Sub-100-as timing jitter optical pulse trains from mode-locked Er-fiber lasers

TL;DR

This paper reports the generation of optical pulse trains with sub-100-attosecond timing jitter from mode-locked Er-fiber lasers, achieving the lowest jitter measured for fiber lasers to date, with results aligning with quantum-limited models.

Contribution

It demonstrates sub-100-attosecond timing jitter in free-running Er-fiber lasers, surpassing previous fiber laser jitter performance and validating the quantum-limited jitter model.

Findings

Achieved 70 as rms timing jitter from Er-fiber lasers.

Measured jitter agrees with the Namiki-Haus quantum model.

Lowest jitter reported for mode-locked fiber lasers.

Abstract

We demonstrate sub-100-attosecond timing jitter optical pulse trains generated from free-running, 77.6-MHz repetition-rate, mode-locked Er-fiber lasers. At -0.002(\pm0.001) ps2 net cavity dispersion, the rms timing jitter is 70 as (224 as) integrated from 10 kHz (1 kHz) to 38.8 MHz offset frequency, when measured by a 24-as-resolution balanced optical cross-correlator. To our knowledge, this result corresponds to the lowest rms timing jitter measured from any mode-locked fiber lasers so far. The measured result also agrees fairly well with the Namiki-Haus analytic model of quantum-limited timing jitter in stretched-pulse fiber lasers.