Suppression of FM-to-AM modulation by polarizing fiber front end for high-power lasers.

FM-to-AM modulation is an important effect in the front end of high-power lasers that influences the temporal profile. Various methods have been implemented in standard-fiber and polarization-maintaining (PM)-fiber front ends to suppress the FM-to-AM modulation. To analyze the modulation in the front end, a theoretical model is established and detailed simulations carried out that show that the polarizing (PZ) fiber, whose fast axis has a large loss, can successfully suppress the modulation. Moreover, the stability of the FM-to-AM modulation can be improved, which is important for the front end to obtain a stable output. To verify the model, a PZ fiber front end is constructed experimentally. The FM-to-AM modulation, without any compensation, is less than 4%, whereas that of the PM fiber front end with the same structure is nearly 20%. The stability of the FM-to-AM modulation depth is analyzed experimentally and the peak-to-peak and standard deviation (SD) are 2% and 0.38%, respectively, over 3 h. The experimental results agree with the simulation results and both prove that the PZ fiber front end can successfully suppress the FM-to-AM conversion. The PZ fiber front end is a promising alternative for improving the performance of the front end in high-power laser facilities. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America