Generation of sub-100 fs pulses from a SESAM-NPE hybrid mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser at a fundamental repetition rate of 1.15 GHz.

Supercontinuum generation via direct pumping of unamplified high-repetition-rate, sub-100 fs pulses with a pulse energy lower than 50 pJ is superior in noise performance and features a high acquisition speed. We demonstrate a novel, to the best of our knowledge, gigahertz-repetition-rate, mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser, where the hybrid mode-locking approach is employed. The laser has a low initiating threshold of 300 mW and a broad mode-locking range of 600 mW (300-900 mW) in terms of pump power. The shortest obtained pulse width of the laser after compression is 95 fs, and the highest output pulse energy is 92.9 pJ at a fundamental repetition rate of 1.15 GHz. Moreover, the laser's output polarization states are switchable, and it has a polarization extinction ratio of 17.9 dB.