Rogue waves in a normal-dispersion fiber laser

Experimental evidence of rogue-wave formation in a normal-dispersion ytterbium fiber laser is reported. Spectral filtering is a primary component of pulse-shaping in normal-dispersion lasers, and we find that the choice of filter dramatically influences the distribution of noise-pulse energies produced by these lasers. With an interference filter in the cavity, non-Gaussian distributions with pulses as large as 6 times the significant wave height are observed. These correspond to pulse energies as high as ∼50 nJ. To our knowledge, the results presented are not accounted for by existing theoretical models of rogue-wave formation.