Waveband-switchable SOA ring laser constructed with a phase modulator loop mirror filter

• Published in: IEEE photonics technology letters Vol. 17; no. 7; pp. 1393 - 1395
• Main Authors: Fok, M.P., Lee, K.L., Shu, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.07.2005; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Birefringence; Birefringence loop mirror filter (LMF); Construction; Electric power generation; Fiber lasers; Lasers and electrooptics; Mirrors; Modulation; Modulators; multiwavelength laser source; Optical fiber filters; Optical filters; Phase modulation; Phase shift; Photonics; Ring lasers; Semiconductor lasers; Semiconductor optical amplifiers; waveband switching
• ISSN: 1041-1135; 1941-0174
• DOI: 10.1109/LPT.2005.848284

An electrically tunable multiwavelength source has been developed using a birefringence-based optical comb filter in a semiconductor optical amplifier ring laser. The filter is constructed with an electrooptic phase modulator placed inside a fiber loop mirror. By controlling the birefringence of the modulator through the applied bias, the radio-frequency power, or the modulation frequency, we achieve a continuous shift of the spectral comb to access different interleaved wavebands. Electrical waveband switching has been successfully demonstrated for 21 wavelengths at 100-GHz grid spacing with an optical signal-to-noise ratio over 40 dB.