Amplitude noise suppression in high-repetition-rate pulse traingeneration from a frequency-modulated Er-Yb laser

Abstract. A detailed experimental analysis of the amplitude noise in high-repetition-rate picosecond pulse trains generated by spectral filtering of a frequency-modulated Er- Yb:glass laser is reported. Two distinct sources of noise are identified, and stabilization techniques for noise suppression are proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Intensity noise suppression of 20 dB, corresponding to less than 2% residual amplitude fluctuations of the pulse train, has been achieved at repetition rates of 2.5 GHz and 5 GHz with pulse durations of 50 ps.