Passively modelocked figure eight fiber laser
First Claim
1. A passively mode-locked, figure-eight fiber laser comprisinga first loop of polarization maintaining, normal dispersion single mode optical fiber, the first loop including a section of polarization maintaining doped fiber responsive to an incoming optical pump signal to generating an amplified version thereof, the first loop defined as a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror;
- a second loop of polarization maintaining, normal dispersion single mode fiber; and
a polarization maintaining directional coupler disposed between and coupled to both the first and second loops of polarization maintaining, normal dispersion fiber, the maintained polarization state of a propagating optical signal providing mode-locking thereof.
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Abstract
A passively mode-locked, figure-eight laser is formed of all normal dispersion fiber, eliminating the need for using anomalous dispersion fiber. The fiber is selected to be polarization maintaining, with the remaining components of the laser (couplers, isolator, gain fiber) also formed as polarization maintaining elements. In one embodiment, a section of Yb-doped fiber is used as the gain element. An external modulation component (amplitude or phase) is preferably used to initiate the passive mode locking.
29 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A passively mode-locked, figure-eight fiber laser comprising
a first loop of polarization maintaining, normal dispersion single mode optical fiber, the first loop including a section of polarization maintaining doped fiber responsive to an incoming optical pump signal to generating an amplified version thereof, the first loop defined as a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror; -
a second loop of polarization maintaining, normal dispersion single mode fiber; and a polarization maintaining directional coupler disposed between and coupled to both the first and second loops of polarization maintaining, normal dispersion fiber, the maintained polarization state of a propagating optical signal providing mode-locking thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A passively mode-locked, figure-eight fiber laser comprising
a first loop of polarization maintaining single mode optical fiber, the first loop including a section of polarization maintaining doped fiber responsive to an incoming optical pump signal to generating an amplified version thereof, the first loop defined as a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror; -
a second loop of polarization maintaining single mode fiber; a polarization maintaining directional coupler disposed between and coupled to both the first and second loops of polarization maintaining fiber, the maintained polarization state of a propagating optical signal providing mode-locking thereof, and an external perturbation source coupled to one of the first and second loops to introduce a perturbation into the propagating signal and initiate passive mode locking.
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Specification