Simulations of spectral broadening by cross-phase modulation (XPM) with chaotic light pulses
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
- Maryland Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States). Dept. of Electrical Engineering
Spectral broadening of single-frequency laser pulses by optical cross-phase modulation (XPM) with chaotic laser pulses in birefringent single-mode optical fibers is investigated numerically and results are compared with experiments. By this process we have generated laser pulses of variable bandwidth (1--25 {Angstrom}) at the fundamental wavelength (1053 nm) for amplification in high power solid-state Nd:glass lasers used for inertial confinement fusion research. Simulations indicate that a temporally smooth XPM pulse can be generated with intensity fluctuations of less than 10% and spectral width greater than 50 {Angstrom} using a short length ({approximately}5 m) of special low dispersion and low birefringence fiber, e.g. D = 10 ps/nm-km (normal dispersion) and {Delta}n = 2 {times} 10{sup {minus}5}. Readily available fibers of similar length, with parameters of D = 40 ps/nm-km and {Delta}n = 6 {times} 10{sup {minus}5}, can give spectral widths exceeding 25 {Angstrom}, but the noise will range from 25 to 60%. Broadband laser pulses generated by XPM are now routinely used at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for active smoothing of the laser irradiance on targets by the technique of smoothing-by-spectral dispersion.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 10185178
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JC-112742; CONF-930159-55; ON: DE93019623
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: OE/LASE `93: International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) conference,Los Angeles, CA (United States),13-23 Jan 1993; Other Information: PBD: 25 May 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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