Nonlinear Polarization Evolution of ultrashort pulses in Polarization Maintaining fibers

TL;DR

This paper investigates the nonlinear polarization evolution of ultrashort pulses in polarization-maintaining fibers, comparing geometries and demonstrating the importance of topology for pulse control with experimental and numerical validation.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of PM NPE configurations, highlighting the advantages of the Faraday Mirror geometry and validating the model with experiments.

Findings

Faraday Mirror geometry is immune to construction errors.

PM NPE topology significantly influences pulse properties.

Numerical models agree well with experimental data.

Abstract

We examine properties of an ultrashort laser pulse propagating through an artificial Saturable Absorber based on Nonlinear Polarization Evolution device which has been realized with Polarization Maintaining fibers only (PM NPE). We study and compare in-line and Faraday Mirror geometries showing that the latter is immune to errors in the PM NPE construction. Experimental results for the transmission measurements of the PM NPE setup for different input linear polarization angles and various input pulse powers are presented. We show that PM NPE topology is of crucial importance for controlling the properties of the output pulse as it rules the contribution of cross-phase modulation to an overall nonlinear phase change. We also demonstrate an excellent agreement between the numerical model and experimental results.