Abstract

The soliton laser invented by Mollenauer and Stolen [ Opt. Lett. 9, 13 ( 1984)] is essentially based on the injection of a soliton pulse, generated by an optical fiber, into an AM mode-locked laser. Here we analyze the laser system as an injection mode-locking scheme. An inhomogeneous integral equation is derived for the self-reproducing field envelope. The first-order solution of the integral equation shows that the laser action is essentially controlled by the injected soliton pulse. Several experimental observations are explained by this model.

© 1988 Optical Society of America

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