Mechanisms of generation of multi-peak and

mode-locked resembling pulses in Q-switched

Yb-doped fiber lasers
B. N. Upadhyaya,1* Usha Chakravarty,1 A. Kuruvilla,1 K. Thyagarajan,2 M. R. Shenoy,2
and S. M. Oak1
1
Solid State Laser Division, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore-452013, India
2
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi-110016, India
*
Corresponding author: bnand@cat.ernet.in

Abstract: The output pulse characteristics of Q-switched Yb-doped fiber

lasers have been investigated experimentally. It has been observed that for
any typical modulation frequency, the pump power and the modulator OFF-
time govern the shape of the output Q-switched pulse. At a fixed modulation
frequency, with a fine adjustment of acousto-optic modulation window ON-
time, pump power and cavity mirror position, it was possible to obtain
modulation free single-peak pulse, multi-peak pulse, mode-locked
resembling pulse and multi-pulse structured pulse shapes in a Q-switched
fiber laser output. These observations have been analyzed and explained.
Our investigations show that multi-peak pulse output is due to onset of
nonlinear phenomena like SBS and SRS. Similarly, we have found that the
mode-locked resembling periodically modulated output pulse shape is due
to mode beating between the zeroeth order and the first order diffracted
beams of the intra-cavity acousto-optic Q-switch.
©2007 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: (140.3510) Lasers, fiber; (140.3540) Lasers, Q-switched.

References and links

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#84443 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Jun 2007; revised 4 Aug 2007; accepted 4 Aug 2007; published 28 Aug 2007
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 12. Y. Wang, A. Martinez-Rios and Hong Po, “Analysis of a Q-switched ytterbium-doped double-clad fiber
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26. G. P. Agrawal, Nonlinear Fiber Optics (Academic, New York, 2001)

1. Introduction
High energy and short pulse single-mode Q-switched double-clad fiber lasers are attractive for
many applications such as range finding, remote sensing, optical time domain reflectometry,
medical and industrial processing due to their high efficiency, reliability, beam quality and
compactness [1-4]. Electro-optic and acousto-optic modulators have been widely used for
active Q-switching of fiber lasers in linear Fabry-Perot and ring cavity configurations [1-8].
For most of the applications, it is desirable to have a temporally smooth modulation free
single peak pulse with a well defined time interval between pulses. However, quite often
multiple random pulsing as well as Q-switched pulses with multi-peak or split pulse structure
and mode-locked resembling periodically modulated pulse shapes have been reported in these
lasers [1, 3-20]. Several earlier studies have attempted study of generation processes of such
pulse shapes [4,7-20]. In reported Q-switched pulse shapes with multi-peak or split pulse
structure, there are a few peaks in Q-switched pulse envelope with moderate depth of
modulation [1, 4, 6-16]. These peaks in multi-peak structured pulses were claimed to have
been separated by round trip time based on the presence of a peak corresponding to cavity
mode spacing in FFT of these pulses [10-15]. Further, the observed optical spectrum in one of
the reports [12] shows a band width of 0.16 nm, which corresponds to about 24.5 ps mode-
locked pulses. However, the observed pulse widths of individual pulses in multi-peak
structured Q-switched pulses are very large compared to the inverse of the gain bandwidth.
Wang et. al. [12-14] have predicted that the formation of multi-peak structured Q-switched
pulses may not be avoided if the width of a Q-switched envelope is greater than one round trip
time and schemes to achieve single peak pulses have been proposed. To analyse observation
of multi-peak phenomena, simulation of Q-switched fiber lasers have been carried out and the
effect of modulation rise-time has been investigated [4, 7-13]. Based on these analyses,
perturbation induced by quick switching of acousto-optic modulator (AOM) along with a
series of pulse reflections from cavity mirrors has been shown to create multi-peak pulse

