Self-seeded multiwavelength Brillouin-erbium fiber laser

We propose and demonstrate a self-seeded multiwavelength Brillouin-erbium fiber laser with an internally self-excited Brillouin pump, which is achieved by incorporation of a length of single-mode fiber together with a Sagnac loop mirror into a fiber ring cavity. In this simple scheme the Brillouin pump is self-excited in the fiber ring cavity and then used to seed the Brillouin multiwavelength comb in the single-mode fiber. Stable generation of more than 120 Brillouin Stokes wavelengths with relatively uniform amplitudes is demonstrated with this scheme. It is also shown that such a self-seeded Brillouin laser has good stability and repeatability.     

Multiwavelength fiber ring lasing by use of a semiconductor optical amplifier

A multiwavelength fiber ring laser obtained by use of a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) with a simple laser cavity configuration is reported. A Fabry-Perot filter was used in the fiber laser ring cavity to achieve more than 50 simultaneous wavelength lasing oscillations with a frequency separation of 50 GHz. The resulting stable broadband multiwavelength lasing operation was attributed to broadband and flat gain of the SOA, which has a gain flatness of 0.8 dB for more than 20 nm. The laser has a total output power of -3 dBm and a signal-to-spontaneous-noise ratio of 30 dB.     

Tunable multiwavelength SOA-fiber ring laser based on Sagnac loop mirror incorporating few-mode high birefringence fiber

A tunable multiwavelength fiber ring laser based on a semiconductor optical amplifier and Sagnac loop mirror incorporating a piece of few-mode high birefringence fiber (FM-HBF) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. It is accomplished by simply adjusting a polarization controller in the Sagnac loop mirror because birefringence of the FM-HBF is polarization dependent. Tunable multiwavelength operation up to 11 oscillating lines at about 2.1 nm interval is stably achieved with an optical side-mode suppression ratio over 35 dB.     

Multiwavelength Raman fiber lasers with equalized peak power using a sampled chirped fiber Bragg grating

Two novel multiwavelength Raman fiber lasers using a ring cavity and a linear cavity are proposed and demonstrated experimentally. Both laser configurations include a sampled chirped fiber Bragg grating used in the reflection mode. By adjusting the polarization controller (PC) in the cavities, up to ten stable lasing wavelengths with 0.8 nm spacing and equalized peak power are achieved at room temperature. It is observed that the output spectrum depends upon which port of the grating is connected to the cavity. These two fiber ring lasers offer advantages such as, stable room temperature operation, simple structure, low loss, multiwavelength lasing lines with moderate output power. PACS 42.55.Wd; 42.55.Ye; 42.81.-i     

Tunable 12×10 GHz mode-locked semiconductor fiber laser incorporating a Mach-Zehnder interferometer filter

A stable multiwavelength mode-locked semiconductor fiber ring laser incorporating a fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) filter was proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) serves as an optically controlled mode-locking element due to gain exhaustion caused by external injected optical pulses. Another SOA severs as a constant-gain medium. A fiber MZI filter with a temperature control is incorporated into the fiber ring cavity to acquire a stable and tunable multiwavelength oscillation. Twelve wavelengths are synchronously mode-locked at 10 GHz, pulse width of mode-locked pulse are about 30 ps. Proposed multiwavelength mode-locked semiconductor fiber ring laser has some distinct advantages, such as simple and compact structure, easy integration, convenient tuning, good stability, potential high repetition rate operating, which has potential application in the future WDM communication system.     

Multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser using a LiNbO<Subscript>3</Subscript> multifunction chip for fiber gyroscope

We present a novel configuration of multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser (MW-EDFL) using a LiNbO₃ multifunction chip for fiber gyros at room temperature. The polarizer incorporating a piece of high-birefringence fiber in the input port of the Y-type chip forms the Lyot periodic filter at intervals of 0.5 nm wavelength. One of two modulators inserted in the ring cavity has been used as frequency shifter by applying a sawtoothed signal, while the output port of the other is used as the output port of the laser. Simultaneous multiwavelength lasing is experimentally demonstrated by applying a sawtoothed signal with the order of 10 kHz to the phase modulator to prevent single-wavelength oscillation. The MW-EDFL output is linearly polarization light that meets the requirement of external modulation for wavelength-division-multiplexing applications.     

