Flattop pulse generation based on the combined action of active mode locking and nonlinear polarization rotation

Abstract

A pulse-width-tunable 10 GHz flattop pulse (FTP) train is generated based on the combined action of active mode locking and nonlinear polarization rotation pulse shaping. Although the setup was previously used for other applications, the mechanism of FTP generation based on it is first analyzed and confirmed in the experiment. An FTP with pulse width tunable from 12 to 20 ps by changing polarization controllers is generated within the wavelength tuning range of 20 nm. The generated pulse reveals good stability, with the side mode suppression ratio of 65 dB, timing jitter of 92 fs, and amplitude fluctuation of 0.36%.