Quadruple-wavelength actively mode-locked fiber laser with polarization-controlled wavelength switching

An actively mode-locked fiber laser with two overlapping cavities is proposed and successfully demonstrated to generate switchable quadruple-wavelength picosecond pulses. The wavelengths are specified by two Bragg gratings in polarization-maintaining and absorption-reducing fiber. By simple adjustment of two polarization controllers, the proposed laser can be made to operate at quadruple wavelength or to switch between wavelengths at room temperature. For wavelength switching, four single-wavelength, six dual-wavelength, and four triple-wavelength operations were performed without changing the repetition rate of the output pulses.