Pulse generation without gain-bandwidth limitation in a laser with self-similar evolution.
With existing techniques for mode-locking, the bandwidth of ultrashort pulses from a laser is determined primarily by the spectrum of the gain medium. Lasers with self-similar evolution of the pulse in the gain medium can tolerate strong spectral breathing, which is stabilized by nonlinear attraction to the parabolic self-similar pulse. Here we show that this property can be exploited in a fiber laser to eliminate the gain-bandwidth limitation to the pulse duration. Broad (∼200 nm) spectra are generated through passive nonlinear propagation in a normal-dispersion laser, and these can be dechirped to ∼20-fs duration.
Department of Applied Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
A
A
Chong
H
H
Liu
B
B
Nie
B G
BG
Bale
S
S
Wabnitz
W H
WH
Renninger
M
M
Dantus
F W
FW
Wise
D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007834:Lasers; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*