Article

# Timing jitter and phase noiseof mode-locked fiber lasers.

RP Photonics Consulting GmbH, Kurfirstenstr 63, 8002 Zürich, Switzerland.
(Impact Factor: 3.49). 03/2010; 18(5):5041-54.
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT

The noise properties of mode-locked fiber lasers differ in various respects from those of bulk lasers. The reasons for this are both quantitative and qualitative differences concerning the pulse formation. The underlying theoretical aspects are discussed in detail. It is found that the achievable noise level and the limiting effects depend strongly on the type of fiber laser. Depending on the pulse formation mechanism, noise levels may be much higher than predicted by simplified models.

0 Followers
·
• Source
• "High-quality microwaves could improve the performance of radar systems7, increase the resolution of very-long baseline interferometry detection8, and enhance precision in the synthesis of microwave frequencies9. As the purest microwave sources, OFCs naturally have many harmonics with very low short-term phase noise1011. "
##### Article: Highly Stable Wideband Microwave Extraction by Synchronizing Widely Tunable Optoelectronic Oscillator with Optical Frequency Comb
[Hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Optical frequency combs (OFCs), based on mode-locked lasers (MLLs), have attracted considerable attention in many fields over recent years. Among the applications of OFCs, one of the most challenging works is the extraction of a highly stable microwave with low phase noise. Many synchronisation schemes have been exploited to synchronise an electronic oscillator with the pulse train from a MLL, helping to extract an ultra-stable microwave. Here, we demonstrate novel wideband microwave extraction from a stable OFC by synchronising a single widely tunable optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) with an OFC at different harmonic frequencies, using an optical phase detection technique. The tunable range of the proposed microwave extraction extends from 2 GHz to 4 GHz, and in a long-term synchronisation experiment over 12 hours, the proposed synchronisation scheme provided a rms timing drift of 18 fs and frequency instabilities at 1.2 × 10(-15)/1 s and 2.2 × 10(-18)/10000 s.
Scientific Reports 12/2013; 3:3509. DOI:10.1038/srep03509 · 5.58 Impact Factor
• Source
##### Article: Microjoule mode-locked oscillators: Issues of stability and noise
[Hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: In this work, for the first time to our knowledge, stability and noise of a thin-disk mode-locked Yb:YAG oscillator operating in both negative- (NDR) and positive-dispersion (PDR) regimes have been analyzed systematically within a broad range of oscillator parameters. It is found, that the scaling of output pulse energy from 7 $\mu$J up to 55 $\mu$J in the NDR requires a dispersion scaling from -0.013 ps$^{2}$ up to -0.31 ps$^{2}$ to provide the pulse stability. Simultaneously, the energy scaling from 6 $\mu$J up to 90 $\mu$J in the PDR requires a moderate dispersion scaling from 0.0023 ps$^{2}$ up to 0.011 ps$^{2}$. A chirped picosecond pulse in the PDR has a broader spectrum than that of a chirp-free soliton in the NDR. As a result, a chirped picosecond pulse can be compressed down to a few of hundreds of femtoseconds. A unique property of the PDR has been found to be an extremely reduced timing jitter. The numerical results agree with the analytical theory, when spectral properties of the PDR and the negative feedback induced by spectral filtering are taken into account. Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, SPIE's International Symposium "Photonics Europe" (EPE10), 12-16 April 2010, Brussels, Belgium
Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering 03/2010; 7721. DOI:10.1117/12.853707 · 0.20 Impact Factor
• ##### Article: Complete characterization of quantum-limited timing jitter in passively mode-locked fiber lasers
[Hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: We characterize the timing jitter of passively mode-locked, femtosecond, erbium fiber lasers with unprecedented resolution, enabling the observation of quantum-origin timing jitter up to the Nyquist frequency. For a pair of nearly identical 79.4MHz dispersion-managed lasers with an output pulse energy of 450pJ, the high-frequency jitter was found to be 2.6fs [10kHz, 39.7MHz]. The results agree well with theoretical noise models over more than three decades, extending to the Nyquist frequency. It is also found that unexpected noise may occur if care is not taken in optimizing the mode-locked state.
Optics Letters 10/2010; 35(20):3522-4. DOI:10.1364/OL.35.003522 · 3.29 Impact Factor