10 GHz, 2 ps regeneratively and harmonically FM mode-locked erbium fibre ring laser

Abstract

A 10 GHz regeneratively and harmonically FM mode-locked erbium fibre ring laser is reported for the first time. The output pulse width is 2 ps and the spectral width is 1.4 nm, resulting in a time bandwidth product of 0.34. The output pulse is almost transform limited, despite the FM mode-locking. This can be attributed to the anomalous group velocity dispersion which compensates for the up-chirping. The down-chirping does not evolve into stable FM mode-locking because it is reduced by the self phase modulation occurring in the long cavity.