Simultaneous four-wavelength lasing oscillations in an erbium-doped fiber laser with two high birefringence fiber Bragg gratings

A novel multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber laser configuration is proposed and demonstrated. The laser can produce simultaneous four-wavelength lasing oscillations with a minimum wavelength spacing of only 0.36 nm in C-band via using two fiber Bragg gratings written in high birefringence fiber, while ensuring fairly stable room-temperature operation. The laser can also achieve switching modes among four wavelengths by simple adjustment of two polarization controllers in the cavities. The configuration is based on the polarization hole burning and overlapping cavities principle. The laser has the advantages of simple all-fiber configuration, low cost, high stability and operating at room temperature. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.