High modulation depth SESAM for high power dissipative soliton in an erbium-doped fiber laser

One of the main concept allowing energy scaling in mode-locked fiber lasers, is to turn towards an all-normal dispersion regime (ANDi) [1]. Up to 20 nJ pulse energy has been extracted from a single-mode Yb-doped fiber laser [1]. In the 1.5 µm-range, such a design remains a challenge since majority of the fibered components generally presents an anomalous group velocity dispersion (GVD). Dispersion compensating fiber (DCF) offers other alternative to implement such highly normal regime. Recently, mode-locking regime has been reported on the dynamics of the so-called “gain-guided solitons” (GGS) in a passively Er-doped fiber (EDF) laser, made of purely normal dispersion fibers [2]. Cabasse et al. have demonstrated that the apparently lack of dechirping capabilities for these GGS could be avoided and that these regimes belong to the more general family of dissipative solitons [3]. The most powerful EDF oscillator reported to date produced 10 nJ per pulse [4]. But at such energy, pulses suffered from intrapulse Raman-scattering and at high pumping rate, multiple pulsing regimes occurred due to the well-known overdrive of the NPE mechanism.