TY - JOUR
T1 - A forward Brillouin fibre laser
AU - Bashan, Gil
AU - Diamandi, H. Hagai
AU - Zehavi, Elad
AU - Sharma, Kavita
AU - London, Yosef
AU - Zadok, Avi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Fibre lasers based on backward stimulated Brillouin scattering provide narrow linewidths and serve in signal processing and sensing applications. Stimulated Brillouin scattering in fibres takes place in the forward direction as well, with amplification bandwidths that are narrower by two orders of magnitude. However, forward Brillouin lasers have yet to be realized in any fibre platform. In this work, we report a first forward Brillouin fibre laser, using a bare off-the-shelf, panda-type polarisation maintaining fibre. Pump light in one principal axis provides Brillouin amplification for a co-propagating lasing signal of the orthogonal polarisation. Feedback is provided by Bragg gratings at both ends of the fibre cavity. Single-mode, few-modes and multi-mode regimes of operation are observed. The lasing threshold exhibits a unique environmental sensitivity: it is elevated when the fibre is partially immersed in water due to the broadening of forward Brillouin scattering spectra. The results establish a new type of fibre laser, with potential for ultra-high coherence and precision sensing of media outside the cladding.
AB - Fibre lasers based on backward stimulated Brillouin scattering provide narrow linewidths and serve in signal processing and sensing applications. Stimulated Brillouin scattering in fibres takes place in the forward direction as well, with amplification bandwidths that are narrower by two orders of magnitude. However, forward Brillouin lasers have yet to be realized in any fibre platform. In this work, we report a first forward Brillouin fibre laser, using a bare off-the-shelf, panda-type polarisation maintaining fibre. Pump light in one principal axis provides Brillouin amplification for a co-propagating lasing signal of the orthogonal polarisation. Feedback is provided by Bragg gratings at both ends of the fibre cavity. Single-mode, few-modes and multi-mode regimes of operation are observed. The lasing threshold exhibits a unique environmental sensitivity: it is elevated when the fibre is partially immersed in water due to the broadening of forward Brillouin scattering spectra. The results establish a new type of fibre laser, with potential for ultra-high coherence and precision sensing of media outside the cladding.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132283177&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-022-31246-y
DO - 10.1038/s41467-022-31246-y
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C2 - 35729112
AN - SCOPUS:85132283177
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 13
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 3554
ER -