Laser dynamics and relative timing jitter analysis of passively synchronized Er- and Yb-doped mode-locked fiber lasers

Passively synchronized Er-doped and Yb-doped mode-locked fiber lasers with a master–slave configuration are theoretically investigated based on the pulse propagationmodel for simulating pulse collision in the common fiber section and on the master equation model for simulating laser dynamics. Computational results indicate that the central optical frequency of the slave Er laser will be shifted by the significant cross phasemodulation (XPM) effect for the laser to become synchronized with the injected master Yb laser pulse train. Pulse duration change caused by fiber dispersion in the common fiber section will distort the ideal anti-symmetric characteristics of the XPMinduced frequency shift versus the relative timing position of the two color pulses. The relative timing jitter noises of the two synchronized lasers can be minimized by adjusting the relative pulse timing position, and the predicted dependence agrees well with the experimental observation. © 2014 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (140.4050) Mode-locked lasers; (140.3510) Lasers, fiber; (190.7110) Ultrafast nonlinear optics; (270.2500) Fluctuations, relaxations, and noise. http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/JOSAB.31.001508