Wideband multiwavelength Brillouin fiber laser with switchable channel spacing

Abstract

A multiwavelength Brillouin fiber laser (MBFL) with a switchable channel spacing is demonstrated using a 1.55-µm single-mode AlGaInAs/InP hybrid square–rectangular laser as a seeding source. The scheme employs a highly nonlinear fiber loop with a feedback path to generate a 10-GHz-spacing MBFL. Then, assisted by a tunable optical bandpass filter, MBFLs with spacing from 20 GHz to 100 GHz at a step of 10 GHz are generated in another highly nonlinear fiber loop based on the cavity-enhanced four-wave mixing. More than 60 lasing lines with an optical signal-to-noise ratio over 10 dB are obtained successfully in all the switchable spacings. The total output power and the channel spacing of the MBFLs are proved to be stable.