Abstract

Pulse-train instabilities occur in a large number of mode-locked laser systems and have been studied in actively mode-locked lasers, passively mode-locked lasers, and self-locked lasers. In this paper we will discuss our recent experiments on the instability in a hybridly mode-locked dye laser, and we will compare and contrast its behavior to that of the synchronously pumped mode-locked dye laser. Experimental parameters of interest include the pump threshold parameter, the cavity-length detuning, the cavity lifetime, the intracavity group-velocity dispersion compensation, the gain dye choice, and the saturable absorber dye choice and molarity. For some regimes of operation, the ultrashort pulses of this laser may be compared to solitons found in other optical systems, such as fibers and colliding-pulse mode-locked dye lasers. We model this instability theoretically by means of nonlinear dynamics, and we will present some numerical results and an analysis that qualitatively agrees with experiment.

© 1990 Optical Society of America