Optical bistability in tunable fiber laser using fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer

In this letter, a novel mechanism of hybrid optical bistability is proposed by using nonlinear mechanism in the frequency domain. This device is based on electro-optical feedback through the fiber Bragg grating on piezoelectric transducer (PZT) to tune continuous wave (CW) fiber laser. The optical bistable characteristics for two manners of separately alternating input power and bias voltage are discussed. The smallest wavelength shift of the order of 0.001 nm needed to realize a switching process in this optical bistability device is estimated. The potential applications of this device in the optical fiber sensor technique are also discussed.     

Wavelength tunable erbium-doped fiber ring laser operating in L-band

We describe a novel erbium-doped fiber ring laser utilizing the backward amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) power as a secondary pump source so that it can operate in L-band stably. The output wavelength can be tuned in a wide range of 45 nm, from 1560 to 1605 nm. We also compared this scheme with the condition of not using the ASE as secondary pump source, and found this scheme could improve the performance of the laser when using the same components.     

A tunable single-passband microwave photonic filter with positive and negative taps using a fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer and phase modulation

In this paper, a tunable single-passband microwave photonic filter with positive and negative taps based on phase modulation and a fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (FMZI)) is presented, theoretically analyzed and experimentally demonstrated. The FMZI as the slicing filter results in a single-bandpass characteristic for the presented filter, and by using phase modulation, a number of negative taps are generated, thus making the baseband resonance suppressed, which is desirable for microwave photonic filter's application. The wavelength spacing of the FMZI can be tuned by employing an optical variable delay line, making the present filter continuously tunable. A tunable single-passband microwave photonic filter without baseband resonance is achieved in the experiment. The present filter shows an extinction ratio of up to ∼20 dB and good tuning linearity.     

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.     

Ultrafast mode-locked dual-wavelength thulium-doped fiber laser using a Mach-Zehnder interferometric filter

A simple and robust method to generate a dual-wavelength mode-locked laser using a tunable Mach-Zehnder filter (TMZF) and a single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) based saturable absorber (SA) is proposed and demonstrated. The proposed laser uses a thulium-doped fiber for lasing in the two-micron region and exploits the interferometric spectrum of the TMZF to produce dual peaks with nearly equal magnitude. SWCNT based SA enables mode-locking at a threshold value of 150.4?mW with distinct dual-wavelength peaks at 1919.2?nm and 1963.7?nm. The peaks have a calculated pulse width of 1.8?ps and 1.6?ps, respectively with a repetition rate of 9.1?MHz with a relatively high optical-signal-to-noise ratio value of 59.1?dB. The output is also observed to remain unchanged over time, indicating high stability. The proposed laser has a promising application, particularly in ultrafast gas molecular spectroscopy and sensing.     

Distributed fiber-optic vibration sensor using a ring Mach-Zehnder interferometer

A novel distributed fiber-optic vibration sensing system is proposed and demonstrated. By employing a ring Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) structure as the sensing section, both position and frequency can be determined by combining two phase signals from the ring configuration. A spatial resolution better than 38 m is successfully verified in a 1.01 km prototype system of single vibration. Moreover, the feasibility of separately locating multiple vibrations is also theoretically simulated and experimentally investigated.     

Sagnac干涉仪与光纤环形激光器

依据相干光学理论,以现代激光干涉侧试技术中的光纤Ｓａｇｎａｃ干涉仪为例,分析和讨论了光纤环形激光器的基本工作原理,并结合其物理原理简要介绍了光纤环形激光器和光纤陀螺（ＦＯＧ）的应用的发展前景。     

Experimental study on chaos generation in an all-fiber erbium-doped fiber ring laser with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer

We experimentally study the chaotic behaviors in a compact all-fiber erbium-doped fiber ring laser （ED-FRL） with an added Mach-Zehnder interferometer （MZI） by using a phase-modulation method. A piezo-electric ceramic transducer （PZT） is incorporated in the MZI to introduce single-frequency phase modulation. The coexistence of intermitteney and period-doubling bifurcation routes to chaos in the EDFRL system is observed by adjusting the modulation frequency or the phase modulation depth in the experiment. In addition, the EDFRL presents irregular multi-longitudinal-mode oscillation with a definite linear polarization when operating at intensity chaos state.     

