Switchable, dual-wavelength passively mode-locked ultrafast fiber laser based on a single-wall carbon nanotube modelocker and intracavity loss tuning

We demonstrate a dual-wavelength passively mode-locked soliton fiber laser based on the single-wall carbon nanotube saturable absorber. By using a simple scheme of adjusting the intracavity loss, the gain profile of the erbium-doped fiber laser is effectively controlled. Besides operating at a single wavelength, the laser is able to simultaneously generate sub-picosecond pulses at both similar to 1532 and 1557 nm wavelength. The mode-locking wavelength can also be quickly switched from one wavelength to the other by changing the intracavity loss with a tunable attenuator. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America