Abstract

The figure eight fiber laser (F8L) is a promising source of soliton pulses for scientific investigation and high speed communications applications. It has produced pulses as short as 0.29 ps at interpulse spacings as short as 7 ps. Basic understanding of the pulse forming mechanism is straightforward, but a quantitative analysis has yet to be developed. In this talk, the characteristics of the laser will be described, and with numerical analysis of the loop mirror switch, some operating points and design criteria can be determined. Emphasis will be placed on how the physical characteristics of the laser affect the performance.

© 1992 Optical Society of America