Sub-nanometer tuning of mode-locked pulse by mechanical strain on tapered fiber

A tunable mode-locked fiber laser based on the non-linear polarization rotation (NPR) technique is proposed and demonstrated. A passively generated mode-locked output is obtained with a repetition rate of about 70 ns and an average output power of 0.7 mW, as well as a laser efficiency of 0.53%. The mode-locked pulses can be tuned over a span of 4.4 nm, from 1560.6 nm to 1556.2, corresponding to a stretching of the tapered fiber from 0 to 100 µm in 10 µm increments. The pulses have an average signal-to-noise ratio of about 41 dB in the frequency domain, indicating a highly stable mode-locked output. The system can repeat and reverse the generation of these pulses, a crucial criterion of many communications and sensing applications.