Fiber Bragg gratings fabricated by femtosecond lasers for narrow-linewidth fiber laser

Abstract

A narrow-linewidth erbium-doped fiber laser based on the fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) fabricated was proposed and demonstrated experimentally. A pair of FBGs with reflectivity of 92 % and 10 %, respectively, at the center wavelength of 1580 nm were inscribed in standard SMF-28 fibers without hydrogen loading by femtosecond laser point-by-point directly writing method, which was used as mirrors for wavelength selection of fiber laser, gratings full width at half maximum (FWHM) was less than 0.15 nm. A simple linear-cavity fiber laser was realized based on gain medium, pump source and FBGs. When gain medium of Er-doped fiber is selected 8 m, a stable single wavelength of 1579 nm laser with a 3 dB linewidth of 0.06 nm was obtained. Its output power is 24.1 mW when the maximum pump power is 600 mA, and its single wavelength of 1579 nm is consistent with the central wavelength of the fabricated FBGs. This type of laser source shows real promise for applications in coherent optical frequency domain reflectometry and high resolution fiber sensor systems.