Gamma-shaped long-cavity normal-dispersion mode-locked Er-fiber laser for sub-nanosecond high-energy pulsed generation

Abstract

We propose the design of a novel γ-shaped fiber laser resonator and apply it to build a long-cavity normal-dispersion mode-locked Er-fiber laser which features enhanced functionalities for management and optimization of pulsed lasing regimes. We report the generation of sub-nanosecond pulses with the energy of ∼ 0.5 μJ at a kilohertz-scale repetition rate in an all-fiber system based on the new laser design. A combination of special design solutions in the laser, such as polarization instability compensation in the ultra-long arm of the resonator, intra-cavity spectral selection of radiation with a broad-band fiber Bragg grating, and polarization selection by means of a tilted refractive index grating, ensures low amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise and high stability of the laser system output parameters.