Performance of a wavelength-tunable erbium-doped fiber laser using a Sagnac interferometer

We experimentally demonstrate a wavelength-tunable erbium-doped fiber laser that is composed of a ring cavity and a single-mode fiber Sagnac interferometer in a new and simple arrangement. We find that the fiber laser output wavelength is tunable by adjusting the filter effect of the Sagnac fiber loop through a fiber polarization controller set there. The quasi-single-wavelength continuously tunable laser outputs could be achieved within some wavelength range. The multi-wavelength laser outputs could also be observed under some appropriate settings of the polarization controller. A theoretical demonstration of the wavelength tunability about the transmission-type Sagnac loop filter has also been achieved using the Jones calculus theory.     

Switchable multi-wavelength fiber ring laser based on a compact in-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer with photonic crystal fiber

Switchable multi-wavelength fiber ring laser with an in-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer incorporated into the ring cavity serving as wavelength-selective filter at room temperature is demonstrated. The filter is formed by splicing a section of few-mode photonic crystal fiber (PCF) and two segments of single mode fiber (SMF) with the air-holes on the both sides of PCF intentionally collapsed in the vicinity of the splices. By adjusting the states of the polarization controller (PC) appropriately, the laser can be switched among the stable single-, dual- and triple-wavelength lasing operations by exploiting polarization hole burning (PHB) effect.     

Switchable multi-wavelength fiber ring laser using a side-leakage photonic crystal fiber based filter

A switchable multi-wavelength fiber ring laser is proposed and experimentally demonstrated with a novel side-leakage photonic crystal fiber (SLPCF) based filter incorporated into the ring cavity at room temperature. Stable multi-wavelength laser operations can be achieved due to the spatial mode beating, polarization hole burning and spectral hole burning effects. By adjusting the polarization controller appropriately, the laser can be switched among the single-, dual- and triple-wavelength lasing oscillations whose signal-to-noise ratio is up to 50 dB. In addition, the lasing wavelength can be also tuned and switched by applying the strain to the filter.     

Multiwavelength fiber laser with ultradense wavelength spacing based on inhomogeneous loss with assistance of nonlinear polarization rotation

We demonstrate a multiwavelength fiber laser with ultradense wavelength spacing and ultrabroad bandwidth based on inhomogeneous loss mechanism with assistance of nonlinear polarization rotation. The inhomogeneous loss, implemented by incorporating a section of highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) and a Sagnac filter in the laser cavity, can balance mode competition in erbium-doped fiber and result in ultradense multiwavelength generation. The bandwidth of the multiwavelength spectrum is greatly broadened owing to the intensity-dependent loss induced by nonlinear polarization rotation. Stable multiwavelength lasing with wavelength spacing of 0.08 nm and wavelength number up to 254 is achieved at room temperature. Moreover, multiwavelength tuning is realized through modifying polarization-dependent cavity loss.     

Analysis of the Polarization Influence on the Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser Transient Behavior

Abstract

We studied the erbium-doped fiber laser transient behavior dependence on the pump polarization state or on the cavity polarization eigenvalues. Several series of measurements are shown in which the changes in the transient laser response can be appreciated as the pump polarization state, or the cavity polarization eigenvalues are modified by means of polarization controllers. Results are fitted to a model considering polarization hole burning. It is shown that including this effect is fundamental for a correct erbium-doped fiber laser transient model. On the other hand, the validity of the model's fitting parameters under pump or cavity polarization changes is analyzed.     

Switchable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser based on cascaded polarization maintaining fiber Bragg gratings in a Sagnac loop interferometer

A switchable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber (EDF) ring laser based on cascaded polarization maintaining fiber Bragg gratings (PMFBGs) in a Sagnac loop interferometer as the wavelength-selective filter at room temperature is proposed. Due to the polarization hole burning (PHB) enhanced by the PMFBGs, stable single-, dual-, three- and four-wavelength lasing operations can be obtained. The laser can be switched among the stable single-, dual-, three- and four-wavelength lasing operations by adjusting the polarization controllers (PCs). The optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) is over 50 dB.     

Wavelength switchable all-fiber comb filter using a dual-pass Mach-Zehnder interferometer and its application in multiwavelength laser

A novel wavelength switchable all-fiber comb filter based on a dual-pass Mach-Zehnder (M-Z) interferometer is proposed and demonstrated. The proposed filter consists of a rotatable polarizer and a standard dual-pass M-Z interferometer composed of two 3-dB fiber couplers with a polarization controller (PC) in one arm. When the PC is properly set, the wavelength switchable operation is achieved by adjusting the polarization state of the input light. Theoretical calculation is verified by the experimental results. As applications, the proposed comb filter is incorporated into a fiber ring laser to generate wavelength switchable multiwavelength lasing.     

