Compact continuous wave optical parametric amplifier for tunable 1.44–1.50 µm laser radiation

We experimentally demonstrate an all-fiber optical parametric amplifier (OPA) for generating widely tunable 1.44-1.50 μm laser. The OPA is achieved by simultaneously injecting a continuous wave (CW) 1533.4 nm fiber laser and a tunable laser into a 2-km long highly nonlinear fiber (HNF). Idler wave of 1439.98 nm wavelength with low threshold of 13.62 mW and narrow bandwidth of 0.1 nm is obtained in the experiment. By varying the lasing wavelength of the tunable laser from 1639.8 to 1564.8 nm, the wavelength of generated idler wave can be widely tuned from 1439.98 to 1503.20 nm. Such OPA provides a simple and accessible scheme for generating tunable 1.44-1.50 μm fiber laser source.