Design and experimental demonstration of a Fourier-domain mode-locked laser based on erbium-doped fiber amplifier

We describe a systematic approach to design, optimize, and characterize a Fourier-domain mode-locked (FDML) laser with an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) as the optical gain medium. A highly stable temporal intensity profile is obtained by minimizing chromatic dispersion and polarization fluctuations. The obtained bandwidth of 21 nm, tuning speed of 50 kHz, and output power of 5 mW are the highest reported so far with an EDFA-based FDML laser.