Combined mutual pulse injection-seeding and active mode locking system for wavelength tunable optical short pulse...

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Laser Technology
• Optical Engineering
• Fiber Optics

Background:

• Generating tunable optical short pulses is crucial for various applications in telecommunications and spectroscopy.
• Existing methods often face limitations in stability, tunability, or complexity.
• Simultaneous injection-seeding and active mode-locking offer potential for enhanced pulse generation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and demonstrate a combined system for simultaneous two-way mutual pulse injection-seeding and active mode-locking.
• To achieve wavelength tunable optical short pulse generation with high stability and performance.
• To characterize the generated optical pulses in terms of stability, side-mode suppression ratio, and pulse width.

Main Methods:

• The system integrates two gain-switched Fabry-Pérot laser diodes.
• A bidirectional erbium-doped fiber amplifier is employed for signal amplification.
• A tunable optical filter and a coupler are utilized for wavelength selection and pulse management.

Main Results:

• The generated optical pulses exhibit good stability.
• A high side-mode suppression ratio exceeding 30 dB was achieved.
• A wide wavelength tuning range of 41 nm was demonstrated.
• The pulse width was measured to be approximately 45 picoseconds.
• The repetition frequency was around 2571.61 MHz.

Conclusions:

• The combined system effectively supports simultaneous injection-seeding and active mode-locking for optical short pulse generation.
• The developed system offers a stable and tunable source of high-quality optical pulses.
• This technology has potential applications in wavelength-division multiplexing systems and optical signal processing.