RF phase noise filtering properties of an actively mode-locked laser

In this article, we are presenting the experimental results and theoretical analysis of radio frequency (RF) phase noise filtering properties of a high Q cavity actively driven mode-locked laser. The experimental results show that, the phase noise of a 10 GHz RF tone can be filtered by at least 10 dB at 200 kHz offset frequency. A theoretical analysis on the limits of phase noise filtering due to the spontaneous emission and the frequency mismatch between the laser cavity modes and the synthesizer frequency is also included.