光纤光栅梳状滤波器及其在新型可选波长激光器中的应用

对现有在同～段光纤上多次写入光栅制成光栅梳状滤波器的方法进行了改进,利用增加光栅长度,精确控制不同光栅的曝光时间,并结合调整光栅实际写入长度的方法,制成了不均衡度小于5％、最低峰值反射率高于95％的光纤光栅梳状滤波器;同时提出了一种新颖的可选波长光纤激光器结构。采用由上述方法制作出的反射率均衡的光纤光栅梳状滤波器和可调光滤波器结合在一起进行波长选择,实现了波长的快速准确选择,同时各个波长激光的输出特性稳定,功率均衡性好,边模抑制比大于50dB。     

基于高双折射光纤布拉格光栅的自动增益控制掺铒光纤放大器

掺铒光纤非均匀展宽引起的空间烧孔现象导致单波长激光并不能完全控制放大器增益,提出了一种新颖的自动增益控制掺铒光纤放大器的结构:即采用高双折射光纤布拉格光栅产生抽运光,其写制光栅的波峰对应的波长分别为1549.3 nm和1549.83 nm,波长间隔为0.53 nm。通过调整偏振控制器,就实现了单激光或双激光的增益控制。这种设计增益控制范围为40 nm(1530~1570 nm),当输入功率在-40~-15 dBm的动态范围内,双激光增益控制的掺铒光纤放大器的平均增益和噪声系数分别约为22.22 dB和8.69 dB,而它们的漂移分别被钳制在0.69 dB和1.51 dB。系统性能测试表明:双激光控制掺饵光纤放大器在稳定性方面比单激光有着明显的优势。     

Switchable multi-wavelength fiber laser based on modal interference

A comb fiber filter based on modal interference is proposed and demonstrated in this paper. Here two cascaded uptapers are used to excite the cladding mode, and a core-offset jointing point is used to act as an interference component.Experimental results show that this kind of structure possesses a comb filter property in a range of the C-band. The measured extinction ratio is better than 12 dB with an insertion loss of about 11 dB. A switchable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser based on this novel comb filter is demonstrated. By adjusting the polarization controller, the output laser can be switched among single-, dual-, and three-wavelengths with a side mode suppression ratio of better than 45 dB.     

Waveband switchable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser based on wavelength-dependent polarization rotation mechanism

A waveband switchable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser based on wavelength-dependent polarization rotation mechanism and birefringence-based in-line comb filter is proposed and demonstrated. The two lasing wavebands, around 1530 and 1560 nm region, can be efficiently switched by simply rotating the polarization controllers (PCs). The channel spacing is 0.4 nm which was determined by the length of polarization maintain fiber (PMF) used in the experiment. The experimental results show that the waveband switchable is an intrinsic feature of multi-wavelength fiber ring lasers by incorporating a passive polarizer in the laser cavity.     

带有对称啁啾光纤光栅的Sagnac环滤波器

通过在光纤Sagnac环中引入对称啁啾光纤光栅,对带有光纤光栅的Sagnac环梳状滤波器进行了改进,克服了原有滤波器工作带宽小、通带间隔不等的缺点.通过对光栅参量进行适当设计,在中等折射率调制度下,可使光栅同时具有高反射率和大反射带宽,结合Sagnac环可得到大带宽、等间隔梳状滤波器.     

Switchable and tunable dual-wavelength ultrashort pulse generation in a passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber ring laser

A simple switchable and tunable dual-wavelength passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber ring laser based on nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) effect is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The NPR effect effectively induces wavelength- and intensity-dependent loss to readily implement stable dual-wavelength passively mode-locked operation. The wavelength switching and tuning of the dual-wavelength ultrashort pulse laser are achieved only by appropriately rotating the polarization controllers. The side-mode suppression ratio of the output pulse is larger than 41 dB over a wavelength-tuning range of 43.4 nm. Moreover, triple-wavelength ultrashort pulse can also be observed.     

基于非线性放大环镜和Lyot滤波器的多波长与耗散孤子锁模态开关型掺铥光纤激光器

报道了一种基于非线性放大环镜和Lyot滤波器技术的态开关型掺铥光纤激光器.通过仔细调节偏振控制器和泵浦功率,掺铥光纤激光器可以分别在多波长态和耗散孤子锁模态运行,并且两种态之间可以相互切换.对于多波长态,在光谱半功率值范围内能生成8个稳定的波长;对于耗散孤子锁模态,在1996 nm的中心波长处产生脉冲能量高达41.49 nJ,脉冲持续时间为2.4 ns,光谱带宽为29 nm的耗散孤子.不同运行态间的切换归因于偏振控制器导致的非线性放大环镜的功能的改变.     

