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Single-longitudinal-mode broadband tunable random laser

Article  in  Optics Letters · August 2017

DOI: 10.1364/OL.42.003247

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 Letter Vol. 42, No. 16 / August 15 2017 / Optics Letters 3247

Single-longitudinal-mode broadband tunable

random laser
HEBA SHAWKI,1 HUSSEIN KOTB,1,* AND DIAA KHALIL2
1
Transmission Department, National Telecommunication Institute, 5 Mahmoud Elmiligui, 6 District, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt
2
Faculty of Engineering, Ain-Shams University, 1 Elsarayat St. Abbassia, Cairo, Egypt
*Corresponding author: [email protected]

Received 17 May 2017; revised 7 July 2017; accepted 25 July 2017; posted 26 July 2017 (Doc. ID 296118); published 15 August 2017

In this work, we demonstrate a broadband tunable single- itself as random reflections from random Bragg gratings in-
longitudinal-mode (SLM) random laser based on Rayleigh scribed along a fiber core or Rayleigh backscattering along a
backscattering in a standard single-mode fiber. The wide Raman amplifying fiber [10–13]. The second category includes
tuning range of this SLM fiber laser over 1500–1570 nm random lasers with passive scattering sources and a regular
is demonstrated with a linewidth of 4.5–30 kHz. The tun- separate gain medium [14–18]. The randomly distributed
ing is achieved using a tunable bandpass Fabry–Perot filter, Rayleigh backscattering from a long optical fiber cable is con-
and a semiconductor optical amplifier is used as the wide- sidered as an interesting low-cost passive scattering source to
bandwidth gain medium. The laser is able to operate in the generate SLM lasers. Random lasers based on erbium-doped
S + C + L band. © 2017 Optical Society of America fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) have been successfully implemented
OCIS codes: (140.0140) Lasers and laser optics; (140.3510) Lasers,
to achieve SLM with kilohertz linewidths [10,14–18]. The out-
put power of that laser is in the range of milliwatts, obtained by
fiber; (140.3570) Lasers, single-mode; (140.3600) Lasers, tunable;
commercially available optical components. Tunable SLM ran-
(250.5980) Semiconductor optical amplifiers.
dom lasers with very limited bandwidths (gigahertz range) were
https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.42.003247 also previously demonstrated using laser cavities with EDFAs as
the gain media and Bragg grating filters were used for tuning
[15]. A wider tuning range, of the order of a few nanometers,
has been demonstrated using a Raman amplifier with a wider
Single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) fiber lasers with broad tuning
gain bandwidth product. However, it requires a pump laser
ranges have many applications in telecommunication systems,
power of the order of a few watts [11–13], which makes it more
high-resolution spectroscopy, optical precision metrology, opti-
complicated and much more expensive.
cal fiber sensing, and many other applications [1].
In this study, we report a novel structure to implement a
Increasing the length of the optical cavity is one of the tech-
broadband tunable SLM random laser using a semiconductor
niques used for the reduction of the laser linewidth. However,
long-cavity fiber lasers usually have multilongitudinal mode op- optical amplifier (SOA) as the gain medium and a simple tunable
eration [2]. Many techniques have been reported in the liter- Fabry–Perot (FP) filter. The SOA can be integrated with other
ature to keep SLM operation [3–8]. Coupled-cavity-based fiber optical devices on the same substrate; it has a small size, wide
lasers can operate in SLM operation, depending on the free bandwidth, and can be produced with low cost in mass produc-
spectral range (FSR) of the cavities [4–8] if the resultant tion [19,20]. In addition, the SOA can be easily modulated for
FSR of the system is wider than the gain spectrum of the used telecommunication and sensing applications. A tuning range of
amplifier. This can be achieved for certain ranges of the cavity greater than 70 nm is demonstrated by this technique, keeping at
lengths as reported by Terentyev et al. [8] using the Vernier the same time a SLM operation with a linewidth as low as few
effect. However, the implementation of the fiber reflection kHz. The random reflections from the scattering points in the
interferometer with very narrow linewidth was quite compli- fiber interfere constructively at some frequencies separated by
cated [8]. On the other hand, random lasers have proven their random locations in the spectral domain. The amplitude and
capability to generate SLM lasers. In these lasers, the Rayleigh phase of the reflected light at these frequencies are quite different
backscattering from the randomly distributed reflecting points due to the random places and reflection coefficients of the scat-
act as an optical filter with ultranarrow bandwidth [9]. This tering points. They could be distributed over a wide range of
usually results in a mirror with reduced a reflection coefficient wavelengths due to the wide spectral gain of the amplifier.
that in turn increases the total loss of the laser cavity. Many The use of a narrow filter limits the constructive oscillations
techniques are used to obtain a random laser. However, they for only one frequency within the filter passband response that
can essentially be classified into two categories. The first cat- satisfies the gain and phase conditions. This results in single-
egory includes random lasers with disordered gain media. In mode operation. Also, the gain saturation of the amplifier assists
this case, the scattering points are present within the gain media the occurrence of the single-mode operation [11].