#84443 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Jun 2007; revised 4 Aug 2007; accepted 4 Aug 2007; published 28 Aug 2007
(C) 2007 OSA 3 September 2007 / Vol. 15, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11577
shapes. In case of periodically modulated mode-locked resembling Q-switched pulse shapes,
which were attributed to mode-locking process, the pulses within one Q-switched envelope
were not separated by cavity round trip time or its sub-harmonic time [17, 18]. Myslinski et.
al. [17] have claimed observation of such stable and efficient ‘simultaneously Q-switched and
self-mode locked’ pulses in erbium doped fiber laser by carefully adjusting the rear mirror
position. The mechanism of formation of mode-locked resembling pulse was explained on the
basis of self-phase modulation (SPM), self-focusing, the Kerr lens effect and the aperture
effect. In literature, multi-peak structured pulses with separation equal to or not equal to
round-trip time and mode-locked resembling pulses with separation not equal to round trip
time have been treated similarly. In spite of a large number of studies, in our opinion, a
consistent picture about the mechanism of generation of pulses of different shapes is still
lacking as different types of pulse shapes have been generated under different operating
conditions. To the best of our knowledge, no one has reported observation of modulation free
single-peak, multi-peak, mode-locked resembling, and multi-pulse type of Q-switched pulses
with the same experimental set-up. Also, the effect of modulation window-time on the output
pulse shape of high peak-power acousto-optic Q-switched Yb-doped fiber lasers has hardly
been reported.
In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate the generation of a variety of pulse shapes
under controlled operating conditions in a single set-up. It has been shown that by a fine
adjustment of modulation window ON- and OFF-time, pump power and the cavity mirror
position, various output pulse shapes such as multiple pulses within one modulation period,
single-peak modulation free pulses, split or multi-peak pulses and periodically modulated
mode-locked resembling Q-switched pulses can be generated. We also present a qualitative
analysis to explain the shapes of the observed pulses, and a physical mechanism that leads to
the generation of these pulses.
2. Experimental setup
Figure 1 shows the experimental set-up of an acousto-optic (AO) Q-switched fiber laser. In
the experimental set up, a 20 W fiber-coupled laser diode at 975 nm has been used to end-
pump 18 meters of Yb-doped double-clad fiber. The fiber used has a uniformly doped core
with a homogeneous dopant concentration, and hence a uniform Yb-doping profile giving a
step-index refractive index profile in the core region. The doped-fiber has a core diameter of
10 μm with a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.075 and an octagonal inner-clad diameter of 400
μm with an NA of 0.45. It has an inner-clad pump absorption of 0.8 dB/m at 975 nm. The
laser resonator consists of a linear Fabry-Perot cavity with a rear mirror of ~100% reflectivity,
and the cleaved facet at the other end with 4% Fresnel reflection acts as the output coupler. A
dichroic mirror, which is highly transmitting at 975 nm and highly reflecting in a broadband
from 1064-1140 nm, has been used to couple out the Q-switched laser beam. To achieve
faithful Q-switching, one of the fiber ends has been angle polished at 10° to prevent any
feedback and spurious lasing between the pulses. Here, the term ‘faithful Q-switching’ has
been used to mean regular Q-switched pulses with a well-defined time spacing and repetition
rate. Also, between the pulses there should not be any cw lasing, and hence cw power due to
Fresnel reflection from fiber end-facets, which reduces pulse peak power. Further, several
authors have reported random self-pulsing behaviour with irregular gigantic output pulses in
feedback suppressed (by the use of angle-cleaved end face) fiber configurations [21-23].
Although, we have also observed random self-pulsing behaviour in the absence of AO Q-
switching mechanism, these random self-pulses cannot be called ‘faithfully Q-switched’
pulses unless special measures are taken to make them regular. In our experiment, initially,
the resonator was aligned for maximum CW laser output power, where in a maximum power
of 10.75 W at an input pump power of 17.2 W, with a slope efficiency of 73%, was obtained.
The pump threshold was 1.2 W. Further, the beam was collimated using a lens of 10 mm focal
length, and Q-switching was achieved by using an intra-cavity AO modulator. The AO switch

#84443 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Jun 2007; revised 4 Aug 2007; accepted 4 Aug 2007; published 28 Aug 2007
(C) 2007 OSA 3 September 2007 / Vol. 15, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11578
was kept near the rear mirror end at a distance of 0.5 m, and a radio frequency wave at 27.12
MHz with modulation rate of 1-100 kHz with variable duty cycle was applied in the study of
Q-switching action. The AO modulator provides a diffraction efficiency of about 60% with a
Bragg angle of 7.68 mrad. When the RF is turned OFF (i.e. low Q), the light beam within the
cavity does not undergo deflection, leading to a build-up of population inversion; the laser
pulse is emitted when the RF is turned ON (i.e. high Q) after some delay, equal to the pulse
build-up time. Rise and fall time of the modulating signal were 22.5 ns and 22 ns respectively,
which are very small compared to the cavity round-trip time (174 ns). The average output
power was measured using a thermal detector and the Q-switched pulses were recorded using
a 1 GHz photo-receiver and a 500 MHz digital storage oscilloscope. Effects of RF ON- and
OFF-timing have been observed by modulating the Q-switch driver externally through a
signal generator.

