Active Mode Locking With Hybrid Lasers

We present the results of a numerical study of active mode locking with hybrid lasers which contain an inhomogeneously broadened laser medium and a homogeneously broadened laser medium. The spectral, pulse, and gain characteristics of actively mode-locked hybrid lasers and the influence of the unsaturated gain, the saturation power, and the homogeneous linewidth on the pulse coherence and bandwidth are studied. The simulations show that coherent and shorter pulses are generated as compared to that by either an inhomogeneously broadened medium or a homogeneously broadened medium alone. Varying the unsaturated gain or the saturation power of the gain medium are two equivalent ways to obtain the same maximal coherent pulse bandwidth for given gain media. When different gain media can be selected, a larger pulse bandwidth can be obtained with the use of a broadband homogeneously broadened medium.