Abstract
A wavelength switchable multiwavelength actively mode-locked fiber-ring laser based on highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber (PCF) and polarization-dependent mode coupling to multimode-fiber Bragg grating (MMFBG) is proposed. Twenty meters of highly nonlinear dispersion-shifted PCF (DS-PCF) is inserted into the fiber ring cavity to suppress gain competition through the four-wave-mixing (FWM) effect. A mode scrambler is attached to the multimode fiber (MMF) to introduce a polarization-dependent mode coupling to the MMFBG. Through changing polarization in the cavity, stable and switchable one-wavelength, two-wavelength (wavelength spacing of 0.8 and 2.4nm), and three-wavelength simultaneously actively mode-locked optical pulse trains at a repetition rate of 5GHz are obtained. We show that high nonlinearity introduced by the nonlinear PCF in the cavity can improve significantly supermode suppression ratio (SMSR) of the multiwavelength pulses generated and a sidemode suppression ratio (SMSR) of 58dB is realized.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 124202 |
Journal | Optical Engineering |
Volume | 47 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2008 |
Keywords
- actively mode-locked fiber laser
- four wave mixing
- highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber
- multimode fiber Bragg grating
- wavelength switchable multiwavelength pulses
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
- General Engineering