0146-9592/17/163247-04 Journal © 2017 Optical Society of America

 3248 Vol. 42, No. 16 / August 15 2017 / Optics Letters Letter

The proposed random laser setup is shown in Fig. 1. Its con-

figuration consists of a SOA that acts as a gain medium over the
range of 1450–1600 nm, with a small signal gain of nominal
value 19 dB and a polarization-dependent gain of 2 dB.
A polarization controller (PC) is inserted to align the polariza-
tion state of the lasing mode with the polarization of the maxi-
mum gain of the SOA. The tunable filter used in the
experimental setup is a mechanical FP filter with a tuning range
of 80 nm from 1500 to 1580 nm and a nominal 3 dB band- Fig. 2. (a) Laser-current–optical-power characteristic at a lasing
width of 1 nm. The second mirror of the laser system is formed wavelength of 1542 nm. (b) Laser spectrum.
by a multilayer coating deposited on the fiber tip, producing a
reflectivity of 0.98 at the operating wavelength range.
A standard single-mode fiber of length (L) 1 km that has an
attenuation coefficient (α) of 0.2 dB/km and a numerical aper- is 92.5 mW/A. The relatively low slope efficiency and high
ture (NA) of 0.14 at 1550 nm is used. The Rayleigh backscat- threshold current are mainly due to the reduced value of reflec-
tering coefficient from the fiber (r) is given as r
2kα, where k tivity caused by Rayleigh backscattering in the long single-
represents the fraction of the captured backscattered power in the mode fiber [15]. The output optical spectrum of the laser is
guided mode of the single-mode fiber [16]. It is given as [21] also measured using an optical spectrum analyzer and plotted
in Fig. 2(b). The resolution bandwidth of the optical spectrum
3 1 NA2
k
 2 2 ; (1) analyzer was adjusted to its minimum value of 0.07 nm. The
2 V 2 w2o n plot shows a single-mode operation that is verified by using an
a
RF spectrum analyzer.
where V is the normalized frequency of the optical fiber, a is the The spectrum shows no stimulated Brillouin scattering.
core radius, wo is the mode radius, and n is the core refractive This complies with the estimate value of the Brillouin threshold
index. The power reflection coefficient (R) due to Rayleigh back- pump power calculated from [22]
scattering, defined as the ratio between the output Rayleigh
g B P cr L∕Aeff ≈ 21; (3)
backscattered power and the SOA output power, can be analyti-
cally derived from the rate equations of the Rayleigh pump where P cr is the threshold pump power at which Brillouin starts
power (P p ) and the Rayleigh backscattering power (P RS ) given to occur, Aeff is effective mode area of the single-mode fiber, and
by [16,17] as g B is the Brillouin gain for silica fibers that equals approximately
r 5 × 10−11 m∕W. The Brillouin threshold pump power was cal-
R
1 − exp−2αL: (2) culated to be 33 mW, which is higher than the maximum lasing
2α power [Fig. 2(a)]. The length of the single-mode fiber was thus
The boundary conditions are P RS L
0 and optimized to be 1 km in order to have sufficient backscattering
P p 0
P po . Based on the used SMF specifications, R is power to satisfy the lasing condition and, at the same time, sup-
calculated to be −38 dB. Under these conditions, the nominal press the stimulated Brillouin scattering. Therefore, based on the
value of the round trip net small signal gain, including the previous analysis, we utilize the Rayleigh backscattering to pro-
polarization-dependent gain of the SOA, for a 1 km fiber length duce a SLM laser with very narrow linewidth. This is quite differ-
is positive, which satisfies the lasing condition. ent from the laser configuration reported in [23], which used the
An optical isolator is used at the output of the laser to elimi- Rayleigh backscattering to only reduce the linewidth of the
nate backreflections from external elements by imposing a loss of Brillouin fiber laser.
about 50 dB in the reverse direction. This practically eliminates The threshold current is plotted as a function of the oper-
the Fresnel reflection from the other end of the single-mode fiber. ating wavelength in Fig. 3. The values of the threshold current
The laser output is thus measured at the other optical fiber end. vary between 100 and 140 mA. The shape of the threshold
For the tunable filter adjusted at 1542 nm, the output current variation with wavelength is reflecting (to a good ex-
power of the laser system is plotted in Fig. 2(a) as a function tent) the fiber loss variation with wavelength. The slight
of the SOA bias current. From this plot, the laser threshold
current is estimated to be 100 mA and the slope efficiency

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the widely tunable random laser.

