Multi-wavelength Brillouin-Raman ring-cavity fiber laser with 22-GHz spacing

We experimentally demonstrate a multi-wave length Brillouin-Raman fiber laser configured in a ring-cavity resonator. Interactions between stimulated Brillouin scattering and Raman amplification in a dispersion compensating fiber, attributed to the generation of 16 output channels at injected Raman pump unit power of 650 mW and Brillouin pump power of 2.0 mW. The first output channel has a peak power of 14.8 mW. By discriminating the even-order Brillouin Stokes signals from circulating in the resonator, the generated output channels were found to have wavelength spacing of ∼22 GHz. The output channels were also found to have average optical signal-to-noise ratio value of 11.7 dB.     

Widely tunable ring-cavity tellurite fiber Raman laser

We report a widely tunable ring-cavity tellurite fiber Raman laser covering the S+C+L+U band. A tunable range (1495-1600 nm, limited by the tunable optical bandpass filter) over 100 nm is obtained by using a single-mode tellurite fiber with high Raman gain coefficients (55 W(-1)km(-1)) and large Raman shift (~22.3 THz) as the gain medium. Furthermore, the free-running 1665 nm Raman fiber laser is achieved from the ring cavity by removing the tunable optical bandpass filter, which shows that such a tellurite fiber has potential for constructing a widely tunable fiber Raman laser covering the S+C+L+U band. A high optical signal-to-noise ratio of over 60 dB for almost all of the tunable range is also demonstrated.     

Widely tunable linear-cavity multiwavelength fiber laser with distributed Brillouin scattering

We demonstrate a multiple wavelength Brillouin/erbium fiber laser in a linear cavity configuration.The laser cavity is made up of a fiber loop mirror on one end of the resonator and a virtual mirror generated from the distributed stimulated Brillouin scattering effect on the other end.Due to the weak reflectivity provided by the virtual mirror,self-lasing cavity modes are completely suppressed from the laser cavity.At Brillouin pump and 1480-nm pump powers of 2 and 130 mW,respectively,11 channels of the demonstrated laser with an average total power of 7.13 dBm can freely be tuned over a span of 37-nm wavelength from 1530 to 1567 nm.     

Ultrafine optical-frequency tunable Brillouin fiber laser based on fiber strain

We present an ultrafine tunable single-frequency Brillouin fiber laser in which the fiber Brillouin gain also acts as a high-precision tunable filter. Controlling the strain on the fiber, the Stokes frequency shift may be precisely changed, and thus the lasing frequency can be tuned. Assisted by the frequency pulling effect, this method provides continuous ultrafine tuning ability for ~30% of the free spectral range without mode hopping, and can cover 271 MHz. The experiments showed that the laser achieves tuning step of 60 kHz.     

Effect of output coupling ratio on the performance of ring-cavity Brillouin fiber laser

We present a single-wavelength Brillouin fiber laser utilizing a ring-cavity configuration. Performances and characteristics of the laser system have been investigated at different output coupling ratios. The optimum output power of the system stood at 7.3 mW, which was obtained at 90% output coupling ratio. A low Brillouin threshold power of 0.9 mW was obtained at 10% output coupling ratio when the Brillouin pump was set at its maximum power of 24 mW.     

A low-threshold multiwavelength Brillouin fiber laser with double-frequency spacing based on a small-core fiber

We demonstrate multiwavelength Brillouin fiber lasers (MWBFLs) with double-frequency spacing based on a small-core fiber (SCF) and a standard single-mode fiber (SMF), which have core diameters of 5 and 8.8 μm, respectively. Experimental results show that the SCF-based MWBFL exhibits a higher laser output power and a lower pump threshold. The output powers of the SCF-based MWBFL are > 1.4 times those of the SMF-based MWBFL. Moreover, the threshold power required to generate each channel of the SCF-based MWBFL is 59% that of the SMF-based MWBFL. When the same pump power of 180 mW is injected, the number of laser channels generated for the SCF-based MWBFL is 13, which is twice that generated for the SMF-based MWBFL. In addition, the SCF-based MWBFL exhibits good wavelength tunability from 1535 to 1565 nm and temporal stability over an hour.     

