Wavelength-switched optical pulse generation in a fiber ring laser with a Fabry-Perot semiconductor modulator and a sampled fiber Bragg grating

A simple mode-locked fiber ring laser for generating wavelength-switched picosecond pulses was developed in which a laser diode played the role of both an intensity modulator and a tunable filter. A serially cascaded sampled fiber Bragg grating predefined the set of four allowable output wavelengths spaced 1.6 nm apart. Wavelength switching between the longest and shortest wavelengths required only a temperature change of the laser diode by 7.63/spl deg/C.