Widely tunable Raman ring laser using highly nonlinear fiber

An all-optical widely tunable Raman fiber laser has been realized by incorporating a highly nonlinear fiber in a ring cavity. By feedback a portion of Raman Stokes wave back into the highly nonlinear gain medium, a Raman fiber laser is generated. We found that the lasing wavelength of Raman fiber laser can be tuned from 1537 to 1568 nm with peak power fluctuation within 1 dB, giving a total wavelength tunability of 31 nm. The optical signal-to-noise ratio is found to be wavelength dependent, and the highest optical signal-to-noise ratio of about 59 dB is recorded. The lasing threshold of the Raman fiber laser with this configuration is found to be as low as 300 mW.     

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.     

Tunable double-clad ytterbium-doped fiber laser based on a double-pass Mach-Zehnder interferometer

We have demonstrated an adjustable double-clad Yb³⁺-doped fiber laser using a double-pass Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The laser is adjustable over a range of 40 nm from 1064 nm to 1104 nm. By adjusting the state of the polarization controller, which is placed in the double-pass Mach-Zehnder interferometer, we obtained central lasing wavelengths that can be accurately tuned with controllable spacing between different tunable wavelengths. The laser has a side mode suppression ratio of 42 dB, the 3 dB spectral width is less than 0.2 nm, and the slope efficiencies at 1068 nm, 1082 nm and 1098 nm are 23%, 32% and 26%, respectively. In addition, we have experimentally observed tunable multi-wavelengths lasing output.     

Femtosecond laser microfabricated fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer for sensing applications

We demonstrate a femtosecond laser microfabricated fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer and reveal the dependences of the sensitivities of different environmental parameters on the specifications of the interferometer. A 30-mm-long fiber interferometer at a wavelength of 1593 nm exhibits a temperature sensitivity of 0.103 nm/°C, axial strain sensitivity of -1.35 pm/με, and refractive index sensitivity of -15.294 nm/RIU, respectively. In addition to dependence on interferometer length, the sensitivities are also strongly dependent on the operation wavelength of the selected interference order. When the operation wavelength is selected at 1525 nm, the sensitivities are 0.085 nm/°C, -0.09 pm/με, and -13.824 nm/RIU, respectively.     

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.     

Employing dual-saturable-absorber-based filter for stable and tunable erbium-doped fiber ring laser in single-frequency

In this demonstration, a stable and wavelength-tunable erbium-doped fiber (EDF) ring laser using dual-saturable-absorber-based (DSAB) filter inside loop cavity is proposed and experimentally investigated. The proposed DSAB filter not only can filter the side-mode in single-frequency output, but also can obtain the flattened output power spectrum within 1 dB variation in the effectively range of 1529 to 1563 nm. In addition, the output stabilities of wavelength and power are also measured experimentally and discussed.     

Characteristics of an add-drop filter composed of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and double ring resonators

A planar lightwave circuit (PLC) add-drop filter is proposed and analyzed, which consists of a symmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) combined with double microring resonators. A critical coupling condition is derived for a better box-like drop spectrum. Comparisons of its characteristics with other schemes,such as a MZI with a single ring resonator, are presented, and some of the issues about device design and fabrication are also discussed.     

L-band erbium-doped fiber laser with polarization-maintaining ring cavity

A new, simple and efficient L-band erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser with polarization-maintaining ring cavity is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The laser offers the unique advantage of being a polarization-maintaining lasing, which meets the requirement of external electronic-optical intensity modulation for DWDM communication and interferometric fiber sensors. Theory has been established. Experimental results are given to show that the laser has long-term stability over a couple of hours with 35 dB signal-to-noise ratio at 1598.644 nm and tunable from 1572.167 to 1608.480 nm.     

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.     

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.     

Slow light Mach-Zehnder fiber interferometer

A slow light structure Mach-Zehnder fiber interferometer is theoretically demonstrated. The sensitivity of the interferometer is significantly enhanced by the dispersion of the slow light structure. The numerical results show that the sensitivity enhancement factor varies with the coupling coefficient and reaches its maximum under critical coupling conditions.     

光纤Mach-Zehnder干涉仪系统

介绍了光纤Mach-Zehnder(MZ)干涉仪系统的结构.给出了光纤Mach-Zehnder干涉仪系统中信号光与参考光的干涉原理以及影响干涉光强的因素.同时也分析了光纤耦合器的交叉耦合,另外也给出了PZT的作用.阐述了光纤偏振控制器的结构、工作原理及其对光纤Mach-Zehnder干涉仪系统传感臂偏振态的控制,最后给出了光纤Mach-Zehnder干涉仪系统的应用.