title: Automatic feedback control of an Er-doped fiber laser with an intracavity loss modulator.
abstract: Suppression of Q-switching instabilities with an actively controlled intracavity loss modulator is demonstrated in an Er-doped waveguide laser that is mode locked with a slow saturable absorber at repetition rates of as much as 100 MHz. By automatic gain control in the feedback loop, stable mode locking is achieved over the entire parameter range of the laser. This approach renders laser stabilization independent of the characteristics of the gain medium and intracavity power. The pulse-shaping dynamics is not affected by the presence of the intracavity loss modulator.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. felixg@mit.edu
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Grawert
authors.forename: E O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Ilday
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Kielpinski
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Gopinath
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Petrich
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Kolodziejski
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Ippen
authors.forename: F X
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Kärtner