Energy Scaling of an Ultrafast All-PM-Fiber Laser Oscillator

In this paper we demonstrate the first, to the best of our knowledge, all-fiber self-starting laser oscillator consisting entirely of polarization-maintaining large mode area (PLMA) fibers mode-locked with nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM). The system works in a Raman-free dissipative soliton regime and operates at a central wavelength of 1030 nm. It delivers stable ultrashort pulses of high energy of 12 nJ at a 7.56 MHz repetition rate which can be compressed down to the Fourier transform limit of ∼250 fs. Higher energies were limited by the formation of multiple pulses in the cavity.