Ultrafast Erbium-doped Fiber Laser Mode-locked by a Carbon Nanotube Saturable Absorber

Abstract: We demonstrate an ultrafast stretched-pulse fiber laser mode-locked by a carbon nanotube based saturable absorber. 123 fs pulses at 1.56 µm are generated with an output spectral width of 32 nm. © 2009 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (160.4330) Nonlinear optical materials; (060.2320) Fiber optics amplifiers and oscillators; (320.7090) Ultrafast lasers 1.