Switchable and spacing-tunable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fibre lasers

Two switchable and spacing-tunable dual-wavelength linear cavity erbium-doped fibre lasers are demonstrated experimentally. One of them utilizes a Bragg grating in polarization-maintained PANDA fibre and the other uses a Bragg grating in standard single mode fibre for wavelength selection. Both exploit the birefringence characteristics of the FBG induced by transverse strain. The proposed lasers can be made to operate in stable dual-wavelength or switch between two wavelengths at room temperature just by simple adjustment of a polarization controller. Transverse strain loading on the FBG allows the wavelength spacing to be controlled.