Generation of wavelength-switchable nanosecond mode-locked pulses in an Erbium/Ytterbium co-doped fiber laser cavity

Abstract

This article experimentally demonstrates the generation of mode-locked (ML) pulses, which can operate either at 1568 nm or 1608 nm in an Erbium/Ytterbium co-doped fiber laser cavity (EYDF). The wavelength switching was achieved by adjusting the cavity loss. Depending on the cavity length and losses, the laser could operate in either mode-locked (ML) or Q-switched (QS) regimes. We explored the characteristics of the QS and ML pulses, based on the pump power, cavity length and loss. The laser produced stable QS pulses with a repetition rate of 22.73 kHz and a width of 12.2 μs at a pump power of 3.1 W at 1608 nm, for a 30 m long cavity. The laser produced 520 ns ML pulses at 1568 nm with a repetition rate of 877 kHz, average output power of 2.15 mW, and energy of 2.45 nJ with an additional single-mode fiber (SMF) length 200 m at the same pump power. The laser could switch to 1608 nm wavelength when the cavity losses were adjusted.