Mode locking is a technique in optics by which a laser can be made to produce pulses of light of extremely short duration, on the order of picoseconds (10 −12 s) or femtoseconds (10 −15 s). A laser operated in this way is sometimes referred to as a femtosecond laser, for example, in modern refractive surgery.

Mode-locked fiber lasers are ultrafast fiber lasers which are actively or passively mode-locked for generating ultrashort (picosecond or femtosecond) pulses.

Mode locking is achieved by using some kind of mode locking device (mode locker) within the laser resonator – either an active element (an optical modulator) or a nonlinear passive element (a saturable absorber).

Apr 1, 2025 · In this paper, first, we will describe the fundamentals of passively and actively mode-locked fiber lasers, including temporal and spectral properties of mode-locked pulses, details of saturable absorbers, and pulse behaviors in the mode-locked laser cavities.

Sep 20, 2024 · Here, we study the passive mode-locking in GHz fiber lasers by exploring dynamic gain depletion and recovery (GDR) effect, and establish a theoretical model for comprehensively understanding...

Apr 2, 2025 · In passively mode-locked fiber lasers, pulses with different mode-locking mechanisms have been obtained based on the distribution of intracavity group velocity dispersion (GVD) 6. In lasers with ...

Sep 22, 2023 · This review highlights the areas where AI exhibits potential in accelerating the development of mode-locked fiber lasers, including nonlinear dynamics prediction, ultrashort pulse characterization, inverse design, and automatic control of mode-locked fiber lasers.

Semiconductor mode-locked lasers are stable pulse sources and can be made over a range of wavelengths where laser operation is feasible. Rare earth doped fiber lasers or planar waveguides extend this range further and can provide compact pulsed sources.

Among its portfolio, Thorlabs manufactures several mode-locked femtosecond fiber laser systems, including stand-alone systems at 1030 nm, 1550 nm, and 2 µm, as well as an all-fiber mid-IR supercontinuum laser driven by a mode-locked pump laser.

Nov 27, 2023 · Active laser mode locking involves periodically modulating resonator losses or round-trip phase changes using electro-optic or acousto-optic modulators. Synchronizing this modulation with...