A High-Repetition-Rate Optical Communications Source

High-speed communications, medical applications, and semiconductor processing would all benefit from a laser that can produce stable, high-repetition-rate pulses at 1.55 micrometers. One goal of the Naval Research Laboratory's program in ultrahigh-speed communications research is to develop such an optical source, and an all-fiber laser has been developed that produces pulses from 0.74 to 2 picoseconds in duration at gigahertz repetition rates.