Effect of Rayleigh-scattering distributed feedback on multiwavelength Raman fiber laser generation

We experimentally demonstrate a Raman fiber laser based on multiple point-action fiber Bragg grating reflectors and distributed feedback via Rayleigh scattering in an similar to 22-km-long optical fiber. Twenty-two lasing lines with spacing of similar to 100 GHz (close to International Telecommunication Union grid) in the C band are generated at the watt level. In contrast to the normal cavity with competition between laser lines, the random distributed feedback cavity exhibits highly stable multiwavelength generation with a power-equalized uniform distribution, which is almost independent on power. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America