Temperature stability improvement of a multiwavelength Sagnac loop fiber laser using a high-birefringent photonic crystal fiber as a birefringent component

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate a temperature-stable multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber laser source using a high-birefringent photonic crystal fiber (HiBi-PCF) as the birefringent component of the Sagnac loop filter within the laser cavity. Three different high-birefringence (Hi-Bi) fibers are used in the loop filter to compare the temperature stability of the fiber laser systems: polarization-maintaining erbium-doped fiber (PM-EDF), panda Hi-Bi fiber, and HiBi-PCF. Because of the high birefringence and low temperature sensitivity of the HiBi-PCF, fiber length in the loop is greatly reduced and the temperature stability of the system is dramatically enhanced.