Ultrafast Fiber Laser Systems

Dr Maria Chernysheva leads the “Ultrafast Fiber Lasers” Junior Research Group at the Leibniz Institute for Photonic Technologies (IPHT). The group chooses a nontrivial approach to develop novel ultrashort pulse lasers systems in simple configurations with tailored and outstanding spectral and temporal properties by shaping the generation via internal nonlinear and dispersive phenomena and exploring all avenues of available optical fiber materials and geometries. Innovative laser sources will enable investigation of the fundamental physics of nonlinear phenomena and frequency conversion to mid-infrared, therefore matching fundamental vibration bands of target molecules.

Research Areas

Dr. Chernysheva focuses on design and production of innovative ultrafast fiber laser configurations, comprehensive investigation of the physics of nonlinear processes in laser cavities. Research interests include but are not limited by:

• Ultrashort pulse generation in advanced fiber laser sources; dispersion and nonlinearity management; power up-scalling
• Fundamentals of ultrashort pulse dynamics in the laser cavity, including formation and interaction of individual pulses or within bound pulse complex systems
• Soft-glass fibers, functionalisation, post-processing and fabrication of fiber-based components; new fiber structures and assemblies
• Novel nonlinear fast modulating techniques and advanced broadband material saturable absorbers
• Applications of developed laser systems for sensing and biophotonics

Teaching Fields

To be confirmed

Research Methods and Equipment

The laboratories run by Dr. Chernysheva offer a wide range of complex laser setups and ultrashort pulse characterization methodologies, targeting particularly short-wave and mid-infrared wavelength bands (from 1.7 to 5 µm):

• Fiber optics components and fiber technology, including splicers
• Various laser pump sources and diodes
• Ultrashort optical pulse characterization devices: oscilloscopes, autocorrelators, spectrum analysers and power meters

Recent Research Results

The research team has performed vigorous investigations of various ultrafast fiber lasers, particularly focusing on Tm-doped fiber systems operating at short-wave infrared wavelength range. The most recent works on investigating Tm-doped fiber resulted in the development of the self- mode-locked system, utilising the same section of a highly Tm-doped fiber for three roles: active medium, saturable absorber and a tuneable element by managing its excitation level. This allowed achieving the generation of ~300 fs pulses with 1~nJ energy, tuneable within 90 nm range spanning from 1870 to 1960 nm.