Fig. 1. Experimental set-up of acousto-optic Q-switched Yb-doped fiber laser

3. Results and discussion

3.1 Observation of single and multi-pulse output
At a typical modulation frequency of 20 kHz with 22 μs modulator OFF-time and 17.12 W
pump power, a maximum average output power of 4.5 W with a single un-modulated pulse of
225 μJ pulse energy and 240 ns full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) pulse duration was
achieved. We first studied the effect of AO Q-switch ON- and OFF-timings on the output
pulse shape. Figures 2(a)-2(d) shows typical multi-pulse appearance in the output at 20 kHz
modulation frequency. The pump power was 11.72 W. The number of post pulses in the
output decreases with increase in the modulator OFF-time. When the modulator OFF-time
was increased from 5.2 μs to 32 μs, number of post pulses reduced from five to nil. Pulse
build-up time of the principal pulse also decreases with increase in modulator OFF-time; the
peak power of the principal pulse increases with reduction in the number of post pulses, and
finally a desired single pulse output is observed. When the modulator OFF-time was further
increased, the principal pulse amplitude stability became poor.
When the modulator OFF-time (i.e. low Q) is large enough, population inversion and
hence gain builds up in the system. A large initial gain facilitates the formation of a single Q-
switched pulse (Fig. 2(d)). As the modulator OFF-time is reduced considerably, the initial
gain available for pulse build-up is reduced and full energy extraction may not be possible. As
a result smaller satellite pulses are also generated. Thus, for very small modulator OFF-
timings, the additional available gain is so small that normal Q-switching process is disturbed
and the laser output breaks into relaxation oscillations as shown in Figs. 2(a)-2(c). In this case
multiple pulses are observed with a pulse separation of about 10-12 μs, which can be
understood by considering a slight loss modulation in the cavity and the resultant fluctuation
of population inversion. As the pulse build-up time also depends on initial gain, hence one
can see the reduction in the pulse build-up time from 5.2 μs to 3.88 μs as the modulator OFF-

#84443 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Jun 2007; revised 4 Aug 2007; accepted 4 Aug 2007; published 28 Aug 2007
(C) 2007 OSA 3 September 2007 / Vol. 15, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11579
time is increased from 5.2 μs to 32 μs. Since, it is possible to increase the gain in the system
by using higher pump powers. Indeed, as the pump power and hence gain increases, the
modulator OFF-time could be considerably reduced before the laser output changes from a
single pulse to multiple pulses due to relaxation oscillations, which is as one would expect. As
the modulator OFF-time is increased beyond a certain optimum limit, probably the large gain
in the system causes ASE generation, which leads to amplitude fluctuations in the Q-switched
output. This shows that for a given pump power, there is an optimum value for modulator
OFF-time for generation of a stable single pulse output in Q-switched fiber lasers.
Pulse buildup time=5.55μs
5 Pulse buildup time=4.30μs
20.0 5
80.0

5.2μs 13μs
4 4
15.0
60.0

3 3
10.0
Output(mV)

Output(mV)
40.0
2 2
5.0
20.0
1 1
0.0
0.0
0 0
-5.0

-1 -20.0 -1
-40.0 -20.0 0.0 20.0 40.0 -40.0 -20.0 0.0 20.0 40.0
Time(μs) Time(μs)

(a) (b)

160.0 Pulse buildup time=3.915μs

5
160.0 Pulse buildup time=3.88μs
140.0 24.2μs 5
140.0
4 32μs
120.0
120.0 4
100.0
3 100.0
3
Output(mV)

80.0
Output(mV)

80.0
60.0 2
60.0 2
40.0
1 40.0
1
20.0
20.0
0.0 0
0.0 0
-20.0
-20.0
-1
-1
-40.0 -20.0 0.0 20.0 40.0
-40.0 -20.0 0.0 20.0 40.0
Time(μs)
Time( μs)

(c) (d)

Fig. 2. (a)-(d) Observation of multi-pulses and disappearance of post pulses with

increasing modulator OFF-time in the output of the Q-switched Yb-doped fiber laser
at a typical modulation frequency of 20 kHz and a fixed input pump power of 11.72
W; blue trace shows modulating signal and black trace shows output laser pulses
appearing after a delay, with reference to the falling edge of the modulating signal,
that is equal to the pulse build-up time.

