Open AccessLow noise chirped pulse mode-locked laser using an intra-cavity Fabry-Pérot etalon
Author(s) -
Dimitrios Mandridis,
Charles Williams,
İbrahim Özdür,
Peter J. Delfyett
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.19.008994
Subject(s) - fabry–pérot interferometer , optics , laser , materials science , mode locking , pulse duration , picosecond , physics , optoelectronics
This work presents an extensive investigation of the performance characteristics of a semiconductor-based Theta cavity design laser with an intra-cavity Fabry-Pérot etalon operating at 100 MHz repetition rate. The Theta laser being an external cavity harmonically mode-locked semiconductor laser exhibits supermode noise that impairs its performance. A fiberized Fabry-Pérot periodic filter inserted within the Theta laser cavity mitigates the contribution of the supermode noise to the pulse-to-pulse energy variance by 20 times. The laser has both a compressed output with picosecond pulse duration and a uniform intensity quasi-CW linearly chirped pulse output with 10 nm bandwidth. Long-term stability is attained by referencing the cavity length to the etalon using an intra-cavity Hänsch-Couillaud locking scheme.