Coexistence of unequal pulses in a normal dispersion fiber laser

We experimentally demonstrate unequal pulses delivered from an erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser with net-normal dispersion. Two types of pulses with different durations, energies, and spectra coexist in the same ring cavity. The output spectrum exhibits a broadband base that corresponds to the main pulse and a small rectangular lump that corresponds to the additional satellite pulse. With the enhancement of pump power, the intensity of main pulse almost keeps unchanged while the satellite pulse nearly increases linearly. Based on experimental results, it is indicated that two different pulse shaping mechanisms coexist in laser cavity, where the nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) and spectral filtering (SF) effect contribute to the formation of main pulse and satellite pulse, respectively. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America