PM thulium-doped fiber laser harmonically mode-locked by polymer-free single-walled carbon nanotubes

The increased pulse repetition rate of ultrafast thulium-doped fiber lasers (UTFLs) at a 1.9 μm wavelength can be useful in many applications, including polymer micromachining, intra-volume processing of infrared materials, and surgery. The harmonic mode-locking method allows for a discrete increase in the pulse repetition rate, mainly by increasing the laser power. At the same time, polarization drift over time is an undesirable effect in many applications. However, to date, polarization-maintaining (PM) UTFLs with harmonic mode-locking have not been sufficiently studied. In this paper, to the best of our knowledge, the experimental and numerical study of the PM UTFL operation with harmonic mode-locking up to the 6^th order (504 MHz) using polymer-free single-walled carbon nanotubes is carried out for the first time. The generated pulses have a duration of about 400 fs, an average power of 493 mW at a pulse repetition rate of 504 MHz, an energy of 1 nJ, a central wavelength of 1912 nm, and a spectrum width of 7 nm.