A tunable and switchable single-longitudinal-mode dual-wavelength fiber laser incorporating a reconfigurable dual-pass Mach-Zehnder interferometer and its application in microwave generation

A tunable and switchable single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) dual-wavelength fiber laser incorporating a reconfigurable dual-pass Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) filter was proposed and demonstrated, which can be applied in microwave generation. By incorporating a high extinction ratio (ER) dual-pass MZI into an erbium-doped fiber ring cavity, SLM dual-wavelength lasing can be achieved even using a MZI with relatively little free spectrum range (FSR), and by beating the two wavelengths at a photodetector, a 9.76 GHz microwave signal with a 3-dB bandwidth of less than 10 kHz is obtained. Moreover, by direct linking the two outputs of the MZI, the high ER dual-pass MZI is easily reconfigured as a half FSR dual-pass MZI. Using this structure, switchable SLM dual-wavelength lasing can be conveniently realized.     

Tunable dual-wavelength fiber laser based on an opto-VLSI processor and four-wave mixing in a photonic crystal fiber

A stable wavelength and wavelength spacing tunable dual-wavelength fiber laser based on an Opto-very-large-scale-integration (Opto-VLSI) processor and four-wave mixing (FWM) in a high-nonlinear photonic crystal fiber is experimentally demonstrated. The results show that the line width of the tunable dual-wavelength fiber laser is 0.02 nm, and the wavelength spacing can be tuned from 0.8 nm to 4 nm with a 0.15 nm step. Under the influence of the FWM, the uniformity is below 0.6 dB and the measured side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) is above 45 dB.     

Photonic generation of microwave signals using dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode fiber lasers

Photonic generation of microwave signals is demonstrated with a dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode erbium-doped fiber ring laser. Microwave signal with a frequency of 21.07 GHz is obtained by aligning the reflection band of a uniform fiber Bragg grating to the two transmission peaks within a fiber Bragg grating-based Fabry-Perot filter. Stable dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode operation is guaranteed by means of the combined filtering effect of a saturable absorber and the Fabry-Perot filter. This approach provides an effective solution to the photonic generation of high-frequency microwave signals.     

Stable dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode ring erbium-doped fiber laser for optical generation of microwave frequency

We demonstrate a simple dual-wavelength ring erbium-doped fiber laser operating in single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) at room temperature. A pair of reflection type short-period fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs), which have two different center wavelengths of 1545.072 and 1545.284 nm, are used as the wavelength-selective component of the laser. A segment of unpumped polarization maintaining erbium-doped fiber (PM-EDF) is acted as a narrow multiband filter. By turning the polarization controller (PC) to enhance the polarization hole burning (PHB), the single-wavelength and dual-wavelength laser oscillations are observed at 1545.072 and 1545.284 nm. The output power variation is less than 0.6 dB for both wavelengths over a five-minute period and the optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) is greater than 50 dB. By beating the dual-wavelengths at a photodetector (PD), a microwave signal at 26.44 GHz is demonstrated.     

Photonic generation of microwave signals using a dual-transmission-band FBG filter with controllable wavelength spacing

Two π-phase shifts are introduced in a uniform fiber Bragg grating (FBG) structure and a dual-transmission-band opens in the stopband of FBG. When incorporating this kind of FBG filter in a fiber ring cavity with a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) acted as gain medium, a stable dual-wavelength lasing with wavelength spacing of 0.032, 0.052 and 0.068 nm is achieved, respectively. Therefore, the laser output is heterodyned on a photodetector and desired microwave frequencies of 3.15, 6.16 and 8.08 GHz are generated. PACS 41.20.-q; 42.55.Wd; 42.81.-i     

Switchable single-longitudinal-mode dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser incorporating a semiconductor optical amplifier

We propose and demonstrate a novel single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser incorporating a semiconductor optical amplifier. The SOA biased in its low-gain regime greatly reduces the gain competition of the two wavelengths. The stable SLM operation is guaranteed by a passive triple-ring cavity and a fiber Fabry-Perot filter. The dual-wavelength output with a 40 GHz wavelength spacing is switchable in the range of 1533-1565.4 nm.     

Tunable microwave photonic notch filter using a dual-wavelength fiber laser with phase modulation

A novel tunable microwave photonic notch filter using a phase-modulated dual-wavelength fiber laser is presented. A stable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser with a linear cavity is formed by a polarization-maintaining uniform fiber Bragg grating (PM-FBG) and a polarization maintaining linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating (PM-LCFBG), both of which were fabricated on a high-birefringence (Hi-Bi) fiber. It is found that a stable room-temperature dual-wavelength operation can be achieved due to the presence of two reflection peaks arising from the orthogonal states of polarization (SOP) of the PM-FBG. Experimental results show stable dual-wavelength lasing operation with a wavelength separation of ∼0.36 nm and a large optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) of over 40 dB under room temperature. The dual-wavelength fiber laser is combined with a phase modulator and a segment of single-mode fiber (SMF) as a dispersive device to form a tunable microwave photonic notch filter. By stretching the PM-FBG to tune the wavelength separation of the dual-wavelength fiber laser, a tunable microwave photonic notch filter with various free spectral ranges (FSRs) and a rejection ratio greater than 35 dB was developed.     

