Mode-locking pulse dynamics in a fiber laser with a saturable Bragg reflector

Kutz, J. Nathan; Collings, B.C.; Bergman, Keren; Tsuda, S.; Cundiff, Steven T.; Knox, Wayne H.; Holmes, Philip; Weinstein, Michael I.

doi:10.1364/josab.14.002681

Cited by 59 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…For these reasons the solitonlike pulse does not significantly respond to the local perturbations. 29 Therefore we approximate this system as a uniform medium with parameters characteristic of the average cavity. 20,30 This assumption is further supported by the relatively small sidebands in the optical spectrum (Ͻ0.1% of total energy; see Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polarization-locked temporal vector solitons in a fiber laser: experiment

et al. 2000

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We experimentally observe polarization-locked vector solitons in a passively mode-locked fiber laser. The vector soliton pulse is composed of components along both principal polarization axes of the linearly birefringent laser cavity. For certain values of birefringence and pulse energy these components propagate with a constant relative optical phase of Ϯ/2, and hence the pulse has a fixed elliptical polarization state. The linear birefringence of the cavity is canceled by the nonlinear birefringence created by the unequal amplitudes of the two polarization components. This dynamic equalization of the phase velocities of the components results in the stable propagation of an elliptically polarized vector soliton pulse. Under different conditions we also observe the nonlinear instability of the fast principal axis as an intracavity pulse linearly polarized along the slow axis of the cavity. We present the experimental characterization of both the polarization-locked vector soliton and the fast axis instability and discuss the nonlinear mechanism creating both phenomena.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polarization-locked temporal vector solitons in a fiber laser: experiment

et al. 2000

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“…7,11 Figure 2 shows a typical background-free autocorrelation and optical spectrum of the laser output. The pulses are approximately 270 fs long (FWHM, assuming a sech 2 pulse shape), with a calculated time -bandwidth product of 0.325, indicating that the pulses are nearly transform limited, as is characteristic of a fundamental soliton pulse.…”

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confidence: 99%

Stable multigigahertz pulse-train formation in a short-cavity passively harmonic mode-locked erbium/ytterbium fiber laser

Collings

Bergman

Knox³

1998

Opt. Lett.

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We demonstrate a short-cavity erbium -ytterbium fiber laser that is passively mode locked by a saturable Bragg ref lector with a fundamental repetition rate of 235 MHz. The laser operates in the soliton regime and under passive harmonic mode locking with 11 pulses in the cavity and produces output pulse trains at 2.6 GHz with transform-limited 270-fs pulses and 1.6 mW of average power. Within the cavity the multiple pulses form a stable pattern with fixed, nearly equal pulse-to-pulse temporal spacings, causing the output pulse train to have timing offsets of less than 15 ps. A slow gain-recovery model is proposed to explain the pulse-train self-organization. © 1998 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 060.2320, 140.3510, 320.0320, 190.5530, 060.2410 Future high-speed and high-capacity optical networks will require sources of ultrashort pulses at ever-increasing repetition rates and output powers. Currently, many research efforts are concentrating on high-repetition-rate mode-locked erbium-doped fiber (EDF) lasers as reliable and compact sources for network transmitters in the 1550-nm spectral region. The wide optical bandwidth generated in a single mode-locked laser pulse can be partitioned into a large number of channels for wavelength-divisionmultiplexed applications, an approach that may be economically advantageous over employing a large bank of individually selected cw sources. 1In construction of a high-repetition-rate, short pulse source, selection of the mode-locking mechanism becomes crucial. Active harmonic mode locking through amplitude modulation of an EDF laser has produced picosecond pulses at a 10-GHz repetition rate.2 Several passive mode-locking techniques have produced subpicosecond pulses 3 ; these techniques include additive-pulse mode locking by use of either an external cavity or nonlinear polarization rotation, 4 saturable-absorber mode locking 5 and a combination of additive-pulse mode locking and saturable absorption. 6 Typically, these mode-locking techniques introduce a large amount of cavity loss and (or) need large intracavity powers to achieve sufficient nonlinearities for stable operation. Thus signif icant lengths of gain f iber are required, resulting in long cavities and low fundamental repetition rates. The semiconductor saturable Bragg ref lector (SBR) has been shown to be an efficient mode-locking mechanism for extremely low-gain lasers, owing to its low saturation intensity and introduction of minimal cavity loss. 7With a SBR, short-cavity mode-locked EDF lasers have produced 250-fs pulses at relatively high fundamental repetition rates ͑200 MHz͒. 8 In this Letter we present a short-cavity erbium/ytterbium (Er/Yb) f iber laser that is passively mode locked with a SBR, producing 270-fs pulses at a fundamental repetition rate of 235 MHz. 9Utilizing the soliton quantization of the total cavity energy for passive harmonic mode locking allows us to reach a repetition rate of 2.6 GHz with only 11 pulses in the cavity, a small number of pulses compared with the hundreds required...

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“…When designing a saturable absorber, it is necessary to demonstrate that the absorber can handle high optical powers, short pulse durations, and a wide range of wavelength [19,20]. Kutz et al [21] studied lasers that are locked using a SESAM and compared the results of a full model to both an averaged model and experiments. Cabasse et al [22] carried out full model simulations of a SESAM laser in conjunction with their own experiments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kapitula et al [36] carried out a careful stability analysis of the HME in which they determined precise stability boundaries. Kutz et al [21] studied a laser that is locked using a saturable Bragg reflector and Kutz and Sandstede [59] applied this approach to study the stability of a laser that is locked using a waveguide array.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spectral Methods for Determining the Stability and Noise Performance of Passively Modelocked Lasers

Menyuk

Wang

2016

Nanophotonics

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Abstract:We describe spectral or dynamical methods that can be used to determine the stability and noise performance of modelocked lasers. We first review methods that have been used to date to theoretically and computationally study passively modelocked lasers, contrasting evolutionary and dynamical approaches and their application to full, averaged, and reduced models. We then develop the spectral methods and show how they can be used to determine the stability and to calculate the timing jitter and power spectral density for any averaged model with any equilibrium pulse shape. We review work that has been done on soliton lasers using soliton perturbation theory from this dynamical perspective, and we contrast the simplicity and generality of our methods to prior work. We close with a discussion of how to extend our approach from averaged models to full models.

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Mode-locking pulse dynamics in a fiber laser with a saturable Bragg reflector

Cited by 59 publications

References 32 publications

Polarization-locked temporal vector solitons in a fiber laser: experiment

Polarization-locked temporal vector solitons in a fiber laser: experiment

Stable multigigahertz pulse-train formation in a short-cavity passively harmonic mode-locked erbium/ytterbium fiber laser

Spectral Methods for Determining the Stability and Noise Performance of Passively Modelocked Lasers

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