Evolution and stability of pulse regimes in SESAM-mode-locked femtosecond fiber lasers

We examine the impact of the recovery time of a semiconductor saturable absorber together with the value of its saturation fluence, total net gain, and cavity dispersion on femtosecond pulse generation by mode-locked fiber lasers resulting in a massive optimization of the system performance. Stable regimes of asymptotic single-pulse generation have been identified as zones in a parameter map. We demonstrate that a stable single-pulse regime leads to formation of pulses with chirp, width, and peak power strongly varying during one cavity round trip while slowly oscillating with a period that is much longer than a round trip. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America