Towards 'smart lasers': self-optimisation of an ultrafast pulse source using a genetic algorithm

Abstract

Short-pulse fibre lasers are a complex dynamical system possessing a broad space of operating states that can be accessed through control of cavity parameters. Determination of target regimes is a multi-parameter global optimisation problem. Here, we report the implementation of a genetic algorithm to intelligently locate optimum parameters for stable single-pulse mode-locking in a Figure-8 fibre laser, and fully automate the system turn-on procedure. Stable ultrashort pulses are repeatably achieved by employing a compound fitness function that monitors both temporal and spectral output properties of the laser. Our method of encoding photonics expertise into an algorithm and applying machine-learning principles paves the way to self-optimising `smart' optical technologies.

References in corpus (3)

• Stochasticity, periodicity and coherent structures in partially mode-locked fibre lasers
• Supercontinuum optimization for dual-soliton based light sources using genetic algorithms in a Grid platform
• Dark solitons in laser radiation build-up dynamics

Cited by in corpus (14)

• Rogue waves and analogies in optics and oceanography
• Mechanisms of Spatiotemporal Mode-Locking
• Deep Learning and Model Predictive Control for Self-Tuning Mode-Locked Lasers
• Dispersion engineering of mode-locked fibre lasers
• Mode-locked dysprosium fiber laser: picosecond pulse generation from 2.97 to 3.30 μm
• Artificial Neural Networks for Photonic Applications: From Algorithms to Implementation
• Artificial neural networks for nonlinear pulse shaping in optical fibers
• Genetic algorithm-based control of birefringent filtering for self-tuning, self-pulsing fiber lasers
• Generation of 70-fs pulses at 2.86 μm from a mid-infrared fiber laser
• Measuring Outcomes in Healthcare Economics using Artificial Intelligence: with Application to Resource Management
• A route to high peak power and energy scaling in the mid-IR chirped-pulse oscillator-amplifier laser systems
• Self-Tuning Transmitter for Quantum Key Distribution Using Machine Intelligence
• Atmospheric dispersion management in the mid-IR mode-locked oscillators
• Retrieving space-dependent polarization transformations via near-optimal quantum process tomography