Tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11862925-B2
Application number	US-201817277305-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 30, 2018
Priority date	Sep 21, 2018
Publication date	Jan 2, 2024
Grant date	Jan 2, 2024

Abstract

A tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control includes a high-reflectivity fiber grating, a high-gain fiber, a low-reflectivity polarization-maintaining fiber grating, a stress adjusting device, a single-mode semiconductor pump laser, an optical wavelength division multiplexer, a polarization beam splitter, a polarization controller, an optical coupler, and a photoelectric detector. Birefringence distribution in the low-reflectivity polarization-maintaining fiber grating is controlled by adjusting a stress magnitude of the stress adjusting device to the low-reflectivity polarization fiber grating, thereby controlling a laser frequency working in different polarization modes in a resonant cavity, and a tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source is generated by a beat-frequency technology using a dual-wavelength narrow-linewidth laser with variable frequency intervals.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control, comprising:
a high-reflectivity fiber grating, a high-gain fiber, a low-reflectivity polarization-maintaining fiber grating, a stress adjusting device, an optical wavelength division multiplexer, a single-mode semiconductor pump laser, a polarization beam splitter, a polarization controller, an optical coupler, and a photoelectric detector;
wherein the high-reflectivity fiber grating, the high-gain fiber, and the low-reflectivity polarization-maintaining fiber grating together form a resonant cavity of the laser, the high-gain fiber serves as a gain medium of the resonant cavity of the laser, and the high-reflectivity fiber grating and the low-reflectivity polarization-maintaining fiber grating form front and rear cavity mirrors of the resonant cavity, which are respectively connected with two ends of the high-gain fiber, so that a signal laser oscillates in the resonant cavity, and a first end of the optical wavelength division multiplexer is connected with the resonant cavity;
an output end of the single-mode semiconductor pump laser is connected with a second end of the optical wavelength division multiplexer, and a pump laser is injected into the resonant cavity through the optical wavelength division multiplexer;
due to birefringence in the low-reflectivity polarization-maintaining fiber grating, two reflection peaks with different polarization modes and different central wavelengths exist, so that the laser is enabled to realize orthogonal dual-frequency narrow-linewidth optical fiber laser output through the wavelength division multiplexer;
an input end of the polarization beam splitter is connected with an output end of the optical wavelength division multiplexer to divide two lasers with different frequencies and different polarizations output by the optical wavelength division multiplexer into fast-axis laser and slow-axis laser;
an output end of the polarization beam splitter is respectively connected with the polarization controller and the optical coupler, and an output of the optical coupler is connected with the photoelectric detector;
a polarization state of the slow-axis laser is adjusted by the polarization controller to change an orthogonal relationship between the slow-axis laser and the fast-axis laser, is coupled with the fast-axis laser through the optical coupler and injected into the photoelectric detector, and a narrow-linewidth microwave signal is generated by a beat-frequency technology; and
the stress adjusting device is arranged on the low-reflectivity polarization-maintaining fiber grating, changes birefringence distribution in the grating by changing a stress magnitude applied to the low-reflectivity polarization-maintaining fiber grating, controls output laser frequencies under different polarization modes, and outputs a tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave signal.

2. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 1 , wherein the stress adjusting device is used for applying a lateral stress to the optical fiber to cause the birefringence distribution of the optical fiber to change.

3. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 1 , wherein a material of the stress adjusting device is piezoelectric ceramics, mechanical adjusting frame or heavy-object extrusion device.

4. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 1 , wherein the resonant cavity of the optical fiber laser is of a distributed Bragg reflection (DBR) cavity structure, a distributed feed-back (DFB) cavity structure or an annular cavity structure.

5. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 1 , wherein an optical fiber used in the low-reflectivity polarization-maintaining fiber grating is a panda polarization-maintaining fiber, a bow-tie polarization-maintaining fiber or an optical fiber engraved with dual-wavelength reflection peaks.

6. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 1 , wherein the high-reflectivity fiber grating is a single mode fiber grating, wherein the reflection peak of the high-reflectivity fiber grating covers two reflection peaks of the low-reflectivity fiber grating, and the high-reflectivity fiber grating has a reflectivity to signal laser greater than 90%.

7. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 1 , wherein a frequency response range of the photoelectric detector is larger than a beat-frequency signal frequency generated by an optical fiber laser source.

8. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 7 , wherein a material of the photoelectric detector is an indium-gallium-arsenic semiconductor material, a silicon semiconductor material or a germanium semiconductor material.

9. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 1 , wherein a central reflection wavelength of the high-reflectivity fiber grating is a laser output wavelength of 1550.12 nm, a 3 dB reflection spectrum width of 1.2 nm, and a central wavelength reflectivity greater than 99.95%; a central wavelength of a slow-axis reflection peak of the low-reflectivity polarization-maintaining fiber grating is 1550.12 nm, and a fast-axis reflection peak of the low-reflectivity polarization-maintaining fiber grating is 1550.50 nm, with a reflectivity of both 60%.

10. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 1 , wherein the high-gain fiber is a phosphate gain fiber co-doped with erbium and ytterbium.

11. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 2 , wherein the high-gain fiber is a phosphate gain fiber co-doped with erbium and ytterbium.

12. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 3 , wherein the high-gain fiber is a phosphate gain fiber co-doped with erbium and ytterbium.

13. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 4 , wherein the high-gain fiber is a phosphate gain fiber co-doped with erbium and ytterbium.

14. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 5 , wherein the high-gain fiber is a phosphate gain fiber co-doped with erbium and ytterbium.

15. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 6 , wherein the high-gain fiber is a phosphate gain fiber co-doped with erbium and ytterbium.

16. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 7 , wherein the high-gain fiber is a phosphate gain fiber co-doped with erbium and ytterbium.

17. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 8 , wherein the high-gain fiber is a phosphate gain fiber co-doped with erbium and ytterbium.

18. The tunable narrow-linewidth photo-generated microwave source based on polarization control according to claim 9 , wherein the high-gain

Assignees

• Univ South China Tech

Inventors

• Xu Shanhui
• Zhao Qilai
• Zhang Zhitao
• Yang Changsheng
• Feng Zhouming
• Yang Zhongmin

Classifications

• H01S3/1308 Primary

  Stabilisation of the polarisation · CPC title

• H01S3/0675

  Resonators including a grating structure, e.g. distributed Bragg reflectors [DBR] or distributed feedback [DFB] fibre lasers · CPC title

• H01S3/06716

  Fibre compositions (per se C03C13/04)or doping with active elements (lasing materials in general H01S3/14) · CPC title

• H01S3/08013

  Resonator comprising a fibre, e.g. for modifying dispersion or repetition rate (the active medium being a fibre H01S3/067) · CPC title

• H01S3/08054

  Passive cavity elements acting on the polarization, e.g. a polarizer for branching or walk-off compensation (quarter-wave plates in a Q-switch laser H01S3/1124, H01S3/115) · CPC title