Rogue waves in a normal-dispersion fiber laser

Experimental evidence of rogue-wave formation in a normal-dispersion ytterbium fiber laser is reported. Spectral filtering is a primary component of pulse-shaping in normal-dispersion lasers, and we find that the choice of filter dramatically influences the distribution of noise-pulse energies produced by these lasers. With an interference filter in the cavity, non-Gaussian distributions with pulses as large as 6 times the significant wave height are observed. These correspond to pulse energies as high as similar to 50 nJ. To our knowledge, the results presented are not accounted for by existing theoretical models of rogue-wave formation. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America