Low noise all-fiber amplification of a coherent supercontinuum at 2 µm and its limits imposed by polarization noise

Abstract

We report a low noise, broadband, ultrafast Thulium/Holmium co‐doped all‐fiber chirped pulse amplifier, seeded by an Erbium‐fiber system spectrally broadened via coherent supercontinuum generation in an all‐normal dispersion photonic crystal fiber. The amplifier supports a − 20 dB bandwidth of more than 300 nm and delivers high quality 66 fs pulses with more than 70 kW peak power directly from the output fiber. The total relative intensity noise (RIN) integrated from 10 Hz to 20 MHz is 0.07%, which to our knowledge is the lowest reported RIN for wideband ultrafast amplifiers operating at 2 μm to date. This is achieved by eliminating noise‐sensitive anomalous dispersion nonlinear dynamics from the spectral broadening stage. In addition, we identify the origin of the remaining excess RIN as polarization modulational instability (PMI), and propose a route towards complete elimination of this excess noise. Hence, our work paves the way for a next generation of ultra‐low noise frequency combs and ultrashort pulse sources in the 2 μm spectral region that rival or even outperform the excellent noise characteristics of Erbium‐fiber technology.