Operation-Switchable Bidirectional Pulsed Fiber Laser Incorporating Carbon-Nanotube-Based Saturable Absorber

Liu, HH and Chow, KK (2014) Operation-Switchable Bidirectional Pulsed Fiber Laser Incorporating Carbon-Nanotube-Based Saturable Absorber. IEEE Journal on Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 20 (5). ISSN 1077-260X

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Abstract

© 1995-2012 IEEE.We present an operation-switchable bidirectional ring-cavity pulsed fiber laser incorporating a carbon-nanotube-based saturable absorber and a polarization-dependent four-port circulator. By manipulating the intra-cavity polarization state of light, two sets of mode-locked pulses in terms of fundamental repetition rate and pulse width can be achieved separately from the same laser cavity. In clockwise direction, the laser generates mode-locked output pulse train with a pulse width of 600 fs and a fundamental repetition rate of 12.68 MHz. While in counter-clockwise direction, the laser generates mode-locked pulses with a pulse width of 480 fs and a fundamental repetition rate of 16.46 MHz. Furthermore, the same laser cavity can produce bidirectional Q-switched output pulse trains with synchronized repetition rate. Such synchronized repetition rate is linearly proportional to pump power. The results show a multi-functional pulsed fiber laser with selectable output pulse trains.