Thermo-optical pulsing in a microresonator filtered fiber-laser: a route towards all-optical control and synchronization

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Rowley, Maxwell, Wetzel, Benjamin, Luigi Di Lauro, Juan S Totero Gongora, Bao, Hualong, Silver, Jonathan, Leonardo Del Bino, Haye, Pascal Del', Peccianti, Marco, Pasquazi, Alessia
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 21.03.2019
• Subjects: Amplification; Cavity resonators; Computer simulation; Fiber lasers; Lasers; Nesting; Optical control; Optical properties; Physics - Optics; Resonators; Silicon dioxide; Synchronism
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1903.09095

We report on 'slow' pulsing dynamics in a silica resonator-based laser system: by nesting a high-Q rod-resonator inside an amplifying fiber cavity, we demonstrate that trains of microsecond pulses can be generated with repetition rates in the hundreds of kilohertz. We show that such pulses are produced with a period equivalent to several hundreds of laser cavity roundtrips via the interaction between the gain dynamics in the fiber cavity and the thermo-optical effects in the high-Q resonator. Experiments reveal that the pulsing properties can be controlled by adjusting the amplifying fiber cavity parameters. Our results, confirmed by numerical simulations, provide useful insights on the dynamical onset of complex self-organization phenomena in resonator-based laser systems where thermo-optical effects play an active role. In addition, we show how the thermal state of the resonator can be probed and even modified by an external, counter-propagating optical field, thus hinting towards novel approaches for all-optical control and sensing applications.