FIBER LASER AND BEAT FREQUENCY SOURCES BASED ON FIBER GRATINGS FOR MICROWAVE AND ULTRAFAST PROCESSING

Various configurations are described for totally integrated, all-fibre single and dual frequency lasers. Instrument limited linewidths of < 15 kHz have been obtained for both the single and dual frequency sourc es. Increased stability and reduced linewidths have been demonstrated by the introduction of novel, coupled-cavity configurations incorporat ing in-fibre Bragg gratings as the laser cavity reflectors. Dual frequ ency sources operating from a few tens of gigahertz to 1 THz have been demonstrated and, with the integration of fibre amplifiers, average p ower levels in excess of 1 W have been obtained, which are highly suit able for nonlinear conversion.