Wavelength-tunable 1104 nm nonlinear amplifier loop mirror laser based on a polarization-maintaining double-cladding...

Area of Science:

• Fiber laser technology
• Nonlinear optics
• Ultrafast photonics

Background:

• Mode-locked fiber lasers are crucial for various applications.
• Nonlinear amplifier loop mirrors (NALMs) offer a robust method for mode-locking.
• Large-mode area (LMA) fibers enable high-power laser operation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate and characterize a tunable ytterbium-doped stretched-pulse mode-locked fiber oscillator.
• To investigate the performance of a laser cavity utilizing a nonlinear amplifier loop mirror (NALM).
• To explore wavelength tunability and output characteristics of the developed laser system.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a fiber laser cavity using large-mode area (LMA) polarization-maintaining (PM) double-cladding (DC) fiber.
• Implementation of a nonlinear amplifier loop mirror (NALM) for mode-locking.
• Tuning of intra-cavity loss to modify the central wavelength and assess output power and pulse duration.

Main Results:

• Generation of a 24.7 MHz ytterbium-doped stretched-pulse mode-locked fiber laser.
• Achieved wavelength tunability from 1034 nm to 1104 nm by adjusting intra-cavity loss.
• Maximum output power of 7.61 mW at 1104 nm (transmission port) with compressed pulse durations of 192 fs.

Conclusions:

• The developed NALM-based fiber laser demonstrates effective wavelength tunability and high-quality ultrashort pulse generation.
• The use of LMA PM DC fiber is suitable for constructing high-performance mode-locked fiber lasers.
• This laser system shows potential for applications requiring tunable ultrashort optical pulses.