Novel discretely tunable narrow linewidth fiber laser with uniform wavelength spacing

A novel configuration of the tunable fiber laser with uniform wavelength spacing in dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) application is proposed. The ring type tunable fiber laser consists of an all-fiber comb filter which determines the wavelength spacing, and a piece of adjustable fiber grating to select the discrete lasing wavelength for WDM application. The proposed all-fiber ring type tunable laser has potential application in the DWDM and other optical systems due to its advantages such as narrow linewidth, easy tuning, uniform wavelength interval, etc..     

Simple tunable multiwavelength Brillouin/Erbium fiber laser utilizing short-length photonic crystal fiber

We have demonstrated a simple ring cavity tunable multiwavelength Brillouin/Erbium fiber laser (MWBEFL), in which 70 m highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber (HNL-PCF) is used as the Brillouin gain medium. The fiber laser utilizes recycling mechanism to enhance stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). The configuration that consists of only 3 optical components is easy to be integrated and improves the practicality. At the maximum 1480 nm pump power of 110 mW and the Brillouin pump power of 3 dBm, 10 stable output channels with more than 10 dB optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) and 0.078 nm channel spacing could achieve 10 nm tuning ranges.     

Tunable multiwavelength Brillouin-erbium ring-cavity fiber laser with short-length photonic crystal fiber

A multi-wavelength Brillouin-erbium ring-cavity fiber laser utilizing 2-m erbium doped fiber (EDF) and 70-m high nonlinear photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is proposed and demonstrated. The output characteristics and also the impacts of pump and Brillouin pump (BP) on the output spectra are investigated in detail. The output number and wavelength location of Brillouin lines are tunable by adjusting the power of 1465 nm pump and BP, and a 5-channel output within 11 nm (1551–1562 nm) tuning range is achieved by choosing appropriate pump power.     

Wavelength spacing tunable dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode fiber ring laser based on fiber Bragg gratings

A wavelength spacing tunable dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode fiber ring laser is presented by employing separated fiber Bragg gratings. By using a saturable-absorption-induced grating filter and a hybrid gain medium formed by a semiconductor optical amplifier and an erbium-doped fiber amplifier, stable single-longitudinal-mode lasing is achieved at room temperature. Wavelength spacing of the proposed fiber laser can be tuned in a range from 0.1 to 1.3 nm.     

A reconfigurable multiwavelength fiber laser with switchable wavelength channels and tunable wavelength spacing

We report the experimental demonstration of a reconfigurable multiwavelength fiber laser source with switchable wavelength channels and tunable wavelength spacing by spectrum slicing a broadband light source using a tunable comb filter. The tunable comb filter is based on a thermally-induced linearly-chirped fiber Bragg grating (LCFBG). As an example to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method, two wavelength channels with various wavelength spacings and eight wavelength channels with ∼1.6 nm wavelength spacing were experimentally demonstrated. All the wavelength channels have rejection ratios of greater than 20 dB, and very small 3-dB linewidths of ∼10 pm. The multiwavelength optical source has such unique advantages as simple all-fiber structure, switchable wavelength channels, tunable wavelength spacing, very narrow linewidths, and stable room-temperature operation.     

Double-ring cavity configuration of actively mode-locked multi-wavelength fiber laser with equally tunable wavelength spacing

A novel actively mode-locked multi-wavelength tunable fiber laser with equally increased or decreased wavelength spacing is presented. It is constructed using a double-ring cavity combined with an amplitude modulator and cascaded fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The cavity lengths for all FBGs are intrinsically identical due to the double-ring configuration, and simultaneous mode locking of multiple wavelengths is therefore achieved by applying only one mode-locking signal to the modulator. The FBGs are mounted on a organic plate with angles between adjacent gratings such that the forces applied to the FBGs have an equal force increment; thus, stretching or compressing the cascaded FBGs can achieve a wavelength tuning with equally increased or decreased wavelength spacing.This revised version was published online in March 2005. In the previous version, the published online date was missing     

A stable dual-wavelength fiber laser with tunable wavelength spacing using a polarization-maintaining linear cavity

