Femtosecond pulse generation from semiconductor lasers using the soliton-effect compression technique

An experimental investigation of various aspects associated with the pulse quality achieved by the soliton effect pulse compression technique is presented. By using fiber birefringence advantageously in conjunction with a wave plate and a polarizer, simultaneous pulse compression and pulse reshaping is realized and this can eliminate the pedestal component inherently associated with this compression technique. A train of 185-fs high-quality pedestal-free pulses, which are the shortest pulses ever achieved using semiconductor lasers, has been successfully generated. The detrimental effect of higher order dispersion on compression and its dependence on group velocity dispersion is also investigated. The results show that it is possible to minimize this effect by using fibers with an appropriate value of dispersion