Multiple continuous-wave and pulsed modes of a figure-of-eight fibre laser

We study experimentally a figure-of-eight fibre laser including a polarization-imbalanced nonlinear optical loop mirror and a Mach–Zehnder optical filter formed by two fibre tapers placed in series. Depending on the adjustments of two wave retarders included in the setup, different modes of operation of the laser are found. In continuous-wave mode, tunable single-wavelength operation as well as multiwavelength lasing are observed. For some adjustments, self-pulsing also takes place, although the pulses are very unstable. Finally, for some adjustments a mechanical stimulation (a kick) leads to the onset of passive mode locking. Measurements reveal that the mode-locked pulses actually are noise-like pulses. Both stable fundamental mode locking and second-harmonic mode locking with particular dynamics were obtained. In this work, we analyse how simple wave plate adjustments can lead to such a variety of operational modes of the fibre laser.