Optical spectra beyond the amplifier bandwidth limitation in dispersion-managed mode-locked fiber lasers

Abstract

We investigate the intracavity pulse dynamics inside dispersion-managed mode-locked fiber lasers, and show numerically that for a relatively wide range of parameters, pulse compression dynamics in the passive anomalous fiber can be accompanied by a significant enhancement of the spectral width by a factor close to 3. Varying the average cavity dispersion also reveals chaotic dynamics for certain dispersion ranges. The impact of the implementation of an optical output port to tap optimal pulse features is discussed.