Wavelength switching of picosecond pulses in a self-seeded Fabry-Perot semiconductor laser with external fiber Bragg grating cavities by optical injection

Abstract

All-optical wavelength switching of single-mode picosecond pulses was demonstrated in an optically gain-switched Fabry-Perot semiconductor laser with self-seeding from two uniform fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) or a linearly chirped FBG by injecting optical pulse trains with a peak power of /spl sim/1.0 mW at GHz repetition rates. Sidemode suppression ratio (SMSR) better than 17 dB was achieved in both wavelengths in the former case. Wavelength switching among three successive laser cavity modes was achieved in the latter case. A SMSR better than 15 dB was obtained at all three wavelengths. This laser has potential applications in remote optically controlled fiber sensors, such as temperature sensors.