Mode-locked fiber laser technology for ultrahigh-speed TDM optical transmission

For future ultrahigh-speed optical communications, an ultrashort optical pulse train at a high repetition-rate will be indispensable. Among many pulse generation techniques, mode-locked fiber lasers can generate high-quality short pulses at such a repetition rate. In this paper we describe a harmonically and regeneratively mode-locked fiber laser that can emit a 1-3ps transform-limited optical pulse. By using this pulse source and an adiabatic soliton compression technique, a 170-fs pulse train at 10 GHz is generated. The laser is locked to an external signal by using a phase-locked loop technique. Finally, we show that this laser has ultralow jitter characteristics.