Ultra-narrow linewidth, stable and tunable laser source for optical communication systems and spectroscopy

A novel ultra-narrow linewidth, stable and tunable single-line laser source is demonstrated and experimentally performed. The single spectral line laser is achieved by selecting and amplifying one spectral comb line of a femtosecond-fiber laser via polarization pulling assisted stimulated Brillouin scattering. Stabilization and tuning is performed by additional modulation. First proof of concept results show possible linewidths below 1 Hz and an SNR of 47 dB with a tunability of more than 100 nm and a relative stability of +/- 160 mHz over 5 h. Such a laser source gives high potential for many different applications like spectroscopy and optical communications. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America