Polarization effects and nonlinear switching in fiber figure-eight lasers

Opt Lett. 1994 Sep 15;19(18):1462-4. doi: 10.1364/ol.19.001462.

Abstract

We have developed a novel experimental procedure that allows us to quantify how polarization effects determine the passive mode locking of an optical fiber figure-eight laser. Based on our measurements, we have performed numerical simulations demonstrating that the nonlinear switching within this laser operates in a manner contrary to that described by the conventional theory of passive mode locking with a fast saturable absorber.