SpringerLink
Log in

Cascaded C+L-band tunable erbium-doped fiber lasers for simultaneous generation of continuous wave and mode-locked pulses

  • Published:
Optical and Quantum Electronics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Simultaneous generation of continuous wave (CW) laser and mode-locked pulses employing fiber lasers has not been realized so far to the best of our knowledge. The idea may have various specific applications in the field of photonics and optical communications. Therefore, we propose through numerical simulations a novel method for simultaneous generation of CW laser and train of mode-locked pulses based on two cascaded cavities of Erbium-doped fibers (EDFs) tunable in C+L-band (1555-1625 nm) connected through a fiber Bragg grating (FBG). A single 1480 nm pump is shared for pum** both EDFs by splitting the power between them. Pum** the EDF in first cavity generates a CW laser of linewidth of 0.01 nm tunable in 1555-1625 nm wavelength range using an intra-cavity tunable optical filter (TOF) as well as provides seed that is injected through the FBG for mode-locking in the second cavity. Injecting the seed and pum** into the second cavity generates a CW laser in the second cavity that can be at the same wavelength of the first cavity or at different wavelength in the range between 1555–1625 nm achieved by tuning the center wavelength of a tunable optical bandpass filter (TOBF) in the second cavity. The injected seed is also used in the mode-locking process in the second cavity to produce pulses at the selected wavelength of the TOBF. It is possible to have both CW and pulse train in the second cavity if the TOBF in each cavity has different center wavelength. Else, the first cavity will have CW light while the second cavity generates pulses at same wavelengths. A Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) placed inside the second cavity driven by Gaussian pulses at a repetition rate of 2 MHz realizes an active mode-locked fiber laser that generates train of pulses with full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of around 38 ns. The proposed design is optimized for the EDF length and do** concentration of \(\hbox {Er}^{3+}\) in both of the cavities. A wide tuning of 70 nm with average output powers of 22.6 dBm and 24.6 dBm are obtained for the first cavity while average output powers of 21 dBm and 22 dBm are obtained for second cavity for coupling ratios of 10% and 20%, respectively. Optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) varies from 81.4 to 99 dB for first cavity and from 60 to 87 dB for the second cavity over 1555–1625 nm wavelength range. Finally the effect of increasing the coupling ratio of first cavity on mode-locking process in the second cavity has been investigated. The proposed design of tunable cascaded EDFLs for simultaneous generation of CW laser and train of mode-locked pulses is cost-efficient, simple, and stable permitting a broad tuning of 70 nm in 1555–1625 nm wavelength range.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Germany)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The data and material generated during this study are available from the corresponding author on request.

References

  • Ahmad, H., Albaqawi, H.S., Yusoff, N., Yi, C.W.: 56 nm wide-band tunable Q-switched Erbium doped fiber laser with tungsten ditelluride (\(\text{ WTe}_2\)) saturable absorber. Sci. Rep. 10(1), 1–10 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amin, M.Z., Qureshi, K.K.: Investigation of clustering effects on erbium-doped fiber laser performance. Chin. Opt. Lett. 15(1), 010601 (2017)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Arun, S., Choudhury, V., Prakash, R., Supradeepa, V.R.: High power, tunable, continuous-wave fiber lasers in the L-band using cascaded Raman amplifiers. IEEE Photonics Technol. Lett. 30(15), 1412–1415 (2018)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Barnard, C., Myslinski, P., Chrostowski, J., Kavehrad, M.: Analytical model for rare-earth-doped fiber amplifiers and lasers. IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 30(8), 1817–1830 (1994)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Bebawi, J.A., Kandas, I., El-Osairy, M.A., Aly, M.H.: A comprehensive study on EDFA characteristics: temperature impact. Appl. Sci. 8(9), 1640 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Custom made Fiber bragg Gratings http://www.o-eland.com/FiberGratingProducts/Custom_made_FBG_P.pdf

