Dispersion-managed breathing-mode semiconductor mode-locked ring laser: experimental characterization and numerical simulations

A dispersion-managed breathing-mode mode-locked semiconductor ring laser is studied. The working regime and pulse evolution at the key cavity points are experimentally characterized and numerically simulated. Linearly chirped, asymmetric exponential pulses are generated and externally compressed to 274 fs, which is within 10% of the bandwidth limit. The close agreement between the simulated and the measured results verifies our ability to control the physical mechanisms involved in pulse formation and shaping within the ring cavity.