Passive harmonic mode-locked soliton fiber laser stabilized by an optically pumped saturable Bragg reflector

Self-starting passive harmonic mode-locked femtosecond Yb3+-doped fiber laser at 1030 nm

We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, a self-starting passive harmonic mode-locked femtosecond Yb3+-doped fiber laser with a scalable repetition rate of up to 585 MHz and >45 dB of supermode suppression. Pulse-to-pulse jitter of approximately 14 ps is measured by optical cross correlation at the ninth harmonic, and radiofrequency (RF) spectrum measurements show that certain correlations exist between pulses in harmonic mode. Our results suggest that one of the proposed passive harmonic mode-locking mechanisms may be dominant for this laser.

Harmonic mode locking by synchronous optical pumping of a saturable absorber with the residual pump

An actively mode-locked fiber laser is demonstrated, for the first time to our knowledge, by modulation of a saturable-absorber mirror with the light used simultaneously for pumping the gain fiber. Stabilization of a harmonically passive mode-locked fiber laser that generates soliton pulses of 550-fs duration is obtained with this technique. The results indicate a reduction of supermode suppression by more than 55 dB. The timing jitter is improved by 9 dB.

Vertical-cavity saturable-absorber intensity modulator

We propose and demonstrate a reflection-type optical modulator, with surface-normal architecture, that exploits the optical saturation of absorption in semiconductor quantum wells. The modulation section of the modulator, which is composed of quantum wells placed within a Fabry-Perot cavity, is optically controlled by an intensity-modulated beam generated by an in-plane laser integrated monolithically on the same wafer and grown in a single epitaxial step. The modulation section and the in-plane laser share the same medium; therefore, efficient coupling between the control beam and the signal beam is achieved. The device was successfully used for active mode locking of an erbium-doped fiber laser.

All-optical active mode locking with a nonlinear semiconductor modulator

All-optical active mode locking of a picosecond Nd:YVO(4) laser is demonstrated by use of an intracavity semiconductor nonlinear Fabry-Perot mirror. The reflectivity of the Fabry-Perot mirror is modulated by optical carrier injection. Depending on the carrier recombination time, the width of the Nd:YVO(4) laser pulses varies from 6 to 20 ps, as is typical for passively mode-locked Nd:YVO(4) lasers.

Self-stabilized passive, harmonically mode-locked stretched-pulse erbium fiber ring laser

We have studied a passive, harmonically mode-locked stretched-pulse erbium fiber ring laser with net positive dispersion that is self-stabilized by gain depletion and electrostriction. Periodic pulses with supermode suppression of >75 dB and picosecond jitter are achieved. The pulses are compressible to 125 fs by external chirp compensation. The repetition rate is 220 MHz, and the average power is as high as 80 mW.