High-repetition-rate optical pulse generator using a Fabry-Perot electro-optic modulator

Abstract

A high-repetition-rate optical pulse generator which employs a Fabry-Perot electro-optic modulator as the output coupler of a laser resonator was constructed. Using this generator with a He–Ne 6328-Å laser tube, 21-psec optical pulses at a repetition rate of 2.7 × 109 pps were experimentally obtained with an average power level of 0.5 mW. In addition, it is demonstrated that the width of the pulses obtained from this generator can be narrowed without regard to the gain-linewidth limitation. This kind of pulse generator may be particularly useful for obtaining short optical pulses from low-gain gas lasers, and it is possible to obtain 1010-pps picosecond pulses from a He–Ne 6328-Å laser.