Ultrafast polarization‐maintaining fiber lasers (UPMFLs), with superior optical performance and high immunity to environmental disturbances, are highly preferable in a variety of industrial and scientific applications such as high‐precision micromachining and biomedical imaging. Especially, the utilization of PM fibers endows the laser intrinsic stability, thereby enabling the construction of robust and low‐noise optical frequency comb systems. To meet more demanding application challenges, continuous efforts have been invested in the design and fabrication of UPMFLs, aiming to reach unprecedented levels of various pulse parameters, that is, to achieve shorter pulse duration, higher or lower repetition rate, and higher pulse energy. This review presents a detailed overview of different passive mode‐locking techniques for pulsed operation and the most significant achievements in UPMFLs. Representative advances at 1.0, 1.55, and 2.0 µm spectral regions are presented and summarized. The state‐of‐the‐art lasing performance is application‐oriented, and conversely, optical improvements in all‐PM pulsed lasers promote emerging applications, which are also discussed and analyzed. How to overcome the bottlenecks of UPMFLs in terms of pulse duration, repetition rate, emission wavelength, and pulse energy to make them powerful tools for physical, medical, and biological applications remains challenging in the future.

中文翻译：

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超快保偏光纤激光器：设计、制造、性能和应用


超快保偏光纤激光器 （UPMFL） 具有卓越的光学性能和对环境干扰的高抗扰度，在各种工业和科学应用中非常受欢迎，例如高精度微加工和生物医学成像。特别是，PM 光纤的利用赋予了激光器的固有稳定性，从而能够构建坚固且低噪声的光频梳系统。为了应对更苛刻的应用挑战，人们不断努力设计和制造 UPMFL，旨在达到前所未有的各种脉冲参数水平，即实现更短的脉冲持续时间、更高或更低的重复频率以及更高的脉冲能量。本文详细概述了用于脉冲操作的不同无源锁模技术以及 UPMFL 中最重要的成就。介绍并总结了 1.0、1.55 和 2.0 μm 光谱区域的代表性进展。最先进的激光性能是面向应用的，相反，全 PM 脉冲激光器的光学改进促进了新兴应用，这些应用也得到了讨论和分析。如何克服 UPMFL 在脉冲持续时间、重复频率、发射波长和脉冲能量方面的瓶颈，使其成为物理、医学和生物应用的强大工具，在未来仍然是一个挑战。