High frequency microwave signal generation using dual-wavelength emission of cascaded DFB fiber lasers with wavelength spacing tunability

A dual-wavelength fiber laser source based on two cascaded phase-shifted fiber Bragg gratings is presented. The gratings are written in an erbium-doped fiber, each configuring the cavity of a distributed feedback fiber laser. The spacing between lasing modes is controlled dynamically by the use of piezoelectric actuators. A continuous tuning range of 5-724 pm of the wavelength difference, which is equivalent to a photodetected 0.72-92 GHz range, is obtained. Efficient generation from the L to the W microwave and millimeter bands has been achieved by heterodyne photodetection of the dual-wavelength optical signal.     

利用倾斜光纤光栅的可开关双波长光纤激光器

报导了一种在四波混频作用下利用倾斜光纤布拉格光栅进行波长选择的可开关双波长掺铒光纤激光器。通过将倾斜光纤光栅与单模光纤进行横向错位焊接,使光栅的反向LP01和LP11两个模式具有相近的有效反射率,从而可以用来进行激光器的双波长选择。接入腔内的一段高非线性光子晶体光纤引入的四波混频效应克服了模式竞争,使得双波长激光在室温下稳定振荡。腔内起偏器和偏振控制器的联合作用可产生依赖于波长的损耗,以补偿光纤光栅两反射峰峰值的大小差异。基于以上原理,通过调节腔内的偏振态,该激光器实现了室温下稳定的双波长输出,也实现了在两波长之间的转换。两波长激光均有超过45 dB的信噪比,最大的功率波动为0.8 dB     

Multi-wavelength bismuth-based erbium-doped fiber laser based on four-wave mixing effect in photonic crystal fiber

A stable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser based on four-wave mixing (FWM) in a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is demonstrated in this paper. The phase matching condition for four-wave mixing in the photonic crystal fiber has been enhanced using a seed signal and a polarisation controller to control the states of polarisation in the ring laser cavity. At a maximum pump power of 1480 nm, 5 lines are observed with nearly 2.15 nm spacing between the lines, and with a signal to noise ratio of more than 20 dB. The number of channels and wavelength spacing can be controlled by varying the output coupler ratio.     

Photonic generation of microwave signal using a dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode distributed Bragg reflector fiber laser

In this paper, a novel all-optical microwave generation technique based on a dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) fiber laser is proposed and demonstrated. By exploiting spatial hole burning (SHB) effect, this laser could provide stable dual-wavelength SLM operation with a wavelength separation of 0.088 nm corresponding to the microwave signal at 10.484 GHz with a 3 dB bandwidth of 28 kHz. By appropriately adjusting the pump power, dual-wavelength oscillation could be maintained at different temperatures. We have theoretically analyzed the mechanism for microwave generation of the proposed DBR laser, and the calculated microwave frequency is in good agreement with our experimental results. Furthermore, experimental observation shows both of the laser wavelengths and generated microwave signals have good stability at room temperature.     

Multi-wavelength fiber laser based on nonlinear polarization rotation in semiconductor optical amplifier and photonic crystal fiber

A nonlinear polarisation rotation (NPR) based multi-wavelength laser source is demonstrated using a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The SOA acts as not only the gain medium but also the phase retarder for multi-wavelength oscillation in conjunction with an isolator. The incorporation of PCF improves the NPR effect and thus assists in the multiwavelength generation. The wavelength spacing reduces from 4.82 to 2.76 nm as the PCF length increases from 50 to 100 m. With a 100 m long PCF, the proposed laser produces at least 42 lasing wavelengths with optical signal to noise ratio of more than 10 dB.     

基于两滤波器级联和饱和吸收体的单纵模双波长光纤激光器

提出和证实了一种光纤环形激光器. 将一个带通滤波器与一个带阻滤波器级联,用一段保偏掺铒光纤作为饱和吸收体,得到了一种单纵模双波长光纤激光器. 结果表明,该激光器波长间隔为0.4 nm,边模抑制比大于49 dB.如果将两个波长进行差拍,该激光器有潜力得到49.85 GHz的微波信号.     

