Polarization dynamics of mode-locked wavelength-swept fiber laser

Summary form only given. Recently we have demonstrated the generation of self-starting mode-locked pulses in a wavelength-swept fiber laser (WSFL). The mode-locking mechanism is an interplay between an intracavity scanning filter and the nonlinear Kerr effect in optical fibers. The wavelength of the output pulse is shifted from pulse to pulse over a wide wavelength range of over 30 nm around 1550 nm. Such unique characteristics are expected to be useful for many applications, such as sensor interrogations, device characterizations, and wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) systems.