Multiwavelength mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser based on the interaction of graphene and fiber-taper evanescent field

We report on the generation of multiwavelength passively mode-locked pulses in an erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) based on the interaction of graphene and fiber-taper evanescent field. Graphene-polymer nanocomposites in aqueous suspension are trapped by the optical evanescent light and deposited on taper region. The graphene-deposited fiber-taper device not only acts as an excellent saturable absorber for mode-locking, but also induces a polarizing effect to form an artificial birefringent filter for multiwavelength selection. By simultaneously exploiting both functions of this device, four-wavelength continuous-wave mode-locking operation of an EDFL is stably initiated with a pulse width of 8.8 ps and a fundamental repetition rate of 8.034 MHz. This is the first time, to our knowledge, the mode-locked EDFL using such a new geometry of graphene-based tapered-fiber saturable absorber has been demonstrated.