Spectral and Repetition Rate Programmable Fiber Laser

We have demonstrated a spectral and repetition rate programmable Yb-doped fiber laser (YDFL) employing an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) as both the intra-cavity spectral filter and temporal modulator. The AOTF was driven with specially programmed sequences of wave packets enabling different pulsed operation modes including tunable single-wavelength, simultaneous dual-wavelength, and alternative dual-wavelength lasing at different repetition rates in one configuration. The maximal wavelength tuning range of 88 nm covering 1024 to 1112 nm was achieved for this YDFL by properly adjusting the waveform of each drive wave packet. Stable pulse trains with repetition rate from 10 to 130 kHz could be obtained within most of the wavelength tuning range for all available operation modes by changing the time interval between adjacent drive wave packets. It is believed that the combination of both spectral and temporal control without moving elements has paved a promising approach towards the development of a simple yet versatile fiber laser for a wide range of applications including spectroscopy, telecommunication, and Lidar.