Switchable and spacing-tunable dual-wavelength thulium-doped silica fiber laser based on a nonlinear amplifier loop mirror

Tunable Spacing Dual-Wavelength Q-Switched Fiber Laser Based on Tunable FBG Device

A tunable spacing dual-wavelength Q-switched fiber laser is experimentally demonstrated based on a fiber Bragg grating tunable device incorporated in an erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL). The system utilizes two identical fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) at 1547.1 nm origin to enable two laser lines operation. The wavelength separations between two laser lines are controlled by fixing one of the FBGs while applying mechanical stretch and compression to the other one, using a fiber Bragg grating tunable device. The seven steps of wavelength spacing could be tuned from 0.3344 to 0.0469 nm spacing. Pulse characteristics for both close and wide spacing of dual-wavelength Q-switched fiber laser are successfully being recorded. The findings demonstrate the latest idea of dual-wavelength fiber laser based on FBG tunable device, which offers a wide range of future applications.

Wavelength-Flexible Thulium-Doped Fiber Laser Based on Digital Micromirror Array

Wavelength-tunable thulium-doped fiber laser is demonstrated employing a digital micromirror device (DMD) in combination with a fixed grating. The diffraction property of four typical models of DMDs and its steering efficiency for the laser system are analyzed based on two-dimensional grating theory. By spatially modulating reflective patterns on a DMD, the stable, fast, and flexible tuning of lasing wavelength from 1930 nm to 2000 nm is achieved with wavelength tuning accuracy of 0.1 nm. The side-mode suppression ratio is larger than 50 dB around the 2 μm band with 3 dB linewidth less than 0.05 nm. The wavelength drift and power fluctuation are lower than 0.05 nm and 0.1 dB within 1 h at the room temperature, respectively.

Abrupt-tapered fiber filter arrangement for a switchable multi-wavelength and tunable Tm-doped fiber laser

A switchable and tunable multi-wavelength Tm-doped fiber laser is successfully demonstrated using a filter constructed with two tapered fiber elements in the cavity. The proposed system design uses a low-cost simple filter that allows stable dual, triple, quadruple, and quintuple-wavelength emission operation in the region around 1.9 μm. In the dual wavelength regime, the laser is capable of independently tuning each wavelength. For switching and tuning, a curvature is applied to the tapered fibers.

1867-2010 nm tunable femtosecond thulium-doped all-fiber laser

We propose and demonstrate a broadly wavelength tunable mode-locked thulium-doped all-fiber laser, delivering sub-400 femtosecond (fs) pulses and tuning from 1867 nm to 2010 nm. The tunable range of 143 nm, to our best knowledge, is the widest in the femtosecond mode-locked thulium-doped fiber lasers (TDFLs). The broadly tunable range and femtosecond pulse oscillation attribute to the large free spectral range and bandwidth of the fiber-based Lyot filter, benefiting from the hybrid device based compact configuration. The hybrid device, integrating wavelength-division-multiplexer, polarization-sensitive isolator and output coupler, effectively diminishes the birefringence and net dispersion.

Widely tunable Tm-doped mode-locked all-fiber laser

We demonstrated a widely tunable Tm-doped mode-locked all-fiber laser, with the widest tunable range of 136 nm, from 1842 to 1978 nm. Nonlinear polarization evolution (NPE) technique is employed to enable mode-locking and the wavelength-tunable operation. The widely tunable range attributes to the NPE-induced transmission modulation and bidirectional pumping mechanism. Such kind of tunable mode-locked laser can find various applications in optical communications, spectroscopy, time-resolved measurement, and among others.

Tunable multiwavelength mode-locked Tm/Ho-doped fiber laser based on a nonlinear amplified loop mirror

We propose and demonstrate a tunable multiwavelength mode-locked Tm/Ho-doped fiber laser based on a nonlinear amplified loop mirror (NALM). Without using polarization-maintaining fiber, only passive fibers with low birefringence were inserted into the NALM to help overcome mode competition and realize mode-locking. The spacing between adjacent channels was measured to be ∼6  nm. By adjusting the polarization controllers (PCs) to an appropriate position, self-started mode-locking was achieved, which further overcame the mode competition in the fiber laser. A multiwavelength mode-locked fiber laser with at least three available channels were tunable in the widest range of 30 nm (from 1935 to 1965 nm) with a 3 dB channel bandwidth of ∼1.6  nm. This multiwavelength mode-locked fiber laser is quite stable with the maximum peak fluctuation within 0.47 dB in long-term observations.

Generation of dual-wavelength square pulse in a figure-eight erbium-doped fiber laser with ultra-large net-anomalous dispersion

A type of wave-breaking-free mode-locked dual-wavelength square pulse was experimentally observed in a figure-eight erbium-doped fiber laser with ultra-large net-anomalous dispersion. A 2.7 km long single-mode fiber (SMF) was incorporated as a nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) and provided largely nonlinear phase accumulation and anomalous dispersion, which enhanced the four-wave-mixing effect to improve the stability of the dual-wavelength operation. In the NOLM, the long SMF with small birefringence supported the Sagnac interference as a filter to manage the dual-wavelength lasing. The dual-wavelength operation was made switchable by adjusting the intra-cavity polarization loss and phase delay corresponding to two square pulses. When the pump power was increased, the duration of the square pulse increased continuously while the peak pulse power gradually decreased. This square-type pulse can potentially be utilized for signal transmission and sensing.