3.2 Observation of multi-peak structured pulse output

We further investigated the dependence of output pulse shape on pump power for a fixed
modulation frequency and modulator OFF-time. Figures 3(a)-3(f) show output pulse shapes
observed at 20 kHz modulation frequency at a fixed modulator OFF-time of 32 μs for pump
powers from 10.13 W to 13.97 W. When the pump power is increased, initially the pulse is
distorted and then a multi-peak structured pulse appears in the output. There is a continuous
decrease in pulse build-up time with increase in pump power as expected. With an increase in
pump power, modulation of pulse envelope is enhanced. With further increase in pump power
Q-switched pulse breaks up in short duration giant pulses with a very high peak power as

#84443 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Jun 2007; revised 4 Aug 2007; accepted 4 Aug 2007; published 28 Aug 2007
(C) 2007 OSA 3 September 2007 / Vol. 15, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11580
shown in Fig. 3(f). We show later that this multi-peak or split pulse appearance is due to the
occurrence of nonlinear phenomena like stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) and Simulated
Raman Scattering (SRS). These multi-peak pulses are similar to those observed by Wang et.
al. [12] and were said to be ‘simultaneously Q-switched and mode-locked’ pulses with
spacing of the split pulses in Q-switched envelope equal to one round trip time. However, the
time separation of individual pulses in multi-peak pulses was not measured. This was
concluded on the basis of observation of a frequency peak in FFT of these pulses, which was
at the mode separation frequency of the laser resonator. We also found a peak at 5.75 MHz in
the FFT of these pulses, which corresponds to the inverse of the round trip time of our
resonator (174 ns). However, the spacing between peaks in the Q-switched envelope was not
always equal to round trip time.
We also recorded the output spectrum corresponding to these pulse shapes which are
shown in Figs. 4(a)-4(d). It can be seen that for a temporally undistorted pulse, the output
wavelength spectrum is also smooth in a wavelength range of 1067-1108 nm with peak at
1093 nm. At higher input pump powers, the temporal envelope starts distorting and a new
peak at 1049 nm starts appearing in the output spectrum with a range between 1040-1077 nm
(Fig. 4(b)). This new peak and wavelength range is probably due to ASE generation at higher
pump powers. As the highly reflecting feedback mirror does not provide feedback in this
wavelength range, its amplitude remains lower even with increase in pump power. With
further increase in pump power a peak shifted by about 56 nm from laser signal peak starts
appearing, which is accompanied by a second peak at about 1200 nm with further increase in
pump power. The position of these peaks corresponds to the primary and secondary Stokes
component due to stimulated Raman scattering in silica [26]. The spectral data clearly shows
the existence of nonlinear scattering beyond a threshold pump power. The intensity dependent
nonlinear distortion of the intra-cavity pulses is further supported by control of modulator
OFF-time. For any pump power, a smooth transition from a temporally distorted to a clean
pulse shape was possible with decrease in modulator OFF-time. This decrease in modulator
OFF-time reduces the intra-cavity intensity and thus prevents the nonlinear distortion of the
circulating Q-switched pulse. Thresholds for nonlinear phenomena SBS and SRS are given by
[26]
16 Aeff
( P0 cr ) SRS ≈ (1)
g R Leff

21Aeff ⎡ Δν s ⎤
( P0 cr ) SBS ≈ ⎢1 + ⎥ (2)
g B Leff ⎣ Δν B ⎦

where, Aeff is the effective core area and Leff is the effective fiber length given by

Leff =
1
[1 − exp(−α L)] (3)
αs s

Brillouin and Raman gain coefficients in silica are gB = 5x10-11 m/W and gR = 1x10-13 m/W
respectively [26]. ΔνB = 30 MHz is the Brillouin gain bandwidth and Δνs = 5.06 THz is the
signal bandwidth corresponding to signal linewidth of Δλs = 20 nm in our experiments. αs =
5x10-3 m-1 is the scattering loss at signal wavelength. For our case, with Aeff = 7.85x10-11 m2
and L = 18 m, the calculated values of SRS and SBS thresholds are 730 W and 194 kW
respectively. These values approximately match with the observed thresholds for these
phenomena. From Eqs. (1) and (2), it is clear that SRS and SBS thresholds depend on fiber
parameters and spectral width of the pump beam, so these values will be different in different
experimental conditions as reported by several authors like Wang, et. al. and Ye, et. al. [24,
25].

#84443 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Jun 2007; revised 4 Aug 2007; accepted 4 Aug 2007; published 28 Aug 2007
(C) 2007 OSA 3 September 2007 / Vol. 15, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11581
 80 80
10.13 W 5 5
70 11.07 W 70
11.72 W Pump power=12.09 W
60 Pulse build-up time=3.943μs
60 4 4

50 50
3 3

Output(mV)
40
Output(mV)

40

2 30 2
30

20 20
1 1

10 10
0 0
0 0

-10 -1 -10 -1
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Time(μs) Time(μs)

(a) (b)
80 80

5 5
70 Pump power=12.40 W 70
Pulse buildup time=3.888 μs Pump power=13.07 W
Pulse buildup time=3.80μs
60 4 60 4

50 50
3 3
Output(mV)

40

Output(mV)
40

30 2 2
30

20 20
1 1
10 10
0 0
0 0

-10 -1
-10 -1
0 1 2 3 4 5
0 1 2 3 4 5
Time(μ s)
Time( μs)
(c) (d)

