Electrical wavelength tunable and multiwavelength actively mode-locked fiber ring laser

Abstract

Electrical single- and dual-wavelength tuning and three-wavelength operation of an actively mode-locked fiber ring laser generating picosecond pulses were demonstrated by using a cavity with large dispersion. A continuous tuning range up to ∼37 nm of single-wavelength picosecond pulses at ∼1 GHz was achieved by only changing the modulation frequency. Continuous wavelength tuning of dual-wavelength (18.5 nm spacing) 3 GHz picosecond pulses was also demonstrated with a tuning range up to ∼17 nm. The tuning ranges were mainly limited by the gain bandwidth of the Er-doped fiber. Simultaneous generation of three-wavelength picosecond pulses at ∼2 GHz was also demonstrated by further increasing the cavity dispersion.