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Tunable wavelength generation in 1-micron

region incorporating 16-channels arrayed
waveguide grating (AWG)

Article in Laser Physics · November 2017

DOI: 10.1088/1555-6611/aa9141

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 Astro Ltd Laser Physics

Laser Phys. 27 (2017) 125101 (6pp) https://doi.org/10.1088/1555-6611/aa9141

Tunable wavelength generation in the 1 µm

region incorporating a 16-channel arrayed
waveguide grating (AWG)
M A M Salim1,2, H Ahmad1, Saaidal R Azzuhri3, M Z A Razak4
and S W Harun1
1
  Photonics Research Centre, University of Malaya (UM), 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2
  Laser Center, Ibnu Sina Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
(UTM), 81310 Johor Bahru, Malaysia
3
  UM Power Energy Dedicated Advanced Centre (UMPEDAC), University of Malaya (UM), 50603
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
4
  Institute of Microengineering and Nanoelectronics (IMEN), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM),
43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

E-mail: aizi@siswa.um.edu.my

Received 13 July 2017, revised 21 September 2017

Accepted for publication 23 September 2017
Published 20 November 2017

Abstract
A tunable single- and dual-wavelength ytterbium-doped fiber laser, incorporating a 16-channel
arrayed waveguide grating is proposed and demonstrated. The side mode suppression ratio
from the proposed setup has an average value of 52.97 dB (single-wavelength generation) and
58.19 dB (dual-wavelength generation). The tunable dual wavelength ranged from 1039.98 nm
to 1047.48 nm with wavelength spacing ranging from 0.50 nm to 7.5 nm. A stability test from
the experiment shows a power variation of 0.8 dB, and a wavelength fluctuation of 0.02 nm
indicates the stability and reliability of the proposed work.

Keywords: tunable wavelength, dual-wavelength, arrayed waveguide grating,

ytterbium doped fiber laser

(Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

1. Introduction suitable for tunable wavelength laser operation by virtue of

Tunable wavelength generation using a fiber laser has attracted
much attention over the past few years thanks to prominent
characteristics such as high thermal resistance, excellent beam
quality and relatively high stability output [1]. Wide potential
applications such as optical-based sensing, instrumentation,
photonics device characterization and wavelength division
multiplexing (WDM) systems for optical communications can
be exploited using the wavelength tunability from the fiber
laser [2–6].
The basic device behind the wavelength tunability of the
fiber laser contains a gain medium and a wavelength selective
filter, which has a comb-like spectrum. In the past few years,
an erbium-doped fiber as gain medium has been a popular
choice for wavelength tunability and generation in the region
of 1550 nm. Erbium-doped fiber lasers (EDFLs) are highly
1555-6611/17/125101+6$33.00
their low threshold, narrow line width, excellent compatibil-
ity with other optical devices and high optical signal-to-noise
ratio [7]. Several techniques for a wavelength selection fil-
ter using EDFLs have been reported in the literature, some
of which include use of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer [8],
fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) [9], multi-mode fibers [10–12]
and distributed Bragg reflectors [13, 14]. A wavelength selec-
tive filter is an important component in achieving a lasing
wavelength, as it reduces mode competition by suppressing
mode hopping in the laser cavity. By fine-tuning, this filter can
generate a well-controlled single- to multi-wavelength lasing
output.
More recently, there has been growing attention to the
1060 nm wavelength region incorporating ytterbium-doped
fiber (YDF). Despite substantial attention, few reports exist on
generating tunable single wavelengths in the 1060 nm region,
1 © 2017 Astro Ltd  Printed in the UK
Laser Phys. 27 (2017) 125101 M A M Salim et al

which is the motivation of this paper. Wavelength selective

filters such as FBGs [15, 16] and polarizing beam splitters
have been reported as a tunable element for wavelength gen-
eration in YDF lasers (YDFLs) [17]. YDF is an attractive gain
medium for fiber lasers due to its high efficiency and strong
absorption; these features additionally act as justification for
further study of YDFLs. Tunable wavelengths in YDFLs are
important for optical applications such as spectroscopy, sens-
ing and coherence tomography [18].
A simple YDFL incorporating an arrayed waveguide grat-
ing (AWG) within a laser cavity to attain tunable single- and
dual-wavelength operation is proposed and demonstrated in
this paper. Experimental results show that 16 different wave-
length outputs were achieved, corresponding to 16 channels
of the AWG, with wavelengths ranging from 1038.8 nm to
1047.8 nm. The tunable wavelength outputs had an average
side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) value of 52.97 dB (for
single-wavelength generation) and 58.19 dB (for dual-wave-
length generation). Both experiments recorded a fluctuation of
power at approximately 0.8 dB, scanned over a 20 min period,
indicating a stable system for tunable wavelength generation
for fiber lasers. Figure 1.  Experimental setup of a tunable (a) single-wavelength
and (b) dual-wavelength source using AWG.

