Switchable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser with tunable wavelength

Abstract

A switchable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) with tunable wavelength is demonstrated. The ring cavity consists of two branches with a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and a spherical-shape structure as fiber filters, respectively. By adjusting the variable optical attenuator (VOA), the laser can be switched between the single-wavelength mode and the dual-wavelength mode. The spherical-shape structure has good sensitivity to the temperature. When the temperature changes from 30 °C to 190 °C, the central wavelength of the EDFL generated by the branch of spherical-shape structure varies from 1 551.6 nm to 1 561.8 nm, which means that the wavelength interval is tunable.

Keywords

Fiber Bragg Grating / Ring Cavity / Tunable Wavelength / IEEE Photonic Technology Letter / Variable Optical Attenuator