Spectral Filtering Highly Chirped Pulses in All Normal Dispersion Fiber Lasers

We present a theoretical description of the generation of ultra-short, high-energy pulses in an all-normal dispersion laser cavity with spectral filtering. A reduced variational model based upon the Haus master mode-locking equations with quintic saturation is shown to characterize the experimentally observed dynamics. Critical in driving the intracavity dynamics is the nontrivial phase profiles generated and their periodic modification from the spectral filter. The theory gives a simple geometrical description of the intra-cavity dynamics and possible operation modes of the laser cavity. Further, it provides a simple and efficient method for optimizing the laser