Temperature effects in a Brillouin fiber ring laser

Abstract

Temperature effects in a Brillouin fiber ring laser have been investigated. The results show that temperature plays a major role in many different laser characteristics such as lasing frequency, mode hopping, spontaneous pulsing, and frequency mode pulling. Thermal coefficients for the Brillouin frequency shift and for the frequency difference between the pump wave and the first-Stokes wave were measured and are consistent with theoretical predictions based on published basic material parameters. Experimental observation and measurement of the temperature dependence of the spontaneous pulsing threshold show that temperature is a key parameter that may be important in uncovering the physical mechanism underlying spontaneous pulsing.