EVENT DETAILS AND ABSTRACT

Title: Pulse dynamics in modelocked lasers
Speaker: Steven T. Cundiff
Speaker Info: JILA, NIST
Brief Description:
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Abstract:

The pulse circulating in a modelocked laser undergoes complex evolution due to the interplay of dispersion, nonlinearity, and possibly birefringence. There are close analogies to dispersion managed solitons in optical communications. Since the pulse is sampled once per round trip, it is possible to observe the dynamics in great detail over very long distances. In this talk, I will present several examples how this can be exploited. The first is the occurrence of temporal vector solitons and axis instabilities in a modelocked fiber laser. The second is the observation of transient instabilities in a modelocked Ti:sapphire laser. The final topic will be the dynamics of the carrier-envelope phase, a recent area of significant interest in ultrafast optics.