A dual-reflected-structure switchable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser using the multi-mode fiber as the wavelength selector

Abstract

A simple and effective dual-reflected-structure switchable multi-wavelength polarization-maintaining erbium-doped fiber laser is proposed and demonstrated. Using the structure of single-mode fiber (SMF)-multi-mode fiber (MMF)-SMF as the wavelength selective filter and reflector simultaneously the polarization-maintaining erbium-doped fiber as the gain medium and an optical circulator as the all-reflecting mirror, the laser realizes stable single-wavelength, dual-wavelength and triple-wavelength oscillations based on polarization hole burning of a multi-mode fiber by means of adjusting the polarization controller. The 3 dB bandwidth is about 0.01 nm. The side-mode suppression ratios (SMSRs) are over 50 dB. The power fluctuation and wavelength shifts are measured to be less than 1.5 dB and 0.01 nm over an hour at room temperature.