Abstract

Quadratic polarization switching mode-locking (QPS-ML) has been proposed and experimentally demonstrated for the first time by our group [1] few years ago It has been successfully applied in the picosecond domain to narrow-band lasers under CW and pulsed pumping regimes. The best performance in terms of the shortest pulse duration has been obtained with a CW Nd YV04 laser resulting in 2.8 ps pulse generation This technique has proven to be very competitive in comparison with other existing passive methods because it is a self-starting process, it requires very conventional linear and nonlinear optical components, it is stable and applicable to low-power lasers and high average power lasers as well.

© 2000 IEEE