title: Dispersion compensation in an Yb-doped fiber oscillator for generating transform-limited, wing-free pulses.
abstract: We investigate the effect of dispersion compensation on temporal characteristics in mode-locking by nonlinear polarization rotation in an ytterbium-doped fiber (YDF) oscillator with intracavity and external grating pairs. A short fixed length YDF was spliced with a longer single-mode fiber (SMF). Using experimentally measured dispersion characteristics of the YDF, SMF and cavity optics, we control the group velocity dispersion (GVD) and spectral broadening in a cavity by changing the SMF length. As a result, the oscillator generated 29.4-fs transform-limited wing-free pulses, which are to our knowledge the shortest and cleanest pulses achieved without the use of additional optics like a prism pair for high-order dispersion compensation. The results show that a precise balance of higher order terms of the GVD and self-phase modulation is essential for shortening pulse duration.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan. t-kurita@crl.hpk.co.jp
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurita
authors.forename: Hidetsugu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Furuse
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawashima
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Miyanaga
mesh_terms: D016477:Artifacts; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005246:Feedback; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009991:Oscillometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013685:Telecommunications / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015018:Ytterbium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D015018:Ytterbium