Tailoring of soliton pulses and continuous-wave components in mode-locked fiber lasers

Abstract

Mode-locked fiber lasers have been extensively investigated in nonlinear optics, and tailoring laser dynamics has been considered as a critical task in the experimental studies of mode-locked fiber lasers. In this thesis, I propose two major schemes of tailoring soliton pulses and continuous-wave components in mode-locked fiber lasers based on experimental observations. In the first part of the thesis, I study soliton pulse dynamics on quasi continuous-wave background (QCWB) exhibiting acoustic resonance-induced modulation. I demonstrate optoacoustic manipulation of the QCWB via changing the mechanical properties of the fiber, and how the manipulated QCWB mediates various multi-pulse dynamics including the soliton rains. In the second part of the thesis, coupled-cavity mode-locked fiber lasers are presented as valuable fields for tailoring mode-locked pulses and the continuous-wave components. Effective free spectral range broadening based on the Vernier effect can lead to formation of reconfigurable mode-locked pulse bursts inside the fiber laser cavity, or even arrays of multiple pulse bursts. Moreover, coupling-induced bifurcation induces the modulation of the continuous-wave into specific waveforms such as sawtooth-waves or square-waves.