Generation and characterization of burst modes in passively mode-locked lasers with internal Fabry-Perot cavities

The generation of burst pulses in a multi-pass passively mode-locked laser is systematically explored. We exploit intracavity mirrors with different thicknesses to serve as reflected Fabry-Perot (RFP) cavities in laser resonators. Using a RFP cavity with the thinnest optical thickness, we can generate picosecond optical burst pulses with the highest intra-burst pulse rate of 33.12 GHz. The maximum output power of 2.6 W is obtained at an incident pump power of 11.9 W. We further develop an analytical model which considers the RFP effects to manifest the first-order autocorrelation and spectral behaviors in experiments. The agreement between theoretical analyses and experimental explorations provides the feasibility to flexibly manipulate the burst modes in practical applications. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America