Dynamics and Intensity Noise Suppression in an All-polarization-maintaining Fiber Mode-locked Laser

Book excerpt: Recent developments in fiber-based mode-locked lasers have made them increasingly robust and flexible. This development trend makes theses lasers more accessible for industrial and scientific applications. In this thesis, we describe the construction and characterization of a robust and flexible all-polarization-maintaining ytterbium-doped fiber laser, mode-locked with a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror. The design of the laser provides robust and easily achievable mode-locking. Moreover, our laser includes "tuning knobs" inside the cavity that provide a great degree of dynamic flexibility in its operation. We utilized this flexibility to implement a novel mechanism for intensity noise suppression and achieve extremely lownoise operation. The pump-to-output transfer bandwidth of the laser was also investigated theoretically and experimentally in order to understand a trade-off between the bandwidth available for active laser stabilization and intensity noise suppression.