Integrated passively modelocked fiber lasers and method for constructing the same
First Claim
1. A modelocked fiber laser, comprising:
- a pump laser for generating laser energy at a pump wavelength;
a highly-birefringent fiber gain medium having first and second polarization axes and having first and second ends which respectively define first and second ends of a laser cavity for amplifying the laser energy at a signal wavelength;
a reflector coupled to the first end of said laser cavity, for reflecting the laser energy through said highly-birefringent fiber gain medium;
a saturable absorber coupled to the second end of said laser cavity, for inducing modelocking of said fiber laser along either of said first and second polarization axes of said highly-birefringent fiber gain medium in the absence of any non-fiber, intra-cavity, polarization-manipulating elements; and
an output for outputting the laser energy amplified within said laser cavity.
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Abstract
Stable operation of an ultra-compact modelocked fiber laser generating short optical pulses generally without use of any non-fiber, intra-cavity polarization-manipulating elements is obtained by employing a saturable absorber coupled to one end of a highly-birefringent fiber serving as the laser cavity. Once the laser is modelocked in one of the polarization axes of the highly-birefringent fiber, the degeneracy of the polarization axis is eliminated and cw oscillation along the other polarization axis is also prevented. Without a polarization-dependent loss in the cavity, the modelocked polarization axis is indeterminate, i.e., modelocking can occur on either of the polarization axes. However, the introduction of only a small polarization dependent loss is sufficient to ensure the reliable start-up of modelocking on only the low-loss axis. Such a small polarization dependent loss can be introduced by tightly coiling the highly-birefringent fiber, which generates a higher loss along the fast axis; thus, reliable modelocked operation along the slow axis is obtained. Alternatively, single polarization operation is obtained by employing a saturable absorber with a polarization-dependent loss or by introducing polarization-manipulating elements external to the laser cavity.
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Citations
63 Claims
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1. A modelocked fiber laser, comprising:
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a pump laser for generating laser energy at a pump wavelength; a highly-birefringent fiber gain medium having first and second polarization axes and having first and second ends which respectively define first and second ends of a laser cavity for amplifying the laser energy at a signal wavelength; a reflector coupled to the first end of said laser cavity, for reflecting the laser energy through said highly-birefringent fiber gain medium; a saturable absorber coupled to the second end of said laser cavity, for inducing modelocking of said fiber laser along either of said first and second polarization axes of said highly-birefringent fiber gain medium in the absence of any non-fiber, intra-cavity, polarization-manipulating elements; and an output for outputting the laser energy amplified within said laser cavity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. A method for passively modelocking a fiber laser, comprising the steps of:
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forming a laser cavity from a fiber structure having at least one highly-birefringent fiber gain medium, each said medium having first and second polarization axes, first and second ends of said fiber structure respectively defining first and second ends of the laser cavity; pumping laser energy at a pump wavelength into the laser cavity; inducing modelocking in the laser cavity along one of the first and second polarization axes of the highly-birefringent fiber gain medium in the absence of any non-fiber, intra-cavity, polarization-manipulating elements by coupling a reflector to the first end of the laser cavity and by coupling a saturable absorber to the second end of the laser cavity; and outputting laser energy from the laser cavity at a signal wavelength. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. A modelocked fiber laser, comprising:
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a pump laser for generating laser energy at a pump wavelength; a highly-birefringent fiber gain medium having first and second polarization axes, for amplifying the laser energy at a signal wavelength; a reflector for reflecting the laser energy through said highly-birefringent fiber gain medium; a saturable absorber for inducing modelocking of said fiber laser along either one of said first and second polarization axes of said highly-birefringent fiber gain medium in the absence of any non-fiber, intra-cavity, polarization-manipulating elements; and an output for outputting the laser energy.
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61. A modelocked fiber laser, comprising:
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a pump laser for generating laser energy at a pump wavelength; a highly-birefringent fiber gain medium having first and second polarization axes, for amplifying the laser energy at a signal wavelength; a reflector for reflecting the laser energy through said highly-birefringent fiber gain medium; a saturable absorber for inducing modelocking of said fiber laser along either one of said first and second polarization axes of said highly-birefringent fiber gain medium; and an output for outputting the laser energy.
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62. A modelocked fiber laser, comprising:
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a pump laser for generating laser energy at a pump wavelength; a highly-birefringent double-clad fiber gain medium having first and second polarization axes, for amplifying the laser energy at a signal wavelength; a side-pumping device for coupling said pump laser to said highly-birefringent double-clad fiber gain medium; a reflector for reflecting the laser energy through said highly-birefringent fiber gain medium; a saturable absorber for inducing modelocking of said fiber laser along either one of said first and second polarization axes of said highly-birefringent double-clad fiber gain medium; and an output for outputting the laser energy.
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63. A modelocked fiber laser, comprising:
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a pump laser for generating laser energy at a pump wavelength; a highly-birefringent fiber gain medium having first and second polarization axes and having first and second ends which respectively define first and second ends of a laser cavity for amplifying the laser energy at a signal wavelength; a reflector coupled to the first end of said laser cavity, for reflecting the laser energy through said highly-birefringent fiber gain medium; a saturable absorber for inducing modelocking of said fiber laser along either of said first and second polarization axes of said highly-birefringent fiber gain medium; and an output for outputting the laser energy amplified within said laser cavity.
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Specification