Passive harmonic mode locking of soliton bunches in a fiber ring laser

We report on the experimental observation of passive harmonic mode locking of bunches of single-pulse solitons or twin-pulse solitons in an Erbium-doped fiber ring laser. Experimental investigations on the phenomenon revealed that, although the soliton interaction between the adjacent single-/twin-pulse solitons in a bunch is weaker than that of the pulse interaction in the twin-pulse solitons, a soliton bunch could also function as a unit and form the state of passively harmonic mode-locking. Harmonic mode-locking is one of the intrinsic characteristics of soliton emission in passively mode-locked fiber ring lasers. It can be formed based on the single-pulse soliton, twin-pulse soliton, or bunch of solitons.     

Energy quantization of twin-pulse solitons in a passively mode-locked fiber ring laser

A novel twin-pulse form of solitary wave was recently revealed in a passively mode-locked fiber ring laser. In this paper we report on the energy quantization feature of the twin-pulse solitons in the laser. We show that, as in the case of single-pulse solitons, multiple twin-pulse solitons can coexist in the laser cavity, and, in particular, that all of them have exactly the same pulse energy and twin-pulse separation. The pump-power hysteresis effect previously reported for the single-pulse soliton operation is also observed for the twin-pulse soliton operation of the laser. PACS 42.81.Dp; 42.55.Wd; 42.60.Fc     

Observation of high-order polarization-locked vector solitons in a fiber laser

We report on the experimental observation of a new type of polarization-locked vector soliton in a passively mode-locked fiber laser. The vector soliton is characterized by the fact that not only are the two orthogonally polarized soliton components phase-locked, but also one of the components has a double-humped intensity profile. Multiple phase-locked high-order vector solitons with identical soliton parameters and harmonic mode locking of the vector solitons were also obtained in the laser. Numerical simulations confirmed the existence of stable high-order vector solitons in the fiber laser.     

Passive harmonic mode locking of soliton crystals

We report experimental observation of passive harmonic mode locking (HML) in which the basic pattern is a soliton crystal. Several crystal states were generated from an initial large bound state by increasing the pump power. The soliton crystals are identical and progressively span along the cavity to finally take a regular spacing leading to HML of solitons crystal.     

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

Stabilization of passive harmonic mode locking is achieved for what is believed to be the first time in an Er-Yb soliton fiber laser by optical pumping of the semiconductor saturable absorber above the bandgap. The results show 35-dB mode suppression of undesired harmonics.     

Ultrahigh-repetition-rate bound-soliton harmonic passive mode-locked fiber lasers

On the basis of numerical simulation results, we put forward a way to realize harmonic passive mode locking of fiber lasers with an ultrahigh-repetition-rate pulse train. The equidistant distribution of ultrashort pulses filling the total laser cavity is due to bound-soliton mechanisms. In the case of large bound energy, such long soliton trains are very stable and have the ideal periodic structure as a soliton crystal.     

Passive harmonic mode-locking of a soliton Yb fiber laser at repetition rates to 1.5 GHz

We report passive harmonic mode locking of a soliton Yb fiber laser at repetition rates continuously scalable up to 1.5 GHz. The laser generates transform-limited 500 fs pulses, with pulse energies of 30-100 pJ. At the 31st harmonic (1.3 GHz), the cavity supermodes are suppressed by 35 dB, and the pulse-to-pulse timing jitter is 6 ps.     

主被动锁模光纤激光器的脉宽计算及其稳定性分析

分析了主被动锁模光纤环形孤子激光器的运行机理，用分裂步长法进行了数值模拟，获得了重复频率为１０ＧＨｚ，脉宽为９８５ｆｓ的稳定的孤子脉冲序列，通过孤子参量演化方程的求解，获得了光结环形孤子激光器的稳定运行条件及孤子脉宽的解析表达式。     

Passively harmonic mode-locked erbium-doped fiber soliton laser with a nonlinear polarization rotation

Based on the nonlinear polarization rotation technique, we report on a stable passive 23rd harmonic mode-locked erbium-doped fiber soliton laser for the first time to the best of our knowledge. In this laser, 23 solitons are uniformly distributed in the cavity simultaneously, and all solitons have the same energy and duration. The increase of the coupler output enhances the dispersive radiation, and the longer cavity strengthens the interaction between solitons and dispersive waves. The two above factors play the key function to generate the 23rd harmonic mode-locked operation.     

Observation of soliton bound states in a graphene mode locked erbium-doped fiber laser

We report on the experimental observation of bound states of solitons in a graphene mode locked erbium-doped fiber laser. By using graphene as a saturable absorber, we have obtained stable, single and bound soliton pulses, the latter with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 1.49 ps and a fixed pulse separation of 2.46 ps. Our results once again show that bound soliton pulses is an intrinsic feature of fiber lasers independent of the exact mode locking mechanism.     

