We demonstrate ultra-low timing jitter optical pulse trains from free-running, 80 MHz repetition rate, mode-locked Yb-fiber lasers. Timing jitter of various mode-locking conditions at close-to-zero intracavity dispersion (-0.004 to +0.002 ps(2) range at 1040 nm center wavelength) is characterized using a sub-20-attosecond-resolution balanced optical cross-correlation method. The measured lowest rms timing jitter is 175 attoseconds when integrated from 10 kHz to 40 MHz (Nyquist frequency) offset frequency range, which corresponds to the record-low timing jitter from free-running mode-locked fiber lasers so far. We also experimentally found the mode-locking conditions of fiber lasers where both ultra-low timing jitter and relative intensity noise can be achieved.
(Doc. ID 155208); published Month X, XXXXWe demonstrate sub-100-attosecond timing jitter optical pulse trains generated from free-running, 77.6-MHz repetition-rate, mode-locked Er-fiber lasers. At -0.002(±0.001) ps 2 net cavity dispersion, the rms timing jitter is 70 as (224 as) integrated from 10 kHz (1 kHz) to 38.8 MHz offset frequency, when measured by a 24-as-resolution balanced optical cross-correlator. To our knowledge, this result corresponds to the lowest rms timing jitter measured from any mode-locked fiber lasers so far. The measured result also agrees fairly well with the Namiki-Haus analytic model of quantum-limited timing jitter in stretched-pulse fiber lasers.OCIS Codes: 060.3510, 140.4050, 270.2500, 320.7100 Femtosecond mode-locked fiber lasers are finding more and more applications, ranging from materials processing to precision measurements, owing to their excellent characteristics such as high gain, low noise, good thermal property, compactness, and easiness in building and operation. In particular, the excellent noise properties of mode-locked fiber lasers enable various time-frequency applications. In the frequency domain, the extremely low optical phase noise of mode-locked fiber lasers has enabled sub-mHz linewidth level frequency combs [1]. In the time domain, the fluctuation of pulse positions from perfectly periodic positions, i.e., timing jitter, has been expected to be extremely low as well. The quantumlimited timing jitter of free-running mode-locked lasers has been expected to be well below a femtosecond [2][3][4][5]. Due to their inherently low level, only very recently, accurate measurement of timing jitter up to the Nyquist frequency has been possible by using the balanced optical cross-correlation (BOC) method [6][7][8]. The use of attosecond-resolution BOC method has enabled the demonstration of 20-as-level jitter from Ti:sapphire solidstate lasers at 800 nm [9] and 200-as-level jitter from Ybfiber lasers at 1 µm [10]. The availability of mode-locked Er-fiber lasers at telecomm wavelength (1.5-1.6 µm) with attosecond timing jitter enables wide range of new applications in optical communications and photonic signal processing such as analog-to-digital conversion and long-distance clock distribution via fiber optic links. So far the best timing jitter performance demonstrated for free-running Er-fiber lasers is 2.6 fs (integrated from 10 kHz to 40 MHz) when the laser is operated at the stretched-pulse condition with positive net cavity dispersion [7]. The optimization of timing jitter in Er-fiber lasers toward the attosecond regime has not yet been shown.In this Letter we demonstrate sub-100-as timing jitter optical pulse trains from 78-MHz free-running modelocked Er-fiber lasers. The high-frequency timing jitter is scaled down by a factor of ~40 from few-fs [7] to sub-100-as level by a simple cavity dispersion control. At -0.002 (±0.001) ps 2 net cavity dispersion at 1582 nm center wavelength, the rms timing jitter is measured to be 70 as (224 as) integrated from 10 kHz (1 k...
Fiber lasers mode-locked with normal cavity dispersion have recently attracted great attention due to large output pulse energy and femtosecond pulse duration. Here we accurately characterized the timing jitter of normal-dispersion fiber lasers using a balanced cross-correlation method. The timing jitter characterization experiments show that the timing jitter of normal-dispersion mode-locked fiber lasers can be significantly reduced by using narrow band-pass filtering (e.g., 7-nm bandwidth filtering in this work). We further identify that the timing jitter of the fiber laser is confined in a limited range, which is almost independent of cavity dispersion map due to the amplifier-similariton formation by insertion of the narrow bandpass filter. The lowest observed timing jitter reaches 0.57 fs (rms) integrated from 10 kHz to 10 MHz Fourier frequency. The rms relative intensity noise (RIN) is also reduced from 0.37% to 0.02% (integrated from 1 kHz to 5 MHz Fourier frequency) by the insertion of narrow band-pass filter.
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