  • Dragic, P.D.: Analytical model for injection-seeded erbium-doped fiber ring lasers. IEEE Photonics Technol Lett 17(8), 1629–1631 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Feng, T., Jiang, M., Ren, Y., Wang, M., Yan, F., Suo, Y., Yao, X.S.: High stability multiwavelength random erbium-doped fiber laser with a reflecting-filter of six-superimposed fiber-Bragg-gratings. OSA Contin 2(9), 2526–2538 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feng, H., Jalilpiran, S., Maes, F., Wang, L., LaRochelle, S.: Characterization of Giles parameters for extended L-band erbium-doped fibers. JOSA B 39(7), 1783–1791 (2022)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Harrera, R.A.P., R-Varona, P., Cobo, L.R., L-Higuera, J.M., Lopez-Amo, M.: Single longitudinal mode lasers by using artificially controlled backscattering erbium doped fibers. IEEE Access 9, 27428–27433 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He, W., Li, D., Zhu, L., Dong, M., Luo, F.: Tunable multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber laser employing PM-FBG and Mach-Zehnder interferometer with optical fiber delay line. IEEE Photonics J. 9(3), 1–8 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, F., Si, J., Chen, T., Hou, L., Hou, X.: Wide-range wavelength-tunable mode-locked fiber laser based on fiber Bragg grating. IEEE Photonics Technol. Lett. 32(17), 1025–1028 (2020)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, Z., Boscolo, S., Huang, Q., **ng, Z., Yan, Z., Chen, T., Liu, Y., Mou, C.: Generation of 64-fs L-band stretched pulses from an all-fibre Er-doped laser. Opt. Express 29(22), 34892–34899 (2021)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Iqbal, S., Raza, A., Butt, M.F.U., Mirza, J., Iqbal, M., Ghafoor, S., El-Hajjar, M.: Millimeter-wave enabled PAM-4 data transmission over hybrid FSO-MMPOF link for access networks. Opt. Rev. 28(3), 278–288 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ismail, M.A., Harun, S.W., Ahmad, H., Paul, M.C.: Passive Q-switched and mode-locked fiber lasers using carbon-based saturable absorbers. IntechOpen Fiber Laser, pp. 43-69 (2016)

  • Li, Y., Shen, Y., Tian, J., Fu, Q., Yao, Y.: Wavelength switchable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser based on polarization-dependent loss modulation. J. Lightwave Technol. 39(1), 243–250 (2021)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Li, J., Wang, C., Wang, P.: Tunable noise-like pulse and Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser. Opt. Express 30(4), 4768–4781 (2022)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, X., Zhan, L., Luo, S., Gu, Z., Liu, J., Wang, Y., Shen, Q.: Multiwavelength Erbium-doped fiber laser based on a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror assisted by un-pumped EDF. Opt. Express 20(7), 7088–7094 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, G., Zhang, F., Wu, T., Li, Z., Zhang, W., Han, K., **ng, F., Man, Z., Ge, X., Fu, S.: Single-and dual-wavelength passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser based on antimonene saturable absorber. IEEE Photonics J. 11(3), 1–11 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirza, J., Atieh, A., Kanwal, B., Ghafoor, S.: Novel pum** scheme of Holmium doped fiber amplifiers operating around 2 \(\mu\)m using 1.48 \(\mu\)m lasers exploiting cascaded fiber lasers. Optik 262, 169238 (2022)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Mirza, J., Ghafoor, S., Hussain, A.: All-optical regenerative technique for width-tunable ultra-wideband signal generation. Photonic Netw. Commun. 38(1), 98–107 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mirza, J., Ghafoor, S., Habib, N., Kanwal, F., Qureshi, K.K.: Performance evaluation of Praseodymium doped fiber amplifiers. Opt. Rev. 28(6), 611–618 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mirza, J., Ghafoor, S., Atieh, A., Kanwal, B., Qureshi, K.K.: Widely tunable and switchable multiwavelength Erbium-doped fiber laser based on a single ring cavity. JOSA B 39(4), 1118–1129 (2022)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Mirza, J., Ghafoor, S., Kousar, A., Kanwal, B., Qureshi, K.K.: Design of a continuous-wave ytterbium-doped tunable fiber laser pump for thulium-doped fiber amplifiers. Arab. J. Sci. Eng. 47(3), 3541–3549 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PM Erbium doped fiber https://fibercore.humaneticsgroup.com/products/doped-fiber/pm-erbium-doped-fiber/dhb1500

  • Salman, A.M., Salman, A.A., Al-Janabi, A.: Stable L-band multiwavelength Erbium-doped fiber laser based on four-wave mixing using nickel nanofluid. Appl. Opt. 58(22), 6136–6143 (2019)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, D., Zapata, J.D., Nascimento, R., Rosa, H.G., Saito, L.A.M., Thoroh de Souza, E.A.: Mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser based on a mechanically exfoliated ReS\({_2}\) saturable absorber onto D-shaped optical fiber. Opt. Mater. Express 12(4), 1657–1669 (2022)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Tang, M., Jiang, Y., Li, H., Zhao, Q., Cao, M., Mi, Y., Wu, L., Jian, W., Ren, W., Ren, G.: Multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser with tunable orbital angular momentum mode output. JOSA B 37(3), 834–839 (2020)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Tunable optical filters http://www.wlphotonics.com/products/Tunable_Optical_Filters.html

