We report on the dynamics of noise-like pulses at the ns scale in a passively mode-locked fibre laser, which grow in complexity as wave retarder adjustments are performed. We can observe that the laser operating in the fundamental mode can be tuned to get different shapes of the noise-like pulse. Following a regime of a very stable waveform, regimes characterized by a much more variable (but still compact) waveform are observed. Then we can get the fragmentation of the main bunch and expulsion of sub-packets and, finally, a variety of puzzling dynamics with increasing complexity are evidenced. Although the collective behaviour of the multiple waveforms is at first sight random we can observe some well-defined patterns in the kinematics of light bunches at the global cavity scale. These results may be useful to unravel the subtle mechanisms at play in complex dissipative nonlinear systems such as passively mode-locked fibre lasers.

Conventional mode locking is characterized by the generation of a stable train of optical pulses. Even in the noise-like pulsing regime of fiber lasers, sometimes described as partial mode locking, a periodic train of waveforms is still generated. In this work we study the dynamics of a figure-eight fiber laser away from the stable noise-like pulsing regime. By analyzing sequences of time-domain measurements performed with ns resolution, we reveal a wide range of puzzling dynamics, in which sub-structures emerge and drift away from the main bunch, decay or grow in a step-like manner, before vanishing abruptly. In some cases, sub-packets also concentrate in the central part of the period, forming one or multiple wide clouds that merge or split over time scales of seconds or minutes. Spontaneous transitions between these multiple states occur in a non-periodic manner, so that no quasi-stationary behavior is found over long time scales. These results provide a dramatic illustration of the extremely rich dynamics taking place in fiber lasers at the frontier of mode locking.

We present a systematic experimental study of supercontinuum (SC) spectra produced by propagating noise-like pulses (NLPs) from an erbium-doped figure-eight laser through sections of different lengths of standard single-mode fibre (SMF) and of high-nonlinearity fibre (HNLF), as well as their combinations. With an average input power that does not exceed 35 mW, very broad and smooth SC spectra extending over several hundreds of nm are typically observed, even when only SMF is used. However, maximal broadening and flatness are obtained through a section of about 300 m of SMF followed by 50 m of HNLF; the spectrum then spans from ~1260 nm up to ~2070 nm, with a bandwidth of 431 nm at 5.7 dB from the maximum (over 800 nm at 20 dB). Our analysis indicates that nonlinear processes are still operating even after propagation through several hundreds of meters of fibre, extending and flattening the spectrum, its maximal bandwidth being eventually limited by the strong fibre attenuation in the 2 µm region.

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We study experimentally the interactions between soliton and noise-like pulse (NLP) components in a mode-locked fibre ring laser operating in a hybrid soliton-NLP regime. For proper polarization adjustments, one NLP and multiple packets of solitons coexist in the cavity, at 1530 nm and 1558 nm, respectively. By examining time-domain sequences measured using a 16 GHz real-time oscilloscope, we unveil the process of soliton genesis: they are produced during extreme-intensity episodes affecting the NLP. These extreme events can emerge sporadically, appear in small groups or even form quasi-periodic sequences. Once formed, the wavelength-shifted soliton packet drifts away from the NLP in the dispersive cavity, and eventually vanishes after a variable lifetime. Evidence of the inverse process, through which NLP formation is occasionally seeded by an extreme-intensity event affecting a bunch of solitons, is also provided. The quasi-stationary dynamics described here constitutes an impressive illustration of the connections and interactions between NLPs, extreme events and solitons in passively mode-locked fibre lasers.

We report an actively mode-locked fiber ring laser. A simple and low-insertion-loss acousto-optic modulator driven by standing flexural waves, which couples core-to-cladding modes in a standard single-mode optical fiber, is used as an active mechanism for mode locking. Among the remarkable features of the modulator, we mention its high modulation depth (72%), broad bandwidth (187 GHz), easy tunability in the optical wavelength, and low insertion losses (0.7 dB). The narrowest optical pulses obtained were of 95 ps time width, 21 mW peak power, repetition rate of 4.758 MHz, and 110 mW of pump power.

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Passively mode-locked fiber lasers (PML-FLs) are versatile sources that are capable of generating a broad variety of short and ultrashort optical pulses. Besides conservative solitons, PML-FLs allow the generation of different kinds of dissipative structures, usually called dissipative solitons, a concept that also encompasses more complex structures and collective behaviors such as soliton molecules, gas, rain of solitons, etc. In addition to this, PML-FLs are also able to generate even more complex objects, the so-called noise-like pulses (NLPs). A few recent research results revealed a connection between NLPs and solitons, a sign that deterministic ingredients enter into the composition of NLPs, whose nature is traditionally assumed to be random. Although it is usual that a fiber laser is able to generate either solitons or noise-like pulses, depending on pump power and adjustments in the cavity, these two regimes are rarely observed simultaneously. In this paper, a PML-FL in a ring configuration is presented, in which it is possible to observe and verify experimentally the simultaneous presence of NLPs and solitons. Interestingly, these two components are found in different spectral regions, which greatly facilitates their separation and individual study and characterization.