Thermo-optically tunable fiber ring laser without any mechanical moving parts

Abstract

A thermo-optically tunable fiber ring laser has been constructed. The laser is based on a polymer-spaced Fabry-Pérot (F-P) étalon with a cavity length of 470-µm and an ultra-low polarization-dependent loss (PDL) of <0.1 dB. A wavelength tuning range of ~1.4 nm and a high wavelength stability of ~0.02 nm have been demonstrated without involving any moving mechanical parts. Such a nonmechanical tunable fiber laser structure leads to a reduced device size and allows easy device packaging due to the ultra-low PDL of the wavelength tuning element.