A Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser using an ultrafast silicon-based variable optical attenuator

We experimentally demonstrate the use of an ultrafast Si-based variable optical attenuator (VOA) as a Q-switch for rare earth-doped fiber (EDF) lasers. It is shown that Q-switched pulses with a temporal width of less than 86 ns could be readily obtained using the variable VOA with a repetition rate of up to 1 MHz.