A tunable multi-wavelength laser based on a Mach–Zehnder interferometer with photonic crystal fiber

In this paper a tunable multi-wavelength erbium doped fiber laser, based on a Mach–Zehnder interferometer, is presented. Here the interferometer is achieved by splicing a piece of photonic crystal fiber (PCF) between two segments of a single-mode fiber. The laser can emit a single, double, triple or quadruple line, which can be tuned from 1530 to 1556 nm by controlling the polarization state. Finally it is shown, by experimental results, that the laser has high stability at room temperature.