Practical low-noise stretched-pulse Yb³⁺ doped fiber laser

• Main Authors: Lefort, L. (Author), Price, J.H.V (Author), Richardson, D.J (Author), Spuhler, G.J (Author), Paschotta, R. (Author), Keller, U. (Author), Fry, A.R (Author), Weston, J. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2002-03.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

 We report on the development of what we consider to be a practical and highly stable stretched-pulse laser based on Yb³⁺-doped silica fiber. The Fabry Perot cavity uses nonlinear polarization rotation as the mode-locking mechanism, and a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror to ensure robust self-starting and incorporates a diffraction grating pair to compensate for the normal dispersion of the fiber. Use of a single-mode grating-stabilized telecommunications-qualified pump laser diode ensures reliable, low-noise operation ( 0.05 amplitude fluctuations at 10-Hz measurement bandwidth). The laser generates high-quality, 60-pJ pulses of 110 fs duration at a repetition rate of 54 MHz (3-mW average power).