Self-similar low-noise femtosecond ytterbium-doped double-clad fiber laser.

We report the generation of self-similar highly stable femtosecond pulses from an ytterbium-doped double-clad fiber laser. Positively chirped parabolic pulses with 6.4-ps duration and more than 3.2-nJ energy are obtained. These pulses are extra-cavity compressed to 140 fs. Radio-frequency noise measurements show that this regime of emission ensures low-noise operation with less than 0.05% amplitude fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]