Methods, apparatus, and systems for active saturable absorbance of an optical beam. An active saturable absorber may comprise an optical input to receive an optical beam, and one or more lengths of fiber between the optical input and an optical output. At least one of the lengths of fiber comprises a confinement region that is optically coupled to the output. The active saturable absorber may further comprise an optical detector to sense a characteristic of the optical beam, such as power. The active saturable absorber may further comprise a perturbation device to modulate, through action upon the one or more lengths of fiber, a transmittance of the beam through a fiber confinement region from a lower transmittance level to a higher transmittance level based on an indication of the characteristic sensed while the transmittance level is low.