Photonic phase-tuning circuit for controlling the delay time of passively mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser

Abstract

A DC-voltage controlled optoelectronic phase shifter (OEPS) integrated with a PZT-controlled active stabilizer is proposed for both the reduction in timing jitter and the tuning in delay-time of optical pulses generated from argon-ion-laser-pumped, passively mode-locked femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser with intracavity saturable Bragg reflector (SBR). The rms timing jitter (100-500 Hz) of the Ti:sapphire/SBR laser is significantly suppressed down to 290 fs; with uncorrelated single-sided-band phase noise of less than -120 dBc/Hz at offset frequency of 5 KHz. The pulsewidth, the repetition rate, and the single-sided-band phase noise of the laser are found to keep invariant during the delay-time timing process. The maximum phase-tuning range and tuning gain of the OEPS is approximate to11.3 ns and 2.3 ns/volt.