Fundamental Thermal Noise in Distributed Feedback Fiber Lasers

A detailed analysis of fundamental thermal frequency noise in distributed feedback fiber lasers (DFB FL) is presented. An expression relating the laser frequency noise spectrum to the spectrum of thermal (temperature) fluctuations in the fiber, accounting for the nontrivial DFB FL mode shape, is derived. A new expression for the thermal fluctuation spectrum of single-mode optical fiber is derived which predicts high-frequency thermal noise 3 dB higher than previously published results. Theoretical predictions are compared against experimental measurements for a well characterized DFB FL. Anomalous 1/f noise at low frequency is discussed