基于非线性偏振旋转效应的多波长光纤激光器

多波长光纤激光器是未来波分复用光通信系统的理想光源,提出和展示了一个基于非线性偏振旋转效应的多波长光纤激光器,非线性偏振旋转诱导的强度相关非均匀损耗能有效地抑制均匀加宽增益介质掺铒光纤中的模式竞争,从而使光纤激光器在室温下产生稳定的多波长输出,实验实现了最多18个波长的多波长输出.另外,此激光器没有使用传统的滤波器,而是在激光腔内插入一段保偏光纤,保偏光纤与偏振相关隔离器构成一等效Lyot双折射光纤周期性滤波器.利用这种在线型的双折射光纤滤波器简化了光纤激光器的结构,使它更易于集成.还实验研究了多波长输出随抽运功率的演化,发现抽运功率对多波长的均匀性影响很大.     

Experimental investigation of self-starting operation in a F8L based on a symmetrical NOLM

We experimentally analyze the self-starting operation of a figure-eight mode-locked fiber laser. The design is based on a power-balanced nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) with highly twisted low-birefringence fiber and a quarter-wave (QW) retarder in the loop. The NOLM operates by nonlinear polarization rotation. Self-starting mode-locking requires a careful adjustment of the NOLM low-power transmission, which is easily realized with our setup by adjusting the angle of the QW retarder. The laser is capable of generating ∼20 ps pulses at the fundamental repetition frequency of 0.78 MHz.     

Superimposed Fiber Gratings Based Wavelength Selectable Fiber Laser

A novel wavelength selectable fiber ring laser was proposed. Superimposed fiber Bragg gratings with uniform reflectivity were made to serve as comb-like filter. Optical tunable filter combined with the comb filter realized fast and accurately wavelength selectivity. The SMSR at each wavelength is more than 50dB.     

Switchable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber-ring laser based on one polarization maintaining fiber Bragg grating in a Sagnac loop interferometer

A switchable erbium-doped fiber-ring laser providing dual-wavelength outputs with orthogonal polarizations when operating at room temperature is proposed. One polarization-maintaining fiber Bragg grating (PMFBG) in a Sagnac loop interferometer is used as the wavelength-selective filter. Due to the enhancement of the polarization hole burning (PHB) by the PMFBG, the laser can be designed to operate in stable dual-wavelength or wavelength-switching modes with a wavelength spacing of 0.336 nm at room temperature by adjusting a polarization controller (PC). The optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) is over 42 dB. The amplitude variation over 90 min is less than 0.6 dB for both wavelengths.     

Switchable triple-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser using a single fiber Bragg grating in polarization-maintaining fiber

A stable and narrow wavelength spacing multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber laser is proposed and demonstrated. The laser can produce simultaneous dual- and triple-wavelength lasing oscillations with a narrow wavelength spacing of less than 0.1 nm via using a single fiber Bragg gratings written in polarization-maintaining (PM) fiber. By adjusting polarization controller, the wavelength spacing of dual-wavelength lasing oscillations can be tuned to as small as 0.032 nm. The maximum amplitude variation for every lasing wavelength is less than 0.5 dB. The room-temperature operation principle is based on the polarization hole burning and deeply saturated effect in an ordinary erbium-doped fiber ring laser (EDFRL). The laser has the advantages of simple all-fiber configuration, low cost, high stability and operating at room temperature.     

Anti-Stokes Frequency Shift and Evolution in Polarization-Maintaining Photonic Crystal Fiber with Two-Zero Dispersion Wavelengths

Using the tunable pump pulses with about lOO fs pulse duration and 1064 nm central wavelength; the polarization-, wavelength- and power-dependent anti-Stokes lines are generated and modulated simultaneously in a polarization-maintaining photonie crystal fiber （PM-PCF） with two zero-dispersion wavelengths. By accurately controlling the polarization directions, the wavelength and the power of the pump pulse in the fiber anomalous region close to the second zero-dispersion wavelength of the PM-PCF, the output anti-Stokes pulse spectra can be tuned between 563 nm and 603 nm, which is in good agreement with the theoretical simulation. The color conversion of the mode image from yellow to orange is also observed with the different polarization pump pulses. These results can be attributed to the combined interaction between the fiber birefringence （including linear- and nonlinear- birefringence） and dispersion, and are attributed to phase-matching parametric four-wave mixing.