Tunable all-fiber intracavity wavelength converter without external pumps

Abstract

A new architecture for tunable broadband wavelength conversion in a dispersion-shifted fiber is presented. Conversion is achieved by using four-wave-mixing in a dispersion-shifted fiber in a single fiber-ring cavity. Wide tunability is achieved by the self-generation of two tunable orthogonal pumps in the cavity. This effect is due to the introduction of two tunable fiber Bragg gratings written in high birefringence fibers which act as selective polarization and wavelength filters. The results show conversion efficiencies up to −2 dB with the signal-to-noise ratio of the converted signal up to 26 dB.