Open AccessHigh-precision passive stabilization of repetition rate for a mode-locked fiber laser based on optical pulse injection
Author(s) -
Tingting Yu,
Jianan Fang,
Qiang Hao,
Kangwen Yang,
Ming Yan,
Kun Huang,
Heping Zeng
Publication year - 2021
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.425435
Subject(s) - optics , laser , materials science , fiber laser , mode locking , ultrashort pulse , pulse (music) , modulation (music) , physics , acoustics , detector
We have proposed and implemented a novel scheme to obtain high-precision repetition rate stabilization for a polarization-maintaining mode-locked fiber laser. The essential technique lies in the periodic injection of electronically modulated optical pulses into a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror within the laser resonator. Thanks to the nonlinear cross-phase modulation effect, the injected pulses referenced to an external clock serves as a stable and precise timing trigger for an effective intensity modulator. Consequently, synchronous mode-locking can be initiated to output ultrafast pulses with a passively stabilized repetition rate. The capture range of the locking system reaches to a record of 1 mm, which enables a long-term stable operation over 15 hours without the need of temperature stabilization and vibration isolation. Meanwhile, the achieved standard deviation is as low as 100 μHz with a 1-s sample time, corresponding to a fluctuation instability of 5.0×10 -12 . Additionally, the repetition rate stabilization performance based on the passive synchronization has been systematically investigated by varying the average power, central wavelength and pulse duration of the optical injection.