Abstract

Mode-locking is a broad concept that encompasses different processes enabling short optical pulse formation in lasers. It typically requires an intracavity mechanism that discriminates between single and collective mode lasing, which can be complex and sometimes adds noise. Moreover, known mode-locking schemes do not guarantee phase stability of the carrier wave. Here, we theoretically propose that injecting a detuned signal seamlessly leads to mode-locking in fiber lasers. We show that phase-locked pulses, akin to cavity solitons, exist in a wide range of parameters. In that regime the laser behaves as a passive resonator due to the non-instantaneous gain saturation.

© 2022 Optica Publishing Group

Mutual dynamics between synchronous solitons in a bidirectional mode-locked fiber laser

Yujia Li, Chao Wang, Dongmei Huang, Hongjie Chen, and Feng Li
Opt. Lett. 47(9) 2170-2173 (2022)

Revealing of long-range soliton interaction induced time and phase dynamics in a mode-locked fiber laser

Tianhao Xian and Li Zhan
Opt. Lett. 49(2) 250-253 (2024)

Spatiotemporal self-mode-locked operation in a compact partial multimode Er-doped fiber laser

Xuebin Zhang, Zhaokun Wang, Changyu Shen, and Tiegang Guo
Opt. Lett. 47(8) 2081-2084 (2022)

Mode-locking threshold decrease in a fiber laser by heterochromic optical pulse injection

Kangwen Yang, Jiaying Li, Jiamei Wu, An Hu, Qiang Hao, Junsong Peng, Kun Huang, and Heping Zeng
Opt. Lett. 47(16) 4095-4098 (2022)

Quartic Kerr cavity combs: bright and dark solitons

Pedro Parra-Rivas, Sabrina Hetzel, Yaroslav V. Kartashov, Pedro Fernández de Córdoba, J. Alberto Conejero, Alejandro Aceves, and Carles Milián
Opt. Lett. 47(10) 2438-2441 (2022)