title: Scaling Fiber Lasers to Large Mode Area: An Investigation of Passive Mode-Locking Using a Multi-Mode Fiber.
abstract: The mode-locking of dissipative soliton fiber lasers using large mode area fiber supporting multiple transverse modes is studied experimentally and theoretically. The averaged mode-locking dynamics in a multi-mode fiber are studied using a distributed model. The co-propagation of multiple transverse modes is governed by a system of coupled Ginzburg-Landau equations. Simulations show that stable and robust mode-locked pulses can be produced. However, the mode-locking can be destabilized by excessive higher-order mode content. Experiments using large core step-index fiber, photonic crystal fiber, and chirally-coupled core fiber show that mode-locking can be significantly disturbed in the presence of higher-order modes, resulting in lower maximum single-pulse energies. In practice, spatial mode content must be carefully controlled to achieve full pulse energy scaling. This paper demonstrates that mode-locking performance is very sensitive to the presence of multiple waveguide modes when compared to systems such as amplifiers and continuous-wave lasers.
authors: Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA.
authors: Edwin
authors: E
authors: Ding
authors: Simon
authors: S
authors: Lefrancois
authors: Jose Nathan
authors: JN
authors: Kutz
authors: Frank W
authors: FW
authors: Wise