Open AccessMEMS-Based Tunable Linear-Cavity Fiber Laser
Author(s) -
David Michel,
Feng Xiao,
Kamal Alameh
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
ieee photonics journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1943-0655
pISSN - 1943-0647
DOI - 10.1109/jphot.2012.2200037
Subject(s) - engineered materials, dielectrics and plasmas , photonics and electrooptics
A novel tunable fiber laser employing a linear cavity in conjunction with a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The MEMS-based fiber laser can be tuned over a broad wavelength range while maintaining a high side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR). Experimental results demonstrate a continuously tunable fiber laser source with a tuning range as high as 30 nm and a narrow linewidth below 0.06 nm and much higher output power in comparison with ring-cavity-based fiber lasers. The laser performance is also compared with that of a ring-cavity fiber laser, and experimental results confirm that the linear-cavity fiber laser exhibits higher gain efficiency, higher laser output power, and narrower linewidth.