A pulse stretching fiber oscillator (or laser cavity) may comprise a chirped fiber Bragg grating (CFBG) and an optical circulator arranged such that a first portion of a beam that is transmitted through the CFBG continues to propagate through the laser cavity while a second portion of the beam that is reflected from the CFBG is stretched and chirped by the CFBG and directed out of the laser cavity by the optical circulator. Accordingly, a configuration of the CFBG and the optical circulator in the laser cavity may enable pulse stretching contemporaneous with outcoupling, which may prevent deleterious nonlinear phase from accumulating prior to stretching.