Thermally Tunable Multiwavelength Raman Fiber Laser Based on a Novel In-line Interferometer

Abstract

A thermally tunable multiwavelength Raman fiber laser based on a simple in-line interferometer is investigated. A novel in-line interferometer is realized by using a single long-period fiber grating incorporating a core misalignment method. Cladding modes from the guided core mode are excited in the splicing point between two optical fibers when two core regions are misaligned. By removing an external buffer coating layer in the fiber, the cladding modes can be propagated and recoupled to the core mode at a long-period fiber grating. Since the long-period fiber grating couples the core mode to the cladding modes, the interaction between the core mode and the cladding modes induces an interference pattern, which realizes a multichannel filter. Since the transmission characteristics of the long-period fiber grating are effectively controlled by changing the applied temperature, a thermally tunable multichannel filter based on the proposed in-line interferometer can be obtained. When the proposed multichannel filter is inserted within the ring cavity of a Raman fiber laser, a multiwavelength Raman fiber laser is realized. A high extinction ratio of more than 40 dB is achieved. The output power is stable, and the power fluctuation is measured to be less than 0.7 dB, and the proposed multiwavelength Raman laser has a high thermal tunablity of -0.48 nm/degrees C.