The Effects of Intra-Cavity Losses on Coherent Combining in a Mach-Zehnder Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser Cavity

摘要

Effects of the intra-cavity losses on coherent combining in a Mach-Zehnder Erbium-doped fiber laser cavity were experimentally demonstrated. A FBG with 4% reflectivity replaced the cleaved facet with 4% Fresnel reflection. This output port can emit the maximal coherent output power only when the outputs of one-arm pumped laser are balanceable. The maximal coherent output can emit from the FBG and is approximately four times the single output of the one-arm pumped laser. When the cavity losses are decreased, the unbalance between the two outputs is aggravated. The maximal coherent output emits from the port with the isolator, and the coherent output will not reach four times the single output of the one-arm pumped laser from the isolator. But it can exceed the sum of all the outputs of the one-arm pumped lasers at the same pump level.