利用冷却法得到多波长输出的光纤环形激光器

提出一种新型的掺铒光纤环形激光器,利用全光纤马赫－曾德尔干涉仪选频,并将掺铒光纤浸在液氮中冷却,得到了稳定的７个波长的激光输出,波长间隔为０．６５ｎｍ。     

间隔可调多波长光纤激光器的实验研究

半导体光放大器(SOA)的非均匀加宽特性对产生多波长激光非常有利。本文对两段式立奥-萨尼亚克(Lyot-Sagnac)滤波器进行了详细的理论分析,实现了一种基于半导体光放大器的新型多波长光纤激光器。它利用立奥-萨尼亚克滤波器的波长选择性,在室温下得到了约18个具有30 dB信噪比的多波长激光输出。波长范围1556~1577 nm。通过调节立奥-萨尼亚克环内的偏振控制器,多波长激光的波长间隔可在两种国际电信联盟(ITU)标准波长间隔(0.4 nm和0.8 nm)间选择。这种构型的光纤激光器具有稳定性好、波长间隔可控、信噪比高等优点。     

Wideband multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser with frequency shifted feedback

Wideband multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber ring lasers with frequency shifted feedback are described. The use of an intra-cavity gain flattening filter (GFF) was proposed in order to increase the lasing spectral bandwidth, leading to a demonstration of 34 lasing wavelengths in 28 nm bandwidth in C-band. The GFF induced spectral output power fluctuation is discussed. Multiwavelength operation was also demonstrated for the first time in L-band, where wideband laser operation was obtained without a GFF. Optical bistability and Kerr effect induced pulsation were determined to be limiting factors to stable operation range in this kind of multiwavelength lasers.     

Room temperature multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser using a highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber

A multiwavelength laser source is demonstrated with a high power erbium-doped fiber amplifier as the gain medium. A highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is inserted in the ring cavity to provide nonlinear gain by four-wave mixing. A Sagnac loop is incorporated in the ring cavity serving as a comb-like multichannel filter. The comparison between fiber ring laser without PCF and with PCF shows that the highly nonlinear PCF can generate a larger number of excited wavelengths and help stabilize the output power.     

Inhomogeneous loss mechanism in multiwavelength fiber Raman ring lasers

As one of the mechanisms for stable multiwavelength oscillation in a fiber Raman ring laser, an inhomogeneous loss induced by intraline four-wave mixing in a fiber Raman laser is physically explained and experimentally validated by comparison of laser peak gain and power gain as well as the gain spectra at several pump levels.     

Multiwavelength fiber laser using S-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier and semiconductor optical amplifier

A multiwavelength fiber ring laser that is based on an S-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is developed. An optical switch is used to switch the multiwavelength fiber laser between S-band and L-band. This fiber laser can stably lase seven wavelengths in the S-band or 28 wavelengths in the L-band. Additionally, the lasing wavelengths with a signal-to-noise ratio of over 33 dB and a wavelength spacing of 100 GHz are demonstrated experimentally. The average powers of the lasing wavelength in the S-band and the L-band are −7.53 and −12.15 dBm, respectively.     

Multiwavelength Erbium doped fiber ring lasers

We demonstrate a multiple wavelength laser, employing wavelength dependent cavity losses, with up to four lasing wavelengths on the ITU-grid in the C-band and report on its stability characteristics. The linewidth of each wavelength was estimated to be less than 4 pm and we observed antiphase oscillations around 3 kHz and relaxation oscillations around 25 kHz. The antiphase oscillations in the multiwavelength laser lie on a limit cycle in a relative phase diagram. We present an analytic lumped model to determine the output power and relaxation oscillation frequency of the multiple lasing wavelengths in the Erbium doped fiber. The model is validated against our implementation of a multiwavelength ring laser.     