用腔内半导体可饱和吸收镜钛宝石激光器中自锁模状态的实验研究

用可饱和吸收体镜(SESAM)的掺钛蓝宝石激光器能够稳定运转在三种不同的锁模状态,即可饱和吸收体被动锁模、孤子锁模加被动锁模和KLM锁模.分析了三种自锁模的机理和SESAM的作用.对SESAM实现KLM锁模的自启动机制进行了实验观察和讨论.从该激光器的KLM锁模状态,获得了小于18飞秒的锁模脉冲序列. 关键词： 半导体可饱和吸收镜 自锁模 钛宝石激光器     

Direct generation of a 10 GHz 816 fs pulse train from an erbium-fiber soliton laser with asynchronous phase modulation

By employing the technique of asynchronous mode locking, we have successfully demonstrated direct generation of stable 10 GHz 816 fs pulse trains with a supermode-suppression ratio >70 dB from a hybrid mode-locked Er-fiber laser. When the modulation frequency deviates from the cavity harmonic frequency by 15-40 kHz, stable femtosecond soliton pulses are formed. Our results demonstrate that asynchronous mode locking can act as an effective mechanism for achieving a shorter pulse width and for stabilizing high-repetition-rate pulse trains in soliton fiber lasers.     

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

We demonstrate a short-cavity erbium-ytterbium fiber laser that is passively mode locked by a saturable Bragg reflector 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.     

Critical behavior of a passively mode-locked laser: rational harmonic mode locking

The critical behavior of passive mode locking has been demonstrated in a figure-eight fiber laser that performs rational harmonic mode locking (RHML). On both the repetition rate and the pulse amplitude distribution, the observed pulse trains near the threshold exhibit the same regulations as the rational harmonic mode-locked ones. The theory also shows that there should be a middle status of RHML before achieving normal mode locking. It is important to note that the results provide what we believe to be the first confirmed attempt to address a fundamental question: how does a laser become mode locking with an increase of pump power?     

High-repetition-rate, 491 MHz, femtosecond fiber laser with low timing jitter

We demonstrate a soliton fiber laser based on an anomalously dispersive erbium-doped fiber butt-coupled to a saturable absorber mirror for passive mode locking. The laser generates 180 fs pulses at a repetition rate of 491 MHz and exhibits a timing jitter as low as 20 fs over the frequency range 1 kHz-10 MHz.     

Twin-Pulse Soliton Operation of a Fiber Laser

We report on the experimental observation of a novel type of twin-pulse soliton in a passively mode-locked fiber ring laser. Twin-pulse soliton interaction in the laser cavity are also experimentally investigated and compared with those of the single pulse soliton.     

Dissipative Solitons in the Complex Ginzburg-Landau Equation for Femtosecond Lasers

We consider the models of generating femtosecond radiation in solid-state lasers with passive mode locking. An approach in which ultrashort laser pulses (USPs) are associated with the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation (GLE) is developed. The structure of solitons and the range of parameters of their existence are analytically determined and the stability criteria of those solitons are formulated for a number of limiting cases. The scenarios of the cyclic spectral and temporal dynamics of dissipative solitons due to the instability of the background field are studied.     

Different operation states of soliton pulses in an erbium-doped fibre ring laser

We report on the experimental observation of soliton pulses in an erbium doped fibre ring laser. The passive mode-locking is achieved using the nonlinear polarization rotation technique. By adjusting the pump power and the intracavity polarization controllers, a normal soliton, a stable 8th harmonic mode-locked pulse and a noise-like pulse have been observed in our laser. The experimental results revealed that the noise-like pulse is not suitable for the optical telecommunication, and in order to obtain the stable harmonic mode-locked soliton, a strong unstable CW laser field is necessary to mediate global soliton interaction. The formation mechanism of the harmonic mode-locked pulse has also been analysed.     

A parametric study of negative feedback Nd:YAG laser

The output pulse parameters of a mode-locked Nd:YAG laser with a passive negative feedback element were studied experimentally. The pulse evolution within the train was experimentally recorded using a modified second harmonic generation autocorrelator. By comparing the laser operation with and without an acousto-optic modulator, we found that with the later there is a significant increase in the mode locking probability and the pulse acquires a temporally Gaussian symmetric pulse shape. Further with the active modulator there is a relaxation in alignment tolerances and increase in the range of permissible dye concentrations for stable mode locking. It was also observed that the pulse width of the negative feedback laser depends on the saturation intensity of the mode locking dye and reduces for a dye with higher saturation intensity. The pulse width was also found to reduce linearly as the initial transmission of the dye is reduced.     

Harmonic mode locking with reduced carrier-envelope phase noise in ytterbium-doped fiber laser

We experimentally explored the influence of passive harmonic mode locking on the temporal and spectral features of a ytterbium-doped fiber laser. Similar dependences of free-running linewidth of the laser carrier-envelope offset frequency (f₀) on the intracavity net dispersion were observed for the fundamental-, second-, and third-order mode-locking states. Due to the reduction of nonlinear effects and supermode phase locking that balanced the third-order dispersion in the fiber cavity, the third-order harmonic mode-locking exhibited the narrowest free-running f₀linewidth of ～120 kHz in the near-zero net dispersion regime.