Optimum design of NOLM-driven mode-locked fiber lasers

Opt Lett. 2021 Mar 15;46(6):1289-1292. doi: 10.1364/OL.418281.

Abstract

Most of the saturable absorbers commonly used to perform mode locking in laser cavities affect the trigger conditions of laser oscillation, which requires manually forcing the laser start-up by various means such as polarization controllers. We present a procedure for designing a laser cavity driven by a nonlinear optical loop mirror, which allows the laser to operate optimally without interfering with the oscillation triggering conditions, thus opening up possibilities for integration of this type of laser.