Demonstration of multi-wavelength tunable fiber lasers based on a digital micromirror device processor

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Laser Technology
• Fiber Optics

Background:

• Tunable fiber lasers are crucial for optical communications and spectroscopy.
• Existing tunable filters often lack flexibility and independent channel control.
• Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) technology offers potential for advanced optical filtering.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a multi-port tunable fiber laser system.
• To leverage a DMD as a multi-wavelength narrow-band tunable filter.
• To achieve independent wavelength switching across arbitrary output ports within the C-band.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a digital micromirror device (DMD) as the core tunable filter component.
• Configuring a fiber laser cavity to incorporate the DMD for wavelength selection.
• Implementing automatic power control and polarization design for stable output.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated independent switching of lasing wavelength channels from arbitrary output ports across the entire C-band.
• Achieved excellent tuning capacity and consistency with a 0.02 nm linewidth and 0.055 nm tuning step.
• Maintained a side-mode suppression ratio > 60 dB, power uniformity < 0.008 dB, and wavelength fluctuation < 0.02 nm over 2 hours.

Conclusions:

• The DMD-based tunable fiber laser offers flexible, independent control of multiple wavelength channels.
• The demonstrated system exhibits high performance metrics suitable for advanced optical applications.
• This approach provides a versatile platform for multi-wavelength fiber laser generation.