Impact of pulse dynamics on timing jitter in mode-locked fiber lasers

We investigate the high-frequency timing jitter spectral density of mode-locked fiber lasers in different mode-locked regimes. Quantum-noise-limited timing jitter spectra of mode-locked-regime-switchable Yb fiber lasers are measured up to the Nyquist frequency with sub-100-as resolution. The integrated rms timing jitter of soliton, stretched-pulse, and self-similar Yb fiber lasers is measured to be 1.8, 1.1, and 2.9 fs, respectively, when integrated from 10 kHz to 40 MHz. The distinct behavior of jitter spectral density related to pulse formation mechanisms is revealed experimentally for the first time.     

基于阿秒抖动光纤锁模激光器的时钟同步

光纤锁模激光器结构简单, 运转稳定, 且输出的超短脉冲序列具有极高的时钟稳定性, 在抽运探测、脉冲相干合成等要求高精度时钟同步的前沿领域有着广阔的应用前景. 本文通过激光器腔内的电光调制器进行反馈控制, 实现了两台光纤锁模激光器之间的紧密时钟信号同步; 并且通过平衡光学互相关方法, 对残余的时钟误差信号进行了测量, 分辨率达到了13 as. 通过优化激光器的腔内动力学过程及反馈环路的参数, 在[1 Hz, 10 MHz]的积分区间内得到了109 as的残余时钟误差, 对应单台激光器的平均时间抖动为77 as.     

Experimental observation of stable bound solitons in a figure-eight fiber laser

Temporal bound solitons are observed experimentally in a passively mode-locked figure-eight fiber laser with a dispersion-imbalanced nonlinear optical loop mirror (DI-NOLM). Soliton interactions are suppressed by use of a spectral bandpass filter, and Gordon-Haus timing jitter is eliminated with a DI-NOLM, which removes the cw light component in the laser cavity. The bound solitons are found to be stable for several hours in the laser cavity when no external perturbation is applied.     

Nearly quantum-noise-limited timing jitter from miniature Er:Yb:glass lasers

We report on nearly quantum-limited timing-jitter performance of two passively mode-locked Er:Yb:glass lasers with a repetition rate of 10 GHz. The relative timing jitter of both lasers was measured to be 190 fs (100 Hz-1.56 MHz) root mean square. The remaining cavity-length fluctuations are below 7.5 pm in the 6 Hz-8 kHz frequency range, indicating the stability of a rugged miniature cavity setup. By actively controlling the cavity length we reduced the timing jitter to 26 fs (6 Hz-1.56 MHz). We also discuss the influence of cavity length on the practically achievable timing jitter.     

超导纳米线单光子探测系统的时间抖动

超导纳米线单光子探测(SNSPD)器件具有较低的时间抖动特性,可以实现低误码率的QKD和高精度的激光测距。文中对超导纳米线单光子探测系统的时间抖动进行了详细的分析和测量,分析了SNSPD系统各部分对系统抖动的贡献。使用时间相关的单光子计数技术(TCSPC)和示波器的抖动分析软件,分别测量了SNSPD系统的时间抖动,比较了两种方法的优劣。在两种测量方法下,系统总的时间抖动分别约为42ps和31ps,计算后得到单光子探测器件的抖动约为25ps。发现放大器的性能对系统时间抖动影响明显。通过使用不同放大器比较分析了测量得到的时间抖动。     

Mode locking of an erbium-doped fiber laser with intra-cavity polarization modulation

Erbium-doped fiber lasers are normally actively mode-locked through amplitude modulation or phase modulation. In this paper, we demonstrate that the laser can also be mode-locked by employing polarization modulation with a polarization-dependent cavity loss. We obtain a nearly transform-limited mode-locked pulse train at 10 GHz repetition rate with timing jitter as low as 164 fs. The timing jitter is only limited by the timing jitter of the driving signal.     

Compressing ultrafast electron pulse by radio frequency cavity

An ultrafast electron diffraction technique with both high temporal and spatial resolution has been shown to be a powerful tool to observe the material transient structural change on an atomic scale.The space charge forces in a multi-electron bunch will greatly broaden the electron pulse width,and therefore limit the temporal resolution of the high brightness electron pulse.Here in this work,we design an ultrafast electron diffraction system,and utilize a radio frequency cavity to realize the ultrafast electron pulse compression.We experimentally demonstrate that the stretched electron pulse width of14.98 ps with an electron energy of 40 keV and the electron number of 1.0 ×10~5 can be maximally compressed to about0.61 ps for single-pulse measurement and 2.48 ps for multi-pulse measurement by using a 3.2-GHz radiofrequency cavity.We also theoretically and experimentally analyze the parameters influencing the electron pulse compression efficiency for single-and multi-pulse measurements by considering radiofrequency field time jitter,electron pulse time jitter and their relative time jitter.We suggest that increasing the electron energy or shortening the distance between the compression cavity and the streak cavity can further improve the electron pulse compression efficiency.These experimental and theoretical results are very helpful for designing the ultrafast electron diffraction experiment equipment and compressing the ultrafast electron pulse width in a future study.     

