Tunable Multiwavelength Fiber Ring Lasers Based on an Opto-VLSI Processor

We propose and experimentally demonstrate the principle of a tunable multiwavelength fiber ring laser based on the use of an opto-very-large-scale-integration (Opto-VLSI) processor in conjunction with an erbium-doped fiber amplifier and a semiconductor optical amplifier. Multiple wavelength channels within the gain range of the optical amplifiers can independently be generated, tuned and/or switched on/off, through applying appropriate phase holograms onto the Opto-VLSI processor. A tunable five-wavelength fiber ring laser of output power of around +6 dBm per channel and a sidemode suppression ratio (SMSR) greater than 30 dB is demonstrated. The tunable multiwavelength fiber lasers have excellent stability at room temperature.