Stable generation of ultrashort tunable pulses using a soliton fiber laser

We obtained stable generation optical pulses with durations of 270 to 325 fs using a soliton fiber laser. The lasing wavelength is tuned continuously over a wavelength range of 60 nm from 1.532 to 1.594 /spl mu/m by rotating a bulk band-pass filter inserted in the resonator with a repetition rate of 45.4 MHz. Since the noise density of the laser is predominated at lower frequencies, the cavity phase locking technique should be possible.