Experimental characterization of an Yb3+-doped fiber ring laser with frequency-shifted feedback

✍ Scribed by V.V. Ogurtsov; L.P. Yatsenko; V.M. Khodakovskyy; B.W. Shore; G. Bonnet; K. Bergmann

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 537 KB
• Volume: 266
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0030-4018
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optcom.2006.05.026

✦ Synopsis

We present experimental characteristics of an Yb 3+ -doped fiber ring laser operating with frequency-shifted feedback (FSF) through an acousto-optic modulator (AOM) and seeded by both a stationary continuous-wave (CW) laser and spontaneous emission. We show the spectrum and output characteristics for operations with several effective gain bandwidths, as established by Fabry-Perot etalons inside the cavity. Observation using a high finesse Fabry-Perot interferometer shows that, as expected from earlier work, although the spectrum of the FSF laser without seeding is continuous, when seeded by a CW-laser the spectrum consists of a comb of discrete modes, each offset from the seed by an integer number of AOM frequency shifts. The experimental results are in excellent quantitative agreement with the theory developed earlier [L. Yatsenko, B.W. Shore, K. Bergmann, Opt. Commun. 236 (2004) 183].