70
140.0 5
5
Pump power=13.97 W
60
Pump power=13.52 W 120.0
Pulse buildup time=3.704μs
4 4
50
100.0

40 3 3
80.0
Output(mV)
Output(mV)

30 60.0 2
2

20 40.0
1
1
10 20.0

0
0 0.0
0

-20.0 -1
-10 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
0 1 2 3 4 5
Time(μs)
Time(μs)
(e) (f)

Fig. 3. (a)-(f) Single- and multi-peak (or split peak) pulse output of Yb-doped Q-
switched fiber laser with increasing pump power, for a constant modulation window
ON-time of tON = 32μs (RF OFF-time) and a fixed modulation frequency of 20 kHz;
blue trace shows the falling edge of modulation window ON-time; black trace shows
shape of the output Q-switched pulse

#84443 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Jun 2007; revised 4 Aug 2007; accepted 4 Aug 2007; published 28 Aug 2007
(C) 2007 OSA 3 September 2007 / Vol. 15, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11582
 (a) (b)

(c) (d)
Fig. 4. Output wavelength spectrum corresponding to Q-switched pulses in Fig. 3 at
input pump powers of (a) 11.72 W (b) 13.07 W (c) 13.52 W and (d) 13.97 W.

Similar temporal and spectral distortions in pulses were observed at 10, 15 and 25 kHz
modulation frequencies. Figures 5(a)-5(g) shows single and multi-peak pulse shapes at 25 kHz
modulation frequency at a fixed modulation window ON-time of 28.8 μs with variation in
pump power from 10.55 W to 14.83 W. Figure 5(h) shows output wavelength spectrum
corresponding to split pulse in Fig. 5(g). Output spectrum at lower pump powers has a similar
behaviour as at 20 kHz modulation frequency, but there is an increase in pump threshold for
appearance of another wavelength range (1040-1067 nm) and spectral peaks due to nonlinear
scattering, namely SRS and SBS.

#84443 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Jun 2007; revised 4 Aug 2007; accepted 4 Aug 2007; published 28 Aug 2007
(C) 2007 OSA 3 September 2007 / Vol. 15, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11583
 120.0
Pump power=10.55 W 7 0 P u l s e b u i ld -u p t im e = 4 . 2 6 μ s 5 Pump power=13.35 W P u l s e b u il d - u p t i m e = 3 . 6 8 μ s
1 00 5
70 60 2 8 .8 μ s
FWHM pulse width=204 ns
FWHM Pulse Duration=305ns 2 8 .8 μ s

O u t p u t (m V )
4
50 80 4

O u tp u t ( m V )
40 3
60 30 100.0 60 3
2
20 40
1 2
10
20
0 0 1
50 -1 0
-1 80.0 0
0
0.0 2 0 .0 4 0 .0 6 0.0 8 0 .0
-20
T i m e (μ s ) 30 40 50 60 70
40
T i m e (μ s )

Output(mV)
Output(mV)
60.0
30

20 40.0

10
20.0

0
0.0
-10

32.0 32.5 33.0 33.5 34.0 34.5 35.0 35.5 32.6 32.8 33.0 33.2 33.4 33.6 33.8 34.0

Time(μs) Time(μs)

(a) (b)
100.0
100.0 100
P u ls e b u i ld - u p ti m e = 3 . 7 0 μ s
Pump power=13.56 W 6 5
P u ls e b uild -u p tim e = 3 .7 3 μ s 80
FWHM pulse width=248 ns 8 0 .0 2 8 .8 μ s 4

O u tp ut(m V )
5
60
Separation between peaks=112ns 6 0 .0 2 8.8 μ s 4 80.0
O u tp u t(m V )

3
3 40
80.0 4 0 .0 2
2 20
2 0 .0 1
1 0
0 .0 0
0 60.0 -2 0
-2 0 .0 -1 70 80 90 100 110
60.0 30 40 50 60 70 T im e ( μ s )

Output(mV)
T im e ( μ s )
Output(mV)

40.0
40.0
Pump power=14.06 W
FWHM pulse width=200 ns
20.0
Separation between peaks=140 ns
20.0

0.0

0.0
-20.0
32.6 32.8 33.0 33.2 33.4 33.6 33.8 34.0 34.2 71.5 72.0 72.5 73.0 73.5 74.0 74.5 75.0

Time(μs) Time(μs)

(c) (d)
6
80.0 Pulse build-up time=3.667 μ s 5 7 0 P u ls e b u ild - u p t im e = 3 .6 μ s
100.0 2 80.0 2 60 5
28.8μ s 4 2 8 .8 μs

