lens mode locking and the second mode-locking condition is adapted for continuous Kerr lens mode locking and a resonator-internal peak-power of the circulating light field is higher at the second mode-locking condition than at the first mode-locking condition. Furthermore, a method of operating a pulse laser apparatus is described.

A diagnostic system is provided with a plurality of semiconductor light emitters, each configured to generate an optical beam, and a beam combiner to generate a multiplexed optical beam. An optical fiber or waveguide communicates at least a portion of the multiplexed optical beam to form an output beam, wherein the output beam is pulsed. A filter, coupled to at least one of a lens and a mirror to receive at least a portion of the output beam, forms an output light. A beam splitter splits the light into a sample arm and a reference arm and directs at least a portion of the sample arm light to a sample. A detection system is configured to receive from the sample at least a portion of reflected sample light, to generate a sample detector output, and to use a lock-in technique with the pulsed output beam.

Fiber optic amplification includes a photonic crystal fiber coupled to a pump laser through a first coupler. The pump laser emits a first electromagnetic radiation wave into the photonic crystal fiber at a first oscillation frequency and a second electromagnetic radiation wave into the photonic crystal fiber at a second oscillation frequency equaling the first oscillation frequency. The first and second electromagnetic radiation waves interact to generate a signal comprising an electromagnetic radiation wave at a third oscillation frequency and an idler comprising a fourth electromagnetic radiation wave at a fourth oscillation frequency to be generated and amplified through parametric amplification. Parametric amplification is achieved by four wave mixing. The photonic crystal fiber emits a parametric output signal based on the four wave mixing. A nonlinear crystal frequency doubles the parametric output signal through second-harmonic generation.