abstract

• The development of efficient in-fiber amplitude modulators that operate in the MHz frequency range has enabled some recent advances in actively mode-locked all-fiber lasers. Our approach is based on the excitation of a standing acoustic wave along the fiber, which modulates the coupling between modes at twice the frequency of the acoustic wave. Among the remarkable features of these in-fiber modulators, we mention the high peak power damage, high modulation depth, broad bandwidth, easy tunability in optical wavelength and low insertion losses. The in-fiber modulation is crucial for the implementation of all-fiber compact and robust lasers. The experimental characterization of different cavity configurations as a function of the radio frequency voltage that controls the modulator, the length of the active fiber, the overall dispersion of the cavity, etc., has led to an improved operation of the lasers: output optical pulses of 34 ps temporal width, 1.4 W peak power and 4.7 MHz repetition rate, at the emission wavelength of erbium. © 2011 Copyright Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).

authors

• Andres M.V.
• Bello Jimenez Miguel Ángel
• Cruz J.L.
• Cuadrado-Laborde C.
• Diez A.

publication date

• 2011-01-01

published in

• Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering  Proceedings

keywords

• All-fiber lasers; Erbium-doped fiber laser; In-fiber acousto-optic interaction; Mode-locked lasers Acousto-optic modulator; Active fibers; All fiber; All-fiber lasers; Amplitude modulators; Broad bandwidths; Cavity configuration; Emission wavelength; Erbium doped fiber laser; Experimental characterization; Frequency ranges; High peak power; In-fiber; Low insertion loss; Mode-locked; Mode-locked laser; Modulation depth; Optical wavelength; Peak power; Radio frequency voltage; Repetition rate; Temporal width; Tunabilities; Acoustic waves; Acoustics; Erbium; Fiber lasers; Fibers; Light; Mode-locked fiber lasers; Light modulators

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1117/12.901668

start page

end page

volume

• 8011