A nonlinear optical loop mirror-based linear cavity swit- chable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser

A nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM)-based linear cavity switchable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Due to the characteristics of the intensity-dependent transmissivity, the NOLM can effectively mitigate the mode competition of the homogenous broadening gain medium, so that the multi-wavelength lasing can be achieved at room temperature. By adjusting the states of the polarization controllers (PCs), the number of the lasing wavelengths in the proposed laser can be adjusted flexibly from 11 to 13 with a wavelength spacing of 0.4 nm around the wavelength of 1 530 nm.