948 kHz repetition rate, picosecond pulse duration, all-PM 1.03 μm mode-locked fiber laser based on nonlinear polarization evolution

We present in this study a PM all-fiber laser oscillator passively mode-locked (ML) at 1.03 mu m. The laser is based on Nonlinear Polarization Evolution (NPE) in polarization maintaining (PM) fibers. In order to obtain the mode-locking regime, a nonlinear reflective mirror including a fibered polarizer, a long fiber span and a fibered Faraday mirror (FM) is inserted in a Fabry-Perot laser cavity. In this work we explain the principles of operation of this original laser design that permits to generate ultrashort pulses at low repetition (lower that 1MHz) rate with a cavity length of 100 m of fiber. In this experiment, the measured pulse duration is about 6 ps. To our knowledge this is the first all-PM mode-locked laser based on the NPE with a cavity of 100m length fiber and a delivered pulse duration of few picosecondes. Furthermore, the different mode-locked regimes of the laser, i.e. multi-pulse, noise-like mode-locked and single pulse, are presented together with the ways of controlling the apparition of these regimes. When the single pulse mode-locking regime is achieved, the laser delivers linearly polarized pulses in a very stable way. Finally, this study includes numerical results which are obtained with the resolution of the NonLinear Schrodinger Equations (NLSE) with the Split-Step Fourier (SSF) algorithm. This modeling has led to the understanding of the different modes of operation of the laser. In particular, the influence of the peak power on the reflection of the nonlinear mirror and its operation are studied.