Sub-100-as timing jitter optical pulse trains from mode-locked Er-fiber lasers

We demonstrate sub-100-as timing jitter optical pulse trains generated from free-running, 77.6 MHz repetition-rate, mode-locked Er-fiber lasers. At -0.002(±0.001) ps2 net cavity dispersion, the rms timing jitter is 70 as (224 as) integrated from 10 kHz (1 kHz) to 38.8 MHz offset frequency, when measured by a 24 as resolution balanced optical cross correlator. To our knowledge, this result corresponds to the lowest rms timing jitter measured from any mode-locked fiber lasers so far. The measured result also agrees fairly well with the Namiki-Haus analytic model of quantum-limited timing jitter in stretched-pulse fiber lasers.     

Transient dynamics of a single-mode semiconductor laser subjected to both optical feedback and external light injection

The transient dynamics of a single-mode semiconductor laser subjected to both weak optical feedback and light injection is studied. Even at detuning values for which injection locking is not effective, turn-on jitter and frequency jitter can still be strongly reduced by adjusting either the length of the external cavity or the detuning.     

Measurement of residual phase noise and longitudinal-mode linewidth in a hybridly mode-locked external linear cavity semiconductor laser

We report measurements of the residual phase-noise knee position and longitudinal-mode linewidth of a hybridly mode-locked external linear cavity semiconductor laser as a function of laser cavity length. Excellent agreement between these measurements suggests a direct relationship between rms pulse-to-pulse timing jitter and average longitudinal-mode linewidth. This relationship leads to a fundamental limit in the timing jitter of mode-locked lasers.     

Active synchronization of two mode-locked lasers with optical cross correlation

Two mode-locked Ti:sapphire lasers of different wavelengths were precisely synchronized by a simple feedback system employing sum-frequency generation (cross correlation). When the timing error exceeded the pulse duration, the periodic bunch of the sum-frequency pulse was used for rough timing adjustment. Using cross correlation with a stretched pulse, we struck a balance between wide locking range and sensitive timing detection. When the two lasers were well-synchronized, we obtained a continuous cross-correlation pulse train for 3 min. The holding time of the laser synchronization was extended to over one hour by adding a motorized stage to the PZT-mounted cavity mirror. We estimated the rms timing jitter between the two lasers by a scanning cross-correlation measurement. We confirmed that the rms timing jitter of the two lasers during 1.8 s was 28 fs. Received: 30 January 2002 / Revised version: 14 June 2002 / Published online: 8 August 2002     

Effect of copropagating and counterpropagating directions on a semiconductor optical amplifier-Mach-Zehnder interferometer based wavelength converter using a continuous-wave assist light

We experimentally investigate and compare the effects of copropagating and counterpropagating directions on a semiconductor optical amplifier-Mach-Zehnder interferometer based wavelength converter. When an assist light is not used, the copropagating scheme induces a long rise-fall time and small timing jitter, whereas the counterpropagating scheme induces a short rise-fall time and large timing jitter. The results show that the copropagating scheme with a backward assist light yields the best performance.     

Timing jitter of solitons compressed in dispersion-decreasing fibers

It is shown that timing jitter owing to the Gordon-Haus (G-H) effect of solitons that are compressed adiabatically in dispersion-decreasing fibers (DDF's) is approximately determined by total dispersion and initial conditions, which are independent of compression dynamics. As a result the established theory for G-H jitter is still applicable. Timing jitter near the levels predicted by theory is observed in pulses from a regeneratively mode-locked fiber laser compressed in a DDF.     

Dual picosecond dye lasers synchronously pumped by a mode locked cw yag laser

The performance of a novel dual dye laser system synchronously pumped by the frequency doubled output of a mode-locked CW-YAG laser is evaluated in relation to pulsewidth, pulse substructure, pulse spectral width and timing jitter. The behavior of the system is adequately described by a theoretical model which includes the time dependent gain and losses due to frequency bandwidth, cavity length mismatch and output coupler. The jitter is significantly reduced from that obtained with CW gas laser pumping as a result of the shorter pump pulse (50 ns instead of ≈100 ps). A routine operating condition uses 2-plate birefringen filters, 0.8 W pump power at 532 nm, to yield two 2.0 ps pulses having a cross correlation width of 3.8 ps, and 30 mW average power from each laser.     