Photonic generation of tunable microwave signals by beating a dual-wavelength single longitudinal mode fiber ring laser

A novel method of generating tunable microwave signals in the photonic domain is proposed. Eighteen pairs of stable dual-wavelength single longitudinal mode lasings are achieved by incorporating a fiber Bragg grating based Fabry–Pérot filter and a tunable fiber grating into a fiber ring cavity. The frequency of the generated microwave signal obtained by beating the dual-wavelength laser with a photodetector can be tuned simply through configuring the working wavelength of the laser. A series of microwave frequencies of 9.4885, 9.572, 9.7111, 9.8498, 9.9598 and 10.0712 GHz are generated experimentally. The proposed method is useful in applications such as wireless access networks, sensor networks, radio-over-fiber systems and software-defined radio. PACS 41.20.-q; 42.55.Wd; 41.81.-i     

Microwave generation using an all polarization-maintaining linear cavity dual-wavelength fiber laser with tunable wavelength spacing

A stable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser with a linear cavity is formed by a polarization-maintaining uniform fiber Bragg grating (PM-FBG) and a polarization-maintaining linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating (PM-LCFBG), both of which were fabricated on a high-birefringence (Hi-Bi) fiber. Experimental results show stable dual-wavelength lasing operation with a wavelength separation of ∼0.22 nm, which can be tuned down to as small as 0.05 nm and a large optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) of over 40 dB under room-temperature. Microwave signal at frequency of 9.41, 18.03 and 27.46 GHz is achieved by heterodyned the output lasing wavelengths on a photodetector.     

A Proposal and Demonstration for Photonic Generation of a Microwave Signal by Incorporating a Microring Resonator

A proposal for photonic generation of a microwave signal is presented by employing a dual wavelength erbiumdoped fibre ring laser. In the laser, a microring resonator is cascaded with a tunable bandpass filter to serve as a dual-wavelength selector, an unpumped polarization maintaining erbium-doped fibre is used as a saturable absorber. By replacing the microring resonator with a delay interferometer to verify the proposal, a wavelengthtunable dual wavelength single longitudinal mode laser is demonstrated, and a microwave signal at 10.01 GHz with a linewidth of less than 25 kHz is obtained by beating the two wavelengths at a photodetector.     

Supercontinuum generation by nanosecond dual-pumping near the two zero-dispersion wavelengths of a photonic crystal fiber

Supercontinuum generation by dual-wavelength nanosecond pumping in the vicinity of both zero-dispersion wavelengths of a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is experimentally demonstrated. It is shown in particular that two pumps at 1535 nm and 767 nm simultaneously pumping near the two zero-dispersion wavelengths of a specially designed PCF yields a combined visible and infrared supercontinuum spectrum spanning from 0.55 μm to 1.9 μm. We discuss the generation mechanisms underlying the continuum formation in terms of modulation instability and cascaded Raman generation.     

基于偏振稳定双波长保偏光纤光栅激光器的可调谐微波/毫米波产生技术

首次提出了一种基于偏振稳定双波长保偏光纤光栅激光器的可调谐微波/毫米波产生技术, 利用保偏光纤光栅选频产生两个偏振稳定的激光信号, 采用扰偏器确保激光输出的两个正交偏振态功率的一致性, 最后输入高速光电探测器产生微波/毫米波. 通过对保偏光纤光栅施加不同大小的侧向应力, 可以灵活调谐输出的毫米波频率. 实验制作了基于偏振稳定双波长保偏光纤光栅激光器的可调 谐微波/毫米波产生装置, 通过对保偏光纤光栅施加不同的轴向拉力分别产生了20.407 和22.050 GHz的微波信号. 仿真产生了60 GHz的毫米波信号, 并分析该毫米波在光纤无线通信下行链路的传输性能, 结果表明该毫米波作为副载波调制到光波上从中心站传输80 km至基站后经天线发射至用户端, 解调后仍然得到很好的眼图, 充分证明了本方案的优越传输性能.     

Polarization insensitive wavelength multicasting of DPSK signal using four-wave mixing in a birefringent photonic crystal fiber

We demonstrate polarization-insensitive wavelength multicasting of differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) signal based on four-wave mixing (FWM) in a highly nonlinear, birefringent photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The 10-Gbit/s RZ-DPSK input signal is copied to 8 wavelength channels through FWM with three optical pumps. The pump wavelengths are unequally spaced to avoid undesirable crosstalk from pump-to-pump beatings. The dependence of conversion efficiency on input signal polarization is suppressed by exploiting the PCF birefringence together with control of the pump polarizations. All pump polarizations are aligned at 45 degrees to the principal axes of the PCF. Open eyes and error-free results are obtained in all the 8 multicast channels for polarization-scrambled RZ-DPSK input signal.     

Multi-wavelength ytterbium doped fiber laser based on longitudinal mode interference

Multi-wavelength Ytterbium-doped fiber laser (YDFL) is demonstrated using a longitudinal mode interference assisted by a four-wave mixing (FWM) effect in a ring laser cavity. The gain medium is a 16 m long of the fabricated (Ytterbium-doped fiber) YDF, which has a core composition of 0.8 wt % of Yb₂O₃, 1.8 wt % of Al₂O₃ and 23 wt % of GeO₂, Ytterbium ion fluorescence lifetime of 1.1 ms and absorption of 9.0 dB/m at the pump wavelength of 976 nm. 20 m long photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is used to provide FWM effect so that the energy of different oscillating lines can be redistributed to improve multi-wavelength operation. The proposed laser generates 12 lines of optical comb with a line spacing of approximately 0.59 nm at 1035 nm region.