Tunable SESAM-Based Mode-Locked Soliton Fiber Laser in Linear Cavity by Axial-Strain Applied to an FBG

A self-started stable tunable mode-locked soliton fiber laser in a linear cavity structure composed by commercial passive elements is presented in this paper. It is based on the combination of an erbium-doped fiber as the active medium, and a saturated fiber Bragg grating (FBG) as a partial mirror of the cavity. The other side of the cavity consists of a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror acting also as the mode-locking device. The central wavelength of the FBG is selected by the application of axial strain giving rise to a tunable soliton over 8.6 nm on the C band with a variable spacing of 0.01 nm. The laser delivers 18.9 ps long pulses with a 0.14 nm bandwidth, an 8.2 MHz repetition rate, a pulse energy of 89 pJ, and a peak power of 4.71 W.