O u tp u t( m V )
60.0 50 4
40
Output(mV)

3 3
40.0 30
80.0 2 1 20 2
20.0 60.0 10
1
1 0
0.0 -1 0 0
0
60.0 70 80 90 100 110
-20.0 -1 T im e (μs )
Output(mV)
Output(mV)

70 80 90 100 110 40.0

Time(μ s)
40.0 1 3 Pump power=14.72 W
Pump power=14.36 W 3 Separation of peaks1&2=140 ns
Separation of peaks1&2=130 ns 20.0 Separation of peaks2&3=150 ns
20.0 Separation of peaks2&3=140 ns FWHM pulsewidth=230 ns
FWHM pulsewidth=120ns

0.0
0.0

-20.0 -20.0
71.5 72.0 72.5 73.0 73.5 74.0 74.5 71.5 72.0 72.5 73.0 73.5 74.0 74.5
Time(μs) Time(μs)

(e) (f)
6
70 P u ls e b u ild - u p tim e = 3 .6 μ s
600 60 5
2 8 .8 μ s
O u tp u t ( m V )

50 4
40
3
30
500 20 2
10
1
0
0
400 -10
70 80 90 1 00 1 10
T im e ( μ s )
Output(mV)

300
Pump power=14.83 W
FWHM pulsewidth<20ns
200 Separation between peaks=160ns

100

-100
71.6 71.8 72.0 72.2 72.4 72.6 72.8 73.0 73.2 73.4
Time(μs)

(g) (h)
Fig. 5. (a)-(g) Single and multi-peak or split pulse output of Yb-doped Q-switched
fiber laser with an increase in input pump power for a constant modulation window
ON-time of tON = 28.8μs at a fixed modulation frequency of 25 kHz; in the inset, blue
trace shows the modulating signal and black trace shows output Q-switched pulse. (h)
Spectrum corresponding to pulse shape in (g).

#84443 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Jun 2007; revised 4 Aug 2007; accepted 4 Aug 2007; published 28 Aug 2007
(C) 2007 OSA 3 September 2007 / Vol. 15, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11584
 The pump power threshold for distortion and multi-peak structure appearance in output
pulse shape increases as the modulation frequency increases. The pulse distortion occurs at a
higher pump power since the intra-cavity intensity per pulse reduces as the modulation
frequency is increased. It is apparent that the pulse splitting or multi-peak nature of pulses is
due to the high intra-cavity pulse peak power and consequent nonlinear phenomenon like SRS
and SBS and may not be due to fast rise time or switching induced perturbation [10-13]. In the
high power AO Q-switched fiber lasers, the feedback is generally provided by the frequency
shifted first order Bragg diffracted beam from the AOM. Cutler [19] has shown by simulation
of a wide band oscillator that a continuously changing phase shift (a fixed frequency shift) in
the feedback path produces a response that resembles mode-locking or split peak pulses.
However, this theory can not explain multi-peak pulses observed in electro-optic Q-switched
fiber lasers [6, 16], where unlike AOM there is no frequency shift in the feedback path of the
laser. On the other hand, the onset of intra-cavity nonlinear scattering due to high intra-cavity
peak power is able to explain the pulse splitting in case of electro-optic Q-switched as well as
AO Q-switched fiber lasers. Renaud, et. al. [1] and Alvarez-Chavez, et. al. [3] have also
reported observation of split or distorted pulses with increase in length of fiber. The pump
thresholds for nonlinear phenomenon like SRS and SBS decreases with an increase in
effective fiber length, hence the multi-peak pulse appearance might have started in their
experiments on increase in fiber lengths. Unfortunately none of the authors have reported the
output wavelength spectrum of Q-switched fiber lasers, when the pulse distortion or splitting
starts appearing in the output. We may conclude that a single-peak output pulse could be
observed in Q-switched fiber lasers, when the signal peak power is below SRS and SBS
thresholds.
3.3 Observation of mode-locked resembling pulse output
Myslinski, et. al. [17, 18] have observed periodic modulation within the Q-switched envelope,
which was attributed to ‘simultaneous Q-switching and mode-locking’ in AO Q-switched
fiber laser due to SPM. It was also stated that these periodic modulations appeared only after a
careful adjustment of the mirror. We were able to reproduce similar pulse shapes by carefully
adjusting the position of mirror near the AOM. Figure 6(a) shows a periodically modulated
mode-locked resembling pulse shape at 32 kHz modulation frequency and input pump power
of 12 W. The FWHM pulse width of Q-switched envelope is 260 ns with an average output
power of 3.2 W. One can note that the separation between individual pulses within the Q-
switched envelope is about 18-20 ns (pulse repetition frequency of about 50 MHz), which is
much smaller than the 174 ns cavity round trip time corresponding to the cavity mode spacing
of 5.75 MHz. Thus, the pulse repetition frequency of 50 MHz is neither equal to cavity mode
spacing nor equal to its harmonics as one would expect in case of mode-locking of a laser.
The pulse width of the individual pulses within the envelope was about 8 ns. It was also
observed that the modulation depth of mode-locked resembling pulse can be increased or
decreased, when modulation window ON-time and mirror alignment is adjusted carefully.
Figure 6(b) shows the output spectrum corresponding to the pulse shape of Fig. 6(a). The
recorded pulse band-width of 42.9 nm corresponds to about 100 fs mode-locked pulses in
contrast to the observed pulse duration of 8 ns.

