Pedestal suppression of ultrashort pulses by using a birefringent nonlinear polarization rotation mirror

A new scheme for a birefringent nonlinear polarization rotation mirror is proposed for pedestal suppression of ultrashort pulses. Environmentally stable and precisely controllable operation is demonstrated. The main pulse and pedestal components are separated and picked out from the different ports. By use of the soliton effect and nonlinear polarization rotation, almost transform-limited pedestal-free 318 and 143 fs ultrashort pulses with peak powers of 0.9 and 1.7 kW are successfully generated. The maximum pedestal-suppression ratio is 24 dB, and the pick-out efficiency is up to 46% including coupling loss. The characteristics are analyzed both experimentally and numerically.