Cavity topologies of mode-locked fibre lasers: possibilities and prospects

We report, for the first time, the results of a comparative analysis of cavity topologies in mode-locked fibre lasers. It is shown that the use of various topologies and advantages of fibre technologies allows one to realise the specified combinations of dispersion, nonlinear, polarisation and other properties of fibre laser cavities, difficult to implement or not implementable using the methods of traditional discrete laser optics. The results of the work make it possible to consider the topological engineering of mode-locked fibre lasers as a new, rapidly growing field of research and development. (paper)