Widely tunable, narrow line width and low optical noise continuous-wave all fiber Er:Yb co-doped double-clad ring laser

Abstract

In this paper, we report a widely tunable, narrow linewidth, low noise continuous-wave double-clad Er:Yb doped fiber ring laser. Tunability is demonstrated in wide range spanning from 1520 to almost 1620 nm covering the C and L spectral bands. The cavity design is optimized in order to achieve the largest tuning range with very high optical signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The output coupling ratio greatly influences the tuning range of the laser while the position of the spectral filter determines the SNR. The obtained laser exhibits a tuning range over 98 nm with a nearly constant SNR of about 58.5 dB.