Control over the performance characteristics of a passively mode-locked erbium-doped fibre ring laser

We report an all-fibre ultrashort pulse erbium-doped ring laser passively mode-locked by single-wall carbon nanotubes dispersed in carboxymethylcellulose-based polymer films. Owing to intracavity dispersion management and controlled absorption in the polymer films, the laser is capable of generating both femto- and picosecond pulses of various shapes in the spectral range 1.53 – 1.56 μm. We have demonstrated and investigated the generation of almost transform- limited, inversely modified solitons at a high normal cavity dispersion.