An actively mode-locked single-polarization erbium fiber laser modulated at 10 GHz utilizes intracavity soliton formation to produce 1.3-ps pulses, well below the Kuizenga-Siegman limit, without passive mode locking. The observed degree of pulse shortening agrees with the predictions of recently developed soliton laser models. The pulse dropout ratio was measured to be less than 10(-12), and the rms amplitude and phase jitter are less than 1.1% and 0.16 ps, respectively.

Single solitons are a special limit of more general waveforms commonly referred to as cnoidal waves or Turing rolls. We theoretically and computationally investigate the stability and accessibility of cnoidal waves in microresonators. We show that they are robust and, in contrast to single solitons, can be easily and deterministically accessed in most cases. Their bandwidth can be comparable to single solitons, in which limit they are effectively a periodic train of solitons and correspond to a frequency comb with increased power. We comprehensively explore the three-dimensional parameter space that consists of detuning, pump amplitude, and mode circumference in order to determine where stable solutions exist. To carry out this task, we use a unique set of computational tools based on dynamical system theory that allow us to rapidly and accurately determine the stable region for each cnoidal wave periodicity and to find the instability mechanisms and their time scales. Finally, we focus on the soliton limit, and we show that the stable region for single solitons almost completely overlaps the stable region for both continuous waves and several higher-periodicity cnoidal waves that are effectively multiple soliton trains. This result explains in part why it is difficult to access single solitons deterministically.

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