Numerical and experimental study of a high-energy dissipative-soliton fiber laser

We report on generation of high-energy pulses in a highly-normal dispersion fiber laser featuring large-mode-area microstructure fibers. Passive mode-locking is achieved using high modulation depth semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The total cavity dispersion is varied through insertion of a low-nonlinearity passive microstructure fiber inside the cavity. We study the effect of the cavity dispersion on the mode-locking performances. A systematic experimental and numerical description of the laser operation is addressed and the impact of the spectral filtering on the laser performances is discussed.