High performance fiber laser resonator for dual band (C and L) sensing

Abstract

This work presents an experimental analysis and comparison of the performance of quasi-randomly distributed reflectors inscribed into a single-mode fiber as a sensing mirror both in C- and L-band. Single-wavelength emission has been obtained in either band when using these artificially controlled backscattering fiber reflectors in a ring-cavity fiber laser. Single-longitudinal mode operation with an optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) of 47 dB and an output power instability as low as 0.04 dB have been measured when employing a C-band optical amplifier. When replaced by an L-band optical amplifier, a single-longitudinal mode behavior has also been obtained, showing an OSNR of 44 dB and an output power instability of 0.09 dB. Regarding their performance as fiber-laser sensing systems, very similar temperature and strain sensitivities have been obtained in both bands, comparable to fiber Bragg grating sensors in the case of temperature and one order of magnitude higher in the case of strain variations.