Multi-wavelength fiber laser based on a fiber Fabry–Perot interferometer

Abstract

In this work we report experimental studies of an erbium-doped fiber laser design that simultaneously emits up to three wavelengths. The laser cavity configuration has an all-fiber, Fabry–Perot interferometer, based on the insertion of air cavities in the fiber, near one end of a conventional single-mode fiber. The laser emissions have a side-mode suppression ratio over 25 dB, wavelength variations around 0.04 nm, and 2 dB power fluctuations. By using a simple, controlled fiber curvature technique cavity losses are varied over a section of convectional single-mode fiber and the laser output is switched between single-, dual-, and triple-wavelength emission. Moreover, by applying a refractive index change over the fiber filter the emission wavelengths are shifted. The fiber laser offers a compact, simple, and low-cost design for a multiple wavelength outputs that can be adopted in future applications.