Abstract
Fully-stabilized optical frequency combs from modelocked lasers are a key component in various applications like optical frequency metrology, optical clocks or ultra-stable microwave generation. The traditional approach to stabilize the carrier-envelope offset (CEO) frequency fCEO in a diode-pumped modelocked laser is via a modulation of the pump current, i.e., by modulating the gain of the modelocked laser. The major drawback of this method is its limited modulation bandwidth resulting from the upper-state lifetime of the gain medium. Modulating the loss in the laser cavity instead of the gain enables circumventing the gain lifetime limitation. This was firstly demonstrated in fiber lasers using an intra-cavity graphene electro-optic modulator [1] and later on in a 75-MHz diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) at 1.56 μm by optical modulation of the semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) used to modelock the laser [2]. In this work, we extend this approach for the first time to a DPSSL at 1 μm with GHz repetition rate and demonstrate a fast control of fCEO with an optical modulation of the SESAM. In addition, we show the potential of the fast actuator for CEO stabilization.
© 2017 IEEE
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