Electrical wavelength tunable and multiwavelength actively mode-locked fiber ring laser

Electrical single-and dual-wavelength tuning and three-wavelength operation of an actively mode-locked fiber ring laser generating picosecond pulses were demonstrated by using a cavity with large dispersion. A continuous tuning range up to similar to 37 nm of single-wavelength picosecond pulses at similar to 1 GHz was achieved by only changing the modulation frequency. Continuous wavelength tuning of dual-wavelength (18.5 nm spacing) 3 GHz picosecond pulses was also demonstrated with a tuning range up to similar to 17 nm. The tuning ranges were mainly limited by the gain bandwidth of the Er-doped fiber. Simultaneous generation of three-wavelength picosecond pulses at similar to 2 GHz was also demonstrated by further increasing the cavity dispersion. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.