#84443 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Jun 2007; revised 4 Aug 2007; accepted 4 Aug 2007; published 28 Aug 2007
(C) 2007 OSA 3 September 2007 / Vol. 15, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11585
 30.0 30 P u l s e b u i ld - u p t im e = 3 . 8 μ s

O u tp u t( m V )
5
25
2 3 .2 μ s 4
20
15 3
25.0 10 2
5 1
0 0
-5 -1
60 70 80 90 100
20.0 T im e ( μ s )

15.0
Output(mV)

10.0

5.0

0.0

-5.0
58.9 59.0 59.1 59.2 59.3 59.4 59.5 59.6 59.7
Time(μs)

(a)
(b)

Fig. 6. (a). Mode-locked resembling pulse shape and (b) corresponding output
spectrum at 32kHz modulation frequency and at an input pump power of 12 W. Inset
shows modulating signal with a modulation window ON-time of tON = 23.2 μs (blue
trace) and mode-locked resembling pulse after a delay equal to pulse build-up time
(black trace).

Several mechanisms of generation have been proposed for observation of mode-locked

resembling pulses in AO Q-switched fiber lasers. A proposed explanation for self mode-
locking in these lasers is based on self-phase modulation [17]. The spectral broadening caused
by the self-phase modulation for an un-chirped Gaussian pulse with the length ΔτFWHM is
given by [26]
γz eff P0
Δν NL = 0.273 (4)
T0

where ΔνNL is the full width at the 1/e intensity point, T0 is the half width at 1/e intensity point
and for a Gaussian pulse it is related with ΔτFWHM by ΔτFWHM=2(ln2)1/2 T0 , and zeff is the
effective distance of the guided pulse propagation. The nonlinear coefficient γ is defined by
[26]
2πn 2
γ= (5)
λ 0 Aeff

λ0 is the pulse wavelength in vacuum, n2 is the fused-silica nonlinear refractive index (n2 =
3.2x10-20 m2/W) and Aeff is the effective fiber core-area. For our case, Aeff = 7.85x10-11 m2 and
λ0 = 1089.5 nm, providing the value of γ = 2.35x10-3 W-1m-1. The effective distance can be
taken to be equal to one round trip propagation through the fiber zeff = 36 m. For a peak power
of P0 = 385 W, the corresponding spectral broadening due to self-phase modulation is ΔνNL =
57 MHz, which is much larger than the cavity mode-spacing (5.75 MHz). Thus, in our case a
large spectral broadening due to SPM may cause axial mode coupling to force self mode-
locked operation [17]. However, the separation between these mode-locked type of pulses in
our case, as well as in the reports by Myslinski, et. al. [17] is not equal to the round-trip time
or its sub-harmonic time as one would expect in case of mode-locking. In another explanation
in Ref. 20, it has been mentioned that the shape of the Q-switched pulses in fiber lasers are
modulated at the round trip frequency and this modulation arises from the difference in optical
power on the two sides of the AOM before it is opened. This difference in power is retained
during lasing, with the result that spikes at the round-trip frequency appear in the output and