SOA, semiconductor optical amplifier; SMF, single-mode fiber; Fig. 3. Plot of threshold current at different tuning wavelengths for
PC, polarization controller; TOBPF, tunable optical bandpass filter. the laser.
 Letter Vol. 42, No. 16 / August 15 2017 / Optics Letters 3249

Fig. 4. Variation of the tunable filter insertion loss with the tuning
Fig. 6. Self-heterodyne spectra measured by the electrical spectrum
wavelength.
analyzer (ESA) at a lasing wavelength of 1542 nm at different SOA bias
currents.

deviation could be due to the wavelength-dependent loss of the

other components in the cavity, as will be seen. ratio was measured for each lasing wavelength. It has a nominal
The main factors affecting the laser threshold current and value of 45 dB that is very close to what is reported in [25].
the slope efficiency of the proposed system are the SOA gain, The linewidth measurement is a good indication of the
the insertion loss of the tunable filter, and the value of the short-term frequency stability. However, the long-term fre-
Rayleigh backscattered power. Their variation with wavelength quency stability will be measured in the future.
governs the spectral variation of the two parameters: the laser The linewidth of our tunable laser was measured using the self-
threshold and the slope efficiency. delayed heterodyne technique [26]. The length of the delay fiber
The gain of the SOA has a local maximum at 1542 nm. It is was selected to be 68 km to ensure accurate measurement of the
well known that the Rayleigh backscattered power in the fiber is linewidth. The frequency resolution of the linewidth is calculated
proportional to λ−4 [24], and thus we are expecting lower back- to be 1.47 kHz [27]. An acousto-optical modulator that provides a
scattering power at longer wavelengths. Figure 4 shows the in- frequency shift of 90 MHz is inserted in one of the arms of the
sertion loss of the tunable filter as a function of the wavelength. Mach–Zehnder interferometer. Figure 6 shows the RF spectra of
Although the filter insertion loss is reduced by about 1 dB within the laser cavity at different SOA bias currents measured by a Rohde
the wavelength range of interest, the high value of loss due to the and Schwarz FSP electrical spectrum analyzer (ESA), at a lasing
reduced value of Rayleigh backscattered power and the reduction wavelength of 1542 nm. Since the total cavity length is approx-
of the SOA gain after 1542 nm leads to lower slope efficiency imately 1 km, the expected separation between the longitudinal
and higher losses in the cavity at longer wavelengths. This results modes of the cavity, caused by any unwanted backreflection at
in an increase of the threshold current for wavelengths greater the end of the long single-mode fiber, is ∼100 kHz. Therefore,
than 1542 nm (Fig. 3). Furthermore, the infrared loss leads the span of the ESA was adjusted at around 1 MHz to demonstrate
to increasing the threshold current and reducing the slope effi- any multimode operation of the laser source.
ciency at lasing wavelengths above 1560 nm. As shown in Fig. 6, we do not notice any side longitudinal
The output spectra of the tunable fiber laser are shown in modes. The minimum linewidth was found at each lasing
Fig. 5. Eleven lasing wavelengths are depicted in the figure in wavelength close to the laser threshold; it was measured to
the range from 1500 to 1570 nm. The bias current of the SOA be 5.2 kHz at a wavelength of 1542 nm.
at the lasing wavelengths is 300 mA. The optical signal-to-noise We observe that the linewidth of the lasing wavelength in-
creases with the bias current of the SOA, and then it decreases
with increasing SOA current. The change of linewidth of the
laser with the SOA bias current is plotted in Fig. 7 for four

Fig. 5. Wavelength tuning of the laser measured by the optical Fig. 7. Variation of the linewidth of the laser with the SOA bias
spectrum analyzer. current at different tuning wavelengths.
 3250 Vol. 42, No. 16 / August 15 2017 / Optics Letters Letter

lasing wavelengths. It is obvious that the linewidth of the lasing 5. C.-H. Yeh, J.-Y. Chen, H.-Z. Chen, J.-H. Chen, and C.-W. Chow, IEEE
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