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a stable dual-wavelength erbium-doped polarization-maintaining (PM) fiber laser with tunable wavelength spacing using an all-PM linear cavity that makes use of two reflection peaks from the PM fiber Bragg grating (PM-FBG). Experimental results show stable dual lasing lines with a wavelength separation of ∼0.22 nm and a large optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) of over 40 dB under room temperature. By applying axial strain to the PM-FBG, the center wavelengths of the two lasing lines can be tuned over several nanometers and the wavelength separation between the lasing lines can also be tuned to as small as 0.05 nm, which, to our knowledge, is the smallest wavelength spacing ever obtained from a stable room-temperature dual-wavelength fiber laser. The proposed laser configuration has the advantages of simple structure, low loss, stable dual-wavelength operation and a very small lasing linewidth of ∼5 kHz . PACS 42.55.Wd; 42.81.-i; 42.81.Gs     

Dual-wavelength S-band erbium-doped fiber double-ring laser

We propose and demonstrate an S-band CW dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber (EDF) dual-ring laser using a compound-ring filter (CRF) with various coupling losses inside the gain cavity. Employing a ring filter combined within the cavity, the fiber laser can lase a dual wavelength without any filter inside the ring loop. The dual-wavelength output exhibits a good performance having optical side-mode suppression ratios (SMSRs) of 31.6 and 31.8 dB and output powers of ?9.6 and ?9.3 dBm at 1505.58 and 1506.43 nm, respectively, when the coupling loss is 30% inside the cavity. In addition, the output stabilities of the dual-wavelength laser have also been analyzed.     

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.     

Stable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser with switchable spacing employing controllable channel loss

A stable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser with switchable spacing is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. An arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) incorporating two fiber optic switches (OS) is used to as the wavelength selector. The ring cavity is divided into two cavities by a 30:70 optical coupler. Equalized dual-wavelength outputs are achieved by controlling the variable optical attenuator (VOA) inserted in the lower loss cavity. The wavelength spacing can be tuned from 0.80 to 12.05 nm. The fiber laser has good optical quality with maximum power fluctuation of 1.5 dB and side mode suppression ratios (SMSRs) higher than 71 dB.     

可用于产生微波信号的间隔可调双波长光纤激光器

为了获得不同间隔双波长信号输出,提出一种基于受激布里渊效应产生双波长激光的实验装置,利用不同间隔双波长输出信号进行拍频实验可获得可调的微波信号输出;利用一段10 km长普通单模光纤（SMF）作为布里渊增益介质,一个线宽为5 kHz分布反馈激光器（DFB）作为布里渊抽运源,一段未泵浦的保偏掺铒光纤用作饱和吸收体抑制边模,通过改变未泵浦保偏掺铒光纤的长度,可获得不同间隔输出的双波长光纤激光器,实验获得波长间隔为0.170 nm和0.085 nm的激光信号输出,分别对应20 GHz和10 GHz的微波信号。     

Dual-wavelength operation of a figure-eight fiber laser

We study numerically an erbium-doped figure-eight fiber laser including a double-band-pass optical filter for dual-wavelength pulse generation. Simulations are performed for several values of the filter band-width and wavelength separation between the transmission windows. The results show that dual-wavelength mode-locking is obtained in most cases, with a balanced energy distribution between wavelengths. Due to cavity dispersion, the pulses at each wavelength are asynchronous for a large wavelength separation, whereas they are synchronous for closely spaced wavelengths, as in this case cross-phase modulation is able to compensate for the dispersion-induced walkoff. In the asynchronous case, dual-wavelength operation is favored by the filter loss, whereas in the synchronous case it is favored by the saturable absorber action of the nonlinear optical loop mirror. Simulations also show that, thanks to those stabilization mechanisms, dual-wave-length pulsed operation does not require precise cavity loss equalization between the two oscillating wave-lengths.     

Linear cavity Brillouin fiber laser with improved characteristics

A configuration for linear cavity Brillouin fiber laser (BFL) generation is demonstrated using a standard single-mode fiber, two optical circulators, a 3 dB coupler, and a 95/5 coupler to allow high efficiency. With a Brillouin pump (BP) power of 13 dBm, the laser peak power is 12.3 dB higher than a conventional linear cavity BFL at an upshifted wavelength of 0.086 nm from the BP wavelength. In addition, it is revealed that the BFL peak power can be higher than the transmitted BP peak power when the BP power exceeds the second Brillouin Stokes threshold power.