Lasing wavelength and spacing switchable multiwavelength fiber laser from 1510 to 1620 nm

We experimentally demonstrate a flexibly switchable multiwavelength fiber laser with multiple functionalities like a wide tuning range of lasing wavelength, wavelength spacing, and the number of channels simultaneously. The lasing wavelength is controlled in the range from 1510 to 1620 nm based on the effect of nonlinear gain compression of a semiconductor optical amplifier incorporated with an erbium-doped fiber amplifier. The wavelength spacing and the number of channels in the multiwavelength fiber laser are readily controlled by the effective length of polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF) segments in the intracavity PMF Lyot-Sagnac filter.