Multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber lasers with active overlapping linear cavities

Multiwavelength oscillations in erbium-doped fiber (EDF) lasers with active overlapping linear cavities are investigated in detail. The laser can be designed to produce multiwavelength oscillations in the C-band and in the L-band. With a C-band three-wavelength laser, experiments show that the output powers of the lasing lines increase linearly or piecewise linearly with pump input. Any one lasing wavelength can be tuned over several nanometers depending on the gain tilt in the vicinity of the lasing wavelength while multiwavelength oscillation is still being maintained. The output power of any specific lasing line can be adjusted by suitably designing the EDF sections. This property also allows the laser to operate in multiwavelength switching mode. The laser exhibits a novel multiwavelength optical bistable behavior in the L-band. With an L-band dual-wavelength laser, the bistable input-output hysteresis behaviors of the two L-band wavelengths evolve in antiphase with respect to each other. The width of the bistable region has been increased to several tens of mW. It can be controlled and adjusted by the cavity loss and the EDF length. It is found that simultaneous L-band dual-wavelength oscillations can be obtained when part of the EDF, which functions as a saturable absorber, has been bleached. Moreover, simultaneous multiwavelength oscillations in both C-band and L-band have also been successfully demonstrated with the laser.