  • Wan, H., Cai, C., Wang, J., Wang, J., Chen, Y., Zhang, Z.: Broadband tunable single-longitudinal-mode erbium-doped fiber ring laser based on a microfiber knot resonator. Appl. Opt. 59(34), 10929–10932 (2020)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, F., Dong, J., Xu, E., Zhang, X.: All-optical UWB generation and modulation using SOA-XPM effect and DWDM-based multi-channel frequency discrimination. Opt. Express 18(24), 24588–24594 (2010)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, T., Yan, Z., Huang, Q., Zou, C., Mou, C., Zhou, K., Zhang, L.: Mode-locked erbium-doped fiber lasers using \(45^{o}\) tilted fiber grating. IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. 24(3), 1–6 (2018)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Wei, D., Feng, T., Sun, W., Yan, F., Yao, X.S.: Widely wavelength-swept single-longitudinal-mode fiber laser with ultra-narrow linewidth in C+ L-band. IEEE Photonics J. 14(4), 1–10 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, W., Liu, Y., **ao, L., Yang, Z.: Wavelength-tunable Erbium-doped fiber ring laser employing an acousto-optic filter. J. Lightwave Technol. 28(1), 118–122 (2010)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Yao, J.: Microwave photonics. J. Lightwave Technol. 27(3), 314–335 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Yeh, C.-H., Huang, T.-J., Yang, Z.-Q., Chow, C.-W., Chen, J.-H.: Stable single-longitudinal-mode erbium fiber ring laser utilizing self-injection and saturable absorber. IEEE Photonics J. 9(6), 1–6 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeh, C.-H., You, W.-Y., Chen, J.-R., Lin, W.-P., Chow, C.-W., Chen, J.-H.: A single-mode erbium fiber laser with flat power output and wide wavelength tunability. IEEE Photonics J. 12(6), 1–5 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeh, C.-H., You, W.-Y., Chen, J.-R., Chow, C.-W., Lin, W.-P.: An erbium fiber laser with single-frequency oscillation and wavelength-upconverted output. IEEE Photonics J. 12(5), 1–7 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeh, C.-H., Lai, Y.-T., Liu, L.-H., Ko, H.-S., Lai, Y.-T., Chen, Y.-C., Chow, C.-W.: Use of simple octa-ring configuration for tunable Erbium laser with single-mode output. IEEE Access 10, 38750–38754 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeh, C.-H., Liu, L.-H., Ko, H.-S., Lai, Y.-T., Chow, C.-W.: A selectable single-mode Erbium fiber laser with Mach-Zehnder interferometer and Rayleigh injection scheme. IEEE Photonics J. 14(3), 1–4 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yusoff, R.A.M., Jafry, A.A.A., Kasim, N., Zulkipli, N.F., Samsamnun, F.S.M., Yasin, M., Harun, S.W.: Q-switched and mode-locked Erbium-doped fiber laser using gadolinium oxide as saturable absorber. Opt. Fiber Technol. 57, 102209 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, Q., Pei, L., Zheng, J., Tang, M., **e, Y., Li, J., Ning, T.: Switchable, widely tunable and interval-adjustable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser based on cascaded filters. J. Lightwave Technol. 38(8), 2428–2433 (2020)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

No funding was received for conducting this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, Mirpur University of Science and Technology, Mirpur (AJK), Pakistan

    Benish Kanwal & Muhammad Sajid

  2. Optiwave Systems Inc., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Ahmad Atieh

  3. SEECS Photonics Research Group, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Jawad Mirza

  4. Electrical Engineering Department, HITEC University Taxila, Taxila, Pakistan

    Jawad Mirza

Authors
  1. Benish Kanwal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ahmad Atieh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Muhammad Sajid
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jawad Mirza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

AA and JM introduced the concept and model, BK and JM did the simulations, BK and MS wrote the paper, AA and JM proofread the paper, BK prepared the plots and figures and validated the results, and JM supervised this project.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jawad Mirza.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there are no competing interests including financial interests directly or indirectly related to the work submitted.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file 1 (rar 1749 KB)

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kanwal, B., Atieh, A., Sajid, M. et al. Cascaded C+L-band tunable erbium-doped fiber lasers for simultaneous generation of continuous wave and mode-locked pulses. Opt Quant Electron 55, 331 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-023-04631-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-023-04631-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation