Synchronously mode-locked fiber laser based on parametric gain modulation and soliton shaping

A novel synchronously mode-locked fiber laser is demonstrated by combining the parametric gain modulation in a pulse-pumped nonlinear optical loop mir ror (NOLM) with the soliton shaping property of a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror (NALM). Parametric gain modulation induced by the synchronous pump pulses within the NOLM starts and defines the timing of the mode-locked sig nal pulses, while the nonlinear intensity discrimination in the NALM stabil izes the mode-locked pulses and optimizes their shapes. A stream of 1.3 ps transform-limited soliton pulses is generated when the NOLM is pumped by a mode-locked fiber laser. Moreover, we find that the timing jitter of the sy nchronously mode-locked pulse train is suppressed by more than 10 dB when c ompared to the pumping laser. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights res erved.