#84443 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Jun 2007; revised 4 Aug 2007; accepted 4 Aug 2007; published 28 Aug 2007
(C) 2007 OSA 3 September 2007 / Vol. 15, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11586
the observed modulation depth is limited by the response time of the detector. However, this
concept is unable to explain large modulation depths which are not at round trip frequency
observed by us and Myslinski, et. al. [17,18]. Further, its generation can not be explained by
conjectures that there are harmonics of the modulation frequency that correspond to the cavity
mode-spacing, which stimulates the laser and forces the formation of mode-locked pulses
from noise, after the AOM is switched ON [12]. Thus, the pulse repetition frequency, the
large lasing band-width and long pulse duration of individual pulses in Q-switched pulse
envelope indicate that the observed periodic modulation is probably not due to mode-locking
phenomena. Hence, additional studies seem necessary to probe the cause of mode-locked
resembling periodic modulation of the Q-switched envelope.
We show that the mode-locked resembling periodic modulation of Q-switched envelope is
due to mode beating between the zeroeth order and the first order (frequency shifted)
diffracted beams from the AOM. As stated earlier, the periodic modulation could be obtained
by ‘carefully adjusting the rear mirror position’. We then systematically recorded the output
pulse as the highly reflecting rear mirror was moved closer and farther away from the AOM.
When the rear mirror was far away (~0.5 m) from AOM, the output pulse was smooth without
any modulation. When the mirror was brought nearer (~0.1 m) to AOM, periodic modulation
appeared in the Q-switched envelope on adjustment of modulation window ON-time and
mirror tilt. The mode-locked resembling periodic modulation of the pulse envelope was also
observed at 20, 24, 27 & 30 kHz modulation frequencies. If ω and Ω are the frequencies of
laser and radio frequencies (RF) applied to the AO cell, the first order diffracted beam will
have a frequency ω+Ω. After feedback it passes again through the AO cell and gets diffracted
again to give ω+2Ω in the first order, in a direction in which the laser beam was propagating
before the Q-switch. Now, the two signals at ω and ω+2Ω will give a mode beat at 2Ω with a
maximum modulation depth if both signals have similar intensities. On observation of the
mode-locked resembling Q-switched pulses obtained in our experiment, we found that the
separation between individual pulses within the Q-switched envelope is about 18-20 ns
(measurement limited by detection system), which corresponds to mode beat at 50-55.5 MHz.
The RF wave applied to the Q-switch in our case was 27.12 MHz, and corresponds to 2Ω =
54.24 MHz, which matches with the observed beat frequency. As the angular separation
between the zeroeth and the first order (frequency shifted) diffracted beams are rather small,
such a mixing of zeroeth order and first order diffracted beams can occur due to the mirror
near the Q-switch, which was meant for providing feedback using the first order diffracted
beam. If we now look at the mode-locked type of pulses reported by Myslinski, et. al [17], the
separation between pulses within the Q-switched envelope is about 6.25 ns, which
corresponds to mode beat at 160 MHz, and in their report the AO modulator induced round-
trip frequency shift is also 160 MHz. Since they have not specified the position of the
feedback mirror in their experiment, it might be possible that during the ‘careful adjustment of
feedback mirror’, feedback occurred from both the zeroeth and the first order diffracted
beams, leading to the formation of mode-locked resembling pulses, as in our case. Further, in
our experiments, we could change the modulation depth by changing the ratio of feed back
from the first and the zeroeth order beams by means of slight adjustment of the mirror
alignment. This further confirms the proposition of mode-beating. Thus, our experimental
observations, as well as observations by Myslinski, et. al. [17], could be explained with the
above proposition. This identifies the physical phenomenon responsible for the occurrence of
mode-locked resembling pulses within the Q-switched pulse envelope, and is attributed to
mode-beating between the round-trip frequency-shifted beam at ω+2Ω and the original (un-
deviated) beam at ω.

#84443 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Jun 2007; revised 4 Aug 2007; accepted 4 Aug 2007; published 28 Aug 2007
(C) 2007 OSA 3 September 2007 / Vol. 15, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11587
4. Conclusion
In conclusion, we have experimentally investigated the output pulse characteristics of Q-
switched Yb-doped fiber laser. Different pulse shapes were observed by varying the
modulation window ON- and OFF-time, pump power and mirror position in the same
experimental set-up. It has been found that mode-locked resembling pulse shapes and multi-
peak structured Q-switched pulse shapes observed by us, and also by several researchers in
rare earth doped fiber lasers, is not because of the generation of ‘simultaneously Q-switched
and mode-locked pulses’ that occurs in other solid-state lasers wherein simultaneous Q-
switched and mode-locked pulses have pulse-durations and separations corresponding to their
bandwidths. We have provided a new insight to the generation of multi-pulse, multi-peak (or
split pulse), and mode-locked resembling pulses in the output of Q-switched fiber lasers.
Occurrence of nonlinear effects like SBS and SRS have been shown to cause multi-peak
structure in the case of Q-switched fiber lasers; the mode beating between round-trip
frequency-shifted beam at ω+2Ω from the AO Q-switch and the original (un-deviated) beam
at ω, has been shown to cause the mode-locked resembling output pulses. Thus, in order to
achieve single peak Q-switched pulses, modulation window-time, pump power and mirror
position has to be optimized to avoid any intra-cavity nonlinear interactions, mode beating and
multi-pulse appearance.

#84443 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Jun 2007; revised 4 Aug 2007; accepted 4 Aug 2007; published 28 Aug 2007
(C) 2007 OSA 3 September 2007 / Vol. 15, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11588