Fiber-lasers for ultrafast optics

The current status of a fiber-based ultrafast technology is reviewed. Pulse generation techniques capable of producing femtosecond pulses are discussed. Here we describe passive and active-passive mode locking techniques as well as linear and nonlinear fiber amplifiers. Thirty-femtosecond pulses may be generated directly from fiber oscillators or by implementing pulse compression techniques. The use of cladding-pumping and all-fiber chirped-pulse amplification allows the generation of W-level average powers from conceptually simple fiber laser systems. Nonlinear frequency conversion in highly nonlinear crystals allows a significant extension of the accessible wavelength range. Electronically phase-locked fiber lasers with unprecedented timing accuracy may be constructed by exploitation of the low-noise properties of fiber lasers. In turn, the high timing accuracy possible with fiber lasers enables the demonstration of electronic scanning delay lines for all-electronic pump-probe experiments.