Low noise GHz passive harmonic mode-locking of soliton fiber laser using evanescent wave interaction with carbon nanotubes

Passive harmonic mode-locking in soliton fiber laser is presented with excellent noise characteristics by employing a single-walled carbon nanotubes saturable absorber designed to interact with evanescent wave of the laser field. The 34th harmonic mode-locking pulses at 943.16 MHz repetition rate were stably generated with 18 mW output power, > 50 dB side-mode suppression and. -140 dB/Hz relative intensity noise. Soliton energy control with polarization controller further increased the harmonic order to 61st, 1.692 GHz, but with compromised performance. Scaling to higher-order harmonic mode-locking is discussed for practical application in optical communication system. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America