Femtosecond pulse coupling dynamics between a dispersion-managed soliton oscillator and a nonlinear amplifier in an all-PCF-based laser system

The coupling dynamics between a dispersion-managed soliton oscillator and a nonlinear amplifier in an all-photonic crystal fiber-based laser system is emphasized. The intracavity and output pulse evolution dynamics with the dispersion management by a pair of gratings in the oscillator are investigated numerically and experimentally in detail. Then the relationship between the net intracavity dispersion in the oscillator and properties of amplification pulses from the nonlinear amplifier is studied. We find that the best performance in the laser amplification system is significantly dependent on the time-bandwidth product of the seed pulses and the amplifier pump power. As a consequence, the optimized seed output from the DM soliton oscillator for the nonlinear amplifier should be as close to the transform-limited pulse as possible and the intracavity anomalous dispersion should be as large as possible. The narrowest pulse duration of 43 fs without a pedestal and an average power of 28 W, is obtained at a pump power of 60 W. At a pump power of 70 W, 50-fs pulses with a highest output power of 34 W, corresponding to a peak power of 16.2 MW, can also be obtained.