Active mode locking of tunable multi-wavelength fiber ring laser

We report an active mode-locked tunable multiple-wavelength fiber laser constructed using a unidirectional ring cavity combined with an amplitude modulator and a single sampled fiber Bragg grating (SFBG). Simultaneous generation of up to six-wavelength picosecond pulses with identical repetition rate and a wavelength spacing of about 1.6 nm (200 GHz) is demonstrated. The spectral width and side-mode suppression ratio are 0.01 nm and 40 dB for all the wavelengths. The average output power is 4.5 dBm and the supermode noise suppression is more than 40 dB. The equal-step wavelength tuning over a range of 1.6 nm for all the wavelengths has also been achieved by applying tension to the SFBG. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.