Precise and rapid wavelength-switching of fibre laser using semiconductor optical amplifier

Author

Zhao, Donghui ; Li, Shenping ; Tai Chan, Kam

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. Eng., Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong, Shatin, China

Volume

37

Issue

15

fYear

2001

fDate

7/19/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

945

Lastpage

946

Abstract

A simple fibre laser scheme for fast and accurate wavelength switching is demonstrated, with a semiconductor optical amplifier being used as the gain medium. The laser cavity is composed of a Fabry-Perot semiconductor filter (FPSF) and a set of narrowband fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs), which determine the wavelength references. The FPSF can be tuned by changing its injection current to select a particular wavelength from those of the FBGs, and a wide tuning range can be achieved based on the Vernier effect. During switching between two discrete wavelengths, a build-up time as short as several microseconds was obtained. Furthermore, because of the short upper-state lifetime of a semiconductor amplifier, relaxation oscillations caused by wavelength switching were eliminated

Keywords

Bragg gratings; Fabry-Perot resonators; laser beams; laser cavity resonators; laser tuning; optical fibre amplifiers; optical fibre filters; optical switches; relaxation; semiconductor optical amplifiers; Fabry-Perot semiconductor filter; Vernier effect; build-up time; discrete wavelengths; fibre laser; fibre laser scheme; gain medium; injection current; laser cavity; narrowband fibre Bragg gratings; relaxation oscillations; semiconductor amplifier; semiconductor optical amplifier; switching; tuning range; upper-state lifetime; wavelength references; wavelength switching; wavelength-switching;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electronics Letters

Publisher

iet

ISSN

0013-5194

Type

jour

DOI

10.1049/el:20010634

Filename

937292