Tunable self-seeded multiwavelength Brillouin–erbium fiber laser using an in-line two-taper Mach–Zehnder interferometer

A tunable self-seeded multiwavelength Brillouin–erbium fiber laser (BEFL) using an in-line two-taper Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. In this scheme, the Brillouin pump is self-excited, then used to seed the Brillouin Stokes lines by cascaded stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in the single mode fiber (SMF). The wavelength of output multiwavelength comb is tuned by bending an in-line two-taper MZI filter made of standard SMF. The generation of up to 35 wavelength comb with uniform power distribution has been obtained. The central wavelength of the multiwavelength comb has 11 nm tuning range, and the tuning process is quantifiable.

Hightlights
► Brillouin pump is self-excited.
► No special fiber except a standard Corning SMF-28 fiber is required.
► This tuning mechanism is easy to be quantified by bending the MZI.
► Up to 35 wavelength comb with 11 nm tuning range is obtained.
► This BEFL has a good stability.