Abstract
In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a technique to realize multiwavelength operation in erbium-doped fiber lasers (EDFLs) by inserting two Fabry Pérot laser diodes (FP-LDs) in the laser cavity respectively in cascaded and parallel way. The FP-LDs not only act as wavelength selection elements, but also offer optical gain or loss for the operation wavelengths in the laser cavity. The gains or losses for the oscillation wavelengths obtained from FP-LDs differ with adjustment of the driving current of the FP-LDs. Thus, the utilization of the FP-LDs in the laser cavity can introduce wavelength dependent gain or loss which can effectively suppress the competition caused by the homogeneous gain broadening of the erbium-doped fiber (EDF). As a result, 16-wavelength and 20-wavelength operation with a wavelength-spacing of 1.25 nm has been achieved respectively in the cascaded and parallel FP-LDs based EDFL schemes. The measured power fluctuation of each wavelength is smaller than 0.4dB for both EDFLs. Furthermore, the injection locking of the FP-LDs ensures a narrow linewidth of the EDFL output and the linewidth is estimated to be narrower than 100 MHz for the cascaded scheme based EDFL.
Highlights
Multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) has attracted much interest due to its potential applications in fiber sensing, component testing, optical signal processing, and wavelength-division- multiplexed (WDM) optical communication systems
We propose and demonstrate a technique to realize multiwavelength operation in erbium-doped fiber lasers (EDFLs) by inserting two Fabry Pérot laser diodes (FP-LDs) in the laser cavity respectively in cascaded and parallel way
The FP-LDs act as wavelength selection elements, and offer optical gain or loss for the operation wavelengths in the laser cavity
Summary
Multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) has attracted much interest due to its potential applications in fiber sensing, component testing, optical signal processing, and wavelength-division- multiplexed (WDM) optical communication systems. It is difficult to achieve multiwavelength operation in erbium-doped fiber lasers at room temperature, due to the mode competition induced by the homogeneous gain broadening of the erbium-doped fiber (EDF). YeH et al ever reported a multiwavelength EDFL using a Sagnac loop and FabryPerot laser diode (FP-LD) [16]. They mainly use the polarization dependent characteristic of the Sagnac loop to obtain multiwavelength operation. 16-wavelength and 20-wavelength lasing operation with wavelength spacing of 1.25 nm has been respectively achieved in cascaded and parallel FP-LDs based EDFLs. The measured power fluctuation of each wavelength is smaller than 0.4 dB and the linewidth is estimated to be narrower than 100 MHz for the cascaded scheme based EDFL
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