Wavelength-Switchable Fiber Laser Based on Long-Period Fiber Grating Written on Polarization-Maintaining Photonic Crystal Fiber.

Abstract

Here we propose a wavelength-switchable erbium-doped fiber ring laser using a temperatureinsensitive spectral polarization-dependent loss (PDL) element and two fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The fiber PDL element was fabricated by inscribing a long-period grating (LPG) on polarizationmaintaining photonic crystal fiber (PMPCF) with a 10.6 μm CO₂ laser. The LPG fabricated on PMPCF, referred to as PMPCF-LPG, has the characteristics of a fiber polarizer at two specific wavelengths due to the birefringence of PMPCF and the co-directional mode coupling of the LPG. The two wavelengths at which the fabricated PMPCF-LPG acts as a polarizer are two resonance wavelengths (~1528.58 and ~1555.90 nm) of the PMPCF-LPG, obtained for orthogonal input polarization states. By considering these two resonance wavelengths of the PMPCF-LPG, the Bragg wavelengths of two FBGs, which determine lasing wavelengths in our wavelength-switchable laser, were selected as ~1527.71 and ~1554.74 nm. As the temperature sensitivity of the PMPCF birefringence is 30 times lower than that of the birefringence of conventional polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF), the fabricated PMPCF-LPG could facilitate more stable switching operation between the two lasing wavelengths in comparison with a previous fiber laser employing an LPG inscribed on conventional PMF as a wavelength-switching filter. The lasing wavelengths of our laser could be switched by controlling input polarization of the PMPCF-LPG with a polarization controller, and temperature-insensitive wavelength switching operation was experimentally demonstrated over a temperature range of 25-100 °C.