A Dual-Wavelength Rational Harmonic Mode-Locked Fiber Ring Laser With Different Repetition Frequencies

Abstract

A dual-wavelength rational harmonic mode-locked fiber ring laser with different repetition frequencies is theoretically analyzed and experimentally demonstrated. In this scheme, two wavelength channels are inserted into the laser loop to form two resonant cavities. By tuning the length of each channel, required rational harmonic mode-locking conditions can be achieved, and dual-frequency mode-locked signals are simultaneously generated at different wavelengths. In addition, the supermode suppression ratio is further improved due to the mode competition caused by this dual-cavity configuration. In the experimental demonstration, when the fourth-order (or fifth-order) harmonic mode-locked signal is generated in Cavity 1, the first-, second-, and third-order (or fourth-order) harmonic mode-locked signals, respectively, can be generated in Cavity 2 by tuning its length. The measured radio frequency spectra and waveforms show that the signals have high quality. Compared with a conventional rational harmonic mode-locked laser (RHMLL), more than 10 dB supermode suppression ratio improvement is obtained. Since this system can flexibly implement multiwavelength and multifrequency signal generation without adding much cost, it may have wide applications in optical communication system, photonic microwave signal generation, and optical waveform synthesizers.