Abstract

We have demonstrated experimentally simultaneous generation of wavelength-switchable picosecond laser pulses by using a self-seeding configuration that consists of a gain-switched Fabry-Perot laser diode (FP-LD) with an external cavity formed by a tilted multimode fiber Bragg grating (MMFBG). Wavelength-switchable picosecond pulses are obtained and can be switched in a flexible manner by changing the temperature of FP-LD and the modal distribution in the grating. The generation and wavelength switching of short pulses are demonstrated experimentally at 9 discrete wavelengths. The laser pulses have a side mode suppression ratio better than 25dB and a pulsewidth of ~42ps. In particular, we could also obtain dual- and triple-wavelength laser pulses by adjusting the polarization controller carefully in the experiment. This simple laser offers considerable flexibility for various applications such as fiber laser sensors.

© 2010 Optical Society of America