Abstract
Based on theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, the mechanism of self-pulsing operation of -doped fiber lasers is explored. A simplified rate-equation model is proposed to analyze stable operation of -doped fiber lasers. It is shown that the continuous-wave (CW) solution does not exist for certain pump intensities when excited-state absorption (ESA) is included. In numerical simulation, four energy-transfer processes are calculated to identify the origin of self-pulsing in -doped fiber lasers. The phonon-assisted ESA process is identified as the key factor for self-pulsing in -doped fiber lasers, which confirms the absence of a CW solution in the theoretical analysis. The numerical simulation gives out a regular pulse train, whose characteristics are in excellent agreement with the experimental results. The impacts of ESA cross section and pump intensity on the self-pulsing characteristics are also investigated.
© 2010 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
Yulong Tang, Feng Li, and Jianqiu Xu
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 28(5) 1051-1054 (2011)
Stuart D. Jackson and Terence A. King
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 16(12) 2178-2188 (1999)
Guillaume Androz, Dominic Faucher, Daniel Gingras, and Réal Vallée
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 24(11) 2907-2913 (2007)