Dual-wavelength harmonic mode-locked dissipative soliton resonance of Yb fiber laser

Abstract

Dissipative soliton resonance (DSR) mode-locked fiber lasers have stimulated great interest recent years due to their unique pulse-breaking-free advantage for scaling soliton pulse energy. However, the mechanism accounting for pulse breaking to generate multipulses in DSR fiber lasers has not reached a consensus. Here, we show that harmonic mode-locked DSR 1-μm Yb-doped fiber laser in the dual-wavelength regime can be realized with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). In the fundamental frequency (3.5 MHz) mode-locked state, the pulse width continuously broadens from 2 to 8.9 ns as the output power increases from 1.26 to 5.1 mW (pulse energy being from 0.36 to 1.46 nJ), while the pulse peak power is clamped at 0.17 W, highlighting the typical characteristics of DSR mode-locking operation. Through simply adjusting the SESAM’s feedback conditions, the DSR fiber laser can transits from the fundamental-frequency mode locking to harmonic mode-locked states. Harmonic states from the 2nd to 9th order have been observed, with pulse repetition rate enhanced from 7 to 31.5 MHz. Under fixed pump power, increasing harmonic orders leads to reduction of the pulse width and pulse energy but does not change the unique quantization feature of the peak power. The status of the SESAM also guarantees the generation of dual wavelengths centered at 1072.5 and 1079.5 nm with spectral widths of 2.7 and 1.9 nm, respectively. This dual-wavelength harmonic mode-locked DSR Yb fiber laser can find applications in various areas.