Photonics True-Time-Delay Unit for Phased-Array Antenna Using Multiwavelength Fiber Laser Based on a Sagnac Interferemetric Filter

A photonics true-time-delay system for phased array beamforming using a chirped grating-based time-delay element and a novel multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser source employing a Sagnac filtering mirror is proposed. The Sagnac filtering mirror consists of a polarization maintaining directional coupler and two pieces of polarization maintaining fibers. The lasing wavelength and number are determined by properly adjusting the polarization controller within the unidirectional ring cavity and are very stable. A chirped-grating-based true-time-delay system using the proposed laser source is constructed and demonstrated experimentally.     

Discretely tunable and multiwavelength erbium doped fibre lasers with Fabry-Perot etalon

Modern WDM telecommunication systems require stable and calibrated laser sources. In this paper, we present examples of such lasers based on erbium doped fibres, i.e., discretely tunable and multiwavelength ring lasers. For the first case, tuning is possible due to a tunable Bragg grating overlapping spectrally the third telecommunication window (1550 nm). When a Fabry-Perot etalon is inserted into the cavity, discrete tunable operation with appropriate spacing between operating wavelengths is possible. Different free spectral ranges (FSR) of applied etalons ensured operation at a wavelength spacing 0.4 nm, 0.8 nm or 1.6 nm, respectively. When an acoustooptical Bragg frequency shifter was inserted together with the Fabry-Perot etalon, the stable simultaneous multiwavelength operation covering the erbium doped gain range was achieved.     

Erbium-doped fiber laser simultaneously mode locked on more than 24 wavelengths at room temperature

We demonstrate simultaneous mode locking of more than 24 wavelengths at 3 GHz in an actively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser operating at room temperature. The multiwavelength operation is achieved when a frequency shifter and an all-fiber 50-GHz periodic filter are inserted into a ring cavity. Active mode locking is performed with an amplitude modulator, and pulses with a FWHM of 30 ps are obtained.     

Dynamic control of the operation regimes of a mode-locked fiber laser based on intracavity polarizing fibers: experimental and theoretical validation

An intracavity polarizing fiber is proposed to control the emission regime of a passively mode-locked fiber laser. Stable operation in self-starting high and low dispersion soliton mode-locking and 100 GHz multiwavelength regimes is demonstrated through numerical simulations and experimental validation. Mode-locking stability is ensured by a saturable absorber in the ring cavity. The effective selection of operation regime is dynamically carried out by controlling the intracavity polarization state.     

Multiwavelength pulse generation in semiconductor-fiber ring laser using a sampled fiber grating

A novel multiwavelength scheme has been demonstrated using a sampled fiber grating in semiconductor-fiber ring laser. By using semiconductor optical amplifier as an inhomogeneously broadened gain medium, three wavelength channels of 10 GHz are simultaneously generated. The number of the lasing channels can be changed through the polarization state adjustment in the cavity.     

Asymmetrical optical fibre coupler for laser side pumping: optimization of its parameters and application in laser

The paper presents an optical fibre coupler with side coupling. The coupler is based on an active double clad fibre and a pumping fibre with an extended core. The optimization of the coupler’s parameters and the initial simulations results are presented. The coupler was used in a ring laser setup and multiwavelength operation with up to 25 wavelengths was achieved.     

A stable multiwavelength SOA-based fiber ring laser with ultra-narrow wavelength spacing

This investigation demonstrates a stable multiwavelength fiber ring laser with ultra-narrow wavelength spacing using a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). A delay interferometer and a mirror are used as a double-pass interferometer to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in this experiment. Up to 181 stable lasing wavelengths with a wavelength spacing of 10.7 GHz and a signal-to-noise ratio of over 24 dB are produced at room temperature.