Timing Jitter Reduction of a Mode-Locked VECSEL Using an Optically Triggered SESAM

Ghaya Baili (1) , Mehdi Alouini (2) , Loïc Morvan (1) , Daniel Dolfi (1) , Aghiad Khadour (3) , Sophie Bouchoule (3) , Jean-Louis Oudar (3)

1 Thales Research and Technology [Palaiseau]
2 IPR - Institut de Physique de Rennes
3 LPN - Laboratoire de photonique et de nanostructures

A technique for actively stabilizing the repetition rate of a mode-locked vertical external-cavity surface-emitting laser is presented using an optically triggered semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. This method enables a significant reduction of the timing jitter measured in the frequency range [100 Hz, 10 MHz] and makes this kind of externally locked laser suitable for high-speed sampling of microwave signals. The experimental demonstration shows jitter reduction by a factor of 16 from 8 ps down to 423 fs for a 1.68-GHz repetition rate pulse train. The hold-in locking bandwidth and stabilization efficiency are shown to be a function of the average power and modulation index of the optical control signal.

Domaines: Physique Générale [physics.gen-ph]

Ghaya Baili, Mehdi Alouini, Loïc Morvan, Daniel Dolfi, Aghiad Khadour, et al.. Timing Jitter Reduction of a Mode-Locked VECSEL Using an Optically Triggered SESAM. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 2010, 22 (19), pp.1434 - 1436. ⟨10.1109/LPT.2010.2058796⟩. ⟨hal-00914865⟩