Amplifier/compressor fiber Raman lasers

Abstract

We show that the chirp from cross-phase modulation (XPM) dominates the operation of fiber Raman lasers (FRL's). Thus a FRL in the anomalous group-velocity regime is best described as a XPM-chirped Raman amplifier followed by a linear fiber compressor. While the output of such a laser is generally a narrow pulse with a broad pedestal, we show both experimentally and by computer simulation that negligible background is achievable.