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Updated: Apr 17, 2026

Low-cost Custom Fabrication and Mode-locked Operation of an All-normal-dispersion Femtosecond Fiber Laser for Multiphoton Microscopy
Published on: November 22, 2019
Mode-locked ultrashort pulse generation from on-chip normal dispersion microresonators
1Mesoscopic Optics and Quantum Electronics, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA and Optical Nanostructures Laboratory, Center for Integrated Science and Engineering, Solid-State Science and Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA.
Abstract:
We describe generation of stable mode-locked pulse trains from on-chip normal dispersion microresonators. The excitation of hyperparametric oscillation is facilitated by the local dispersion disruptions induced by mode interactions. The system is then driven from hyperparametric oscillation to the mode-locked state with over 200 nm spectral width by controlled pump power and detuning. With the continuous-wave-driven nonlinearity, the pulses sit on a pedestal, akin to a cavity soliton. We identify the importance of pump detuning and wavelength-dependent quality factors in stabilizing and shaping the pulse structure, to achieve a single pulse inside the cavity. We examine the mode-locking dynamics by numerically solving the master equation and provide analytic solutions under appropriate approximations.

