Frequency comb expansion based on optical feedback, highly nonlinear and erbium-doped fibers

Abstract

This works presents an efficient technique for generating multi-wavelength sources, which consist of an expanded optical frequency comb based on the nonlinear process of multiple four-wave mixing. The nonlinear efficiency is significantly enhanced by the use of the proposed scheme based on optical feedback, highly nonlinear and erbium-doped fibers. Numerical and experimental results illustrate its efficiency and applicability by expanding a comb from 20 to over 200 coherent lines spaced by only 12.5GHz.