Sub-kHz-linewidth laser generation by self-injection locked distributed feedback fiber laser

Abstract

We presented an integrated all-fiber sub-kHz-linewidth distributed feedback fiber laser (DFB-FL) assisted by self- injection locking. A π phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating (π-FBG) was employed to achieve single longitudinal mode operation, which was UV-inscribed in Er/Yb co-doped fiber with super-Gaussian apodization profile. The experiment results have shown that the apodized π-FBG based laser cavity has got the higher slope efficiency and the narrower linewidth, compared with the normal grating, which are consistent with the simulation one very well. To further compress the linewidth, we have employed the self-injection locking mechanism, which the linewidth of output laser could reach to around 350 Hz with 10-m delay fiber. After integrated encapsulation, the relative intensity noise (RIN) peak of the DFB-FL was reduced to below −125 dB/Hz. The beat frequency fluctuation was less than 15 MHz within 1000 s and power fluctuation was less than 1% in 7 h.