CiADS束流负载效应前馈补偿的仿真评估

在高功率超导质子直线加速器中,束流负载效应是影响超导腔幅相稳定性的一个重要因素。本工作基于谐振腔建场模型,开发了超导腔系统束流负载效应的时域仿真程序,分析了束流负载效应对超导腔幅相稳定性的影响,并在C-ADS注入器II上通过相关实验测量对仿真结果进行了验证。利用该程序,评估了CiADS超导直线加速器脉冲束流的脉冲长度,以及前馈补偿的时序抖动和束流纹波等因素对腔中电磁场幅相稳定度的影响。仿真结果表明:在当前CiADS直线加速器设计参数下,为满足超导腔中电磁场0.1%与在高功率超导质子直线加速器中,束流负载效应是影响超导腔幅相稳定性的一个重要因素。本工作基于谐振腔建场模型,开发了超导腔系统束流负载效应的时域仿真程序,分析了束流负载效应对超导腔幅相稳定性的影响,并在C-ADS注入器II上通过相关实验测量对仿真结果进行了验证。利用该程序,评估了CiADS超导直线加速器脉冲束流的脉冲长度,以及前馈补偿的时序抖动和束流纹波等因素对腔中电磁场幅相稳定度的影响。仿真结果表明:在当前CiADS直线加速器设计参数下,为满足超导腔中电磁场0.1%与$0.1^{\circ}$的幅相稳定度指标,前馈时序抖动的偏差不能超过0.79 μs,束流流强的直流偏差不能超过0.9%,并且给出了束流纹波的最大抖动幅值与纹波频率之间的关系。这些结果将为CiADS超导直线加速器相关子系统技术指标的确定提供依据。     

Vector solitons in a laser passively mode-locked by single-wall carbon nanotubes

Polarization Rotation Locked Vector Solitons (PRLVSs) are experimentally observed for the first time in a fiber ring laser passively mode-locked by a single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) saturable absorber. Period-doubling of these solitons at certain birefringence values has also been observed. We show that fine adjustment to the intracavity birefringence can swing the PRLVSs from period-doubled to period-one state without simultaneous reduction in the pump strength. The timing jitter for both states has also been measured experimentally and discussed analytically using the theoretical framework provided by the Haus model.     

Passive synchronization of femtosecond Er- and Yb-fiber lasers by?injection locking

We demonstrated a self-starting passively synchronized Er- and Yb-fiber laser system. Synchronization was implemented by the master-slave configuration where partial output power of the Er-fiber laser was injected into the Yb-fiber laser via a 2-m-long single-mode fiber. The output pulses both were in femtosecond range, and the cavity mismatch tolerance was 160 μm, corresponding to 1267 Hz in frequency domain. The RMS (root mean square) timing jitter between these two lasers was calculated as 14.7 fs (5-kHz bandwidth) in one second.     

Effects of precompensation and postcompensation on timing jitter in dispersion-managed systems

We present an analytic theory of timing jitter in dispersion-managed light-wave systems that is based on the moment method and the assumption of a chirped Gaussian pulse. We apply the theory to a soliton system and show that 50% postcompensation of the accumulated dispersion can reduce the jitter by a factor of 2. We also apply the theory to a low-power light-wave system employing the return-to-zero format and find that timing jitter can be minimized along the fiber link for an optimal choice of precompensation and postcompensation.     

Low Timing Jitter and Tunable Dual-Wavelength Picosecond Pulse Generation from a Fabry--Pérot Laser Diode with External Injection

A novel scheme to generate tunable dual-wavelength optical pulses with low timing jitter at arbitrary repetition rates is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. The pulses are generated from a gain-switched Fabry-Pérot laser diode with two external cw beams for injection seeding simultaneously. The cw light is generated by two independent distributed feedback laser diodes, and their wavelengths can be tuned independently by two temperature controllers. The dual-wavelength pulses with the pulse width of 57 ps, the timing jitter of 340 fs, are obtained. The sidemode-suppression ratio of the output pulses is better than 23dB over a 10-nm wavelength tuning range.     

Wavelength-independent all-optical synchronization of a Q-switched 100-ps microchip laser to a femtosecond laser reference source

We present a Q-switched microchip laser emitting 1064-nm pulses as short as 100 ps synchronized to a cavity dumped femtosecond laser emitting 800-nm pulses as short as 80 fs. The synchronization is achieved by presaturating the saturable absorber of the microchip laser with femtosecond pulses even though both lasers emit at widely separated wavelengths. The mean timing jitter is 40 ps and thus considerably shorter than the pulse duration of the microchip laser.