Abstract
Timing jitter is an important attribute of mode locked lasers. Active stabilization or synchronization schemes are often mandatory to reduce laser timing jitter for applications such as electro-optical sampling that requires low timing jitter and synchronization of the laser with other lasers or external signals. The effect of laser bandwidth on timing jitter in a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser with saturable Bragg reflector (SBR) is investigated. A timing stabilization method that employs an optoelectronic harmonic mixer (OEHM) in a phase-locked loop is demonstrated. The timing jitter reduction with SBR is achieved by intra-cavity bandwidth control and by the use of optoelectronic phase-locked loop for cavity length control.