2.  Experimental setup
The laser cavity setting of the tunable single- and
­dual-wavelength output incorporating AWG is shown in fig-
ure  1. The single-wavelength setup is shown in figure  1(a),
whilst the dual-wavelength ring setup is given in figure 1(b).
In the single wavelength configuration, a laser diode
(Oclaro Model LC96A74P-20R) operating at 974 nm acts as a
pump source with 600 mW of output power (maximum) and
40 mW of launched power. The output of the laser diode is
connected to a 980/1060 nm WDM coupler. One output port
of the WDM was fusion spliced to a 70 cm length of YDF gain
medium (DF1100 Fibercore) that had peak absorption of 1300
dB m−1 at 977 nm and attached to the input of the AWG. This
AWG possessed 16 output channels, allowing 16 different
outputs to be generated from the device, and it performed as
a multiplexer that sliced the amplified spontaneous emission
(ASE) source into 16 different channels in the 1 µm region.
The insertion loss for the AWG was around ~14 dB, which
is high due to its optimization specification in the 1550 nm
region. The output port of the AWG, from channel 1 up to
channel 16, at one output channel at a time, was attached to
the input of an optical coupler (a 90/10 type), represented as
OC in figure 1(a). The 10% output from the coupler was con-
nected to a YOKOGAWA AQ6373 optical spectrum analyzer
(OSA) with 0.02 nm resolutions. The 90% port of the optical
coupler was used to provide feedback for the laser by con-
necting it to the polarization insensitive isolator in a clockwise
direction.
The dual-wavelength configuration differs slightly from
the single-wavelength setup. With reference to figure  1(b),
two of the output ports from the AWG are connected to the
50/50 optical coupler, symbolized as OC1. The other end of
the coupler is linked to a polarization insensitive isolator to
ensure unidirectional transmission in the laser cavity. The
isolator output was linked to a polarization controller (PC),
which allows modifying the polarization state of the laser. The
output of the PC was attached to the 90% port of the optical
coupler, denoted as OC2. The 10% output from the coupler
was attached to the input port of a YOKOGAWA AQ6373
OSA with 0.02 nm optical resolution.
3.  Results and discussion
3.1.  Tunable single wavelength
The YDFL-AWG unpolarized ASE transmission spectrum
entering the AWG filter, the ASE source, was subsequently
‘sliced’ into 16 different wavelength channels. The output
spectrum of 16 different wavelength channels is shown in
figure  2. The wavelength outputs had a 9 nm tuning range
starting from 1038.8 nm (channel 16) up to 1047.8 nm (chan-
nel 1) with a narrow band transmission. The spacing range
between two adjacent channels was 0.6 nm. For the stable
laser performance, the pump power for this experiment was
set to 275 mW.
Figure 3 shows the output power from all 16 different
wavelengths as measured from the optical power meter. It can
be seen that the output power slightly increased with increases
in wavelength, due to the power variations inherent in the
wavelength-dependence gain of the YDF. The recorded aver-
age output power was  −15.03 dBm with a maximum variation
of 2.47 dB. From the results, channel 3 recorded the highest
peak power of  −14.05 dBm while channel 15 recorded the
lowest power peak value of  −16.52 dBm.
Figure 4 shows the SMSR measurement taken from each
of the 16 AWGs’ wavelengths. The average SMSR value of
52.97 dB with maximum difference of 2.47 dB was obtained

2
Laser Phys. 27 (2017) 125101
Figure 2.  Tunable laser wavelength by using 16 channels of an
AWG.
Figure 3.  Output power versus wavelength.
Figure 4.  SMSR of the tunable YDF laser.
from the experiment. Similar to the peak power measurement,
channel 3 and channel 5 recorded the highest and the lowest
values of SMSR at 53.95 and 51.48 dB, respectively. The high
stability of the laser, as evidenced by the results in figure 4,
can be explained by the large difference between the output
power and the ASE level whereby each wavelength’s SMSR
was higher than 50 dB.
3
M A M Salim et al
Figure 5.  Power measurement for channel 1 (1047.8 nm) and
channel 16 (1038.8 nm).
Figure 6.  FWHM output spectra of 16 different wavelengths.
Figure 5 indicates the power measurement of the AWG
for channel 1 and channel 16. The lasing started to occur
at channels 1 and 16 with launching powers of 58 mW and
65 mW, respectively. The full width half maximum (FWHM)
for each wavelength is shown in figure 6. The average value of
the FWHM was 0.36 nm. The requirement for WDM systems
to possess an upper limit of 0.6 nm maximum inter-channel
spacing is easily surpassed via the small FWHM obtained
from this experiment.
In addition to the wavelength characteristics detailed here,
a stability test was performed over the shortest and longest
wavelengths recorded from the AWG. The stability test was
conducted over a period of 20 min. Figures 7 and 8 show the
stability performance of two wavelengths, these being the
shortest wavelength at channel 16 and the longest wavelength
at channel 1. Figures  7(a) and 8(a) display a steady lasing
wavelength, and figures 7(b) and 8(b) illustrate power varia-
tion throughout the scan. The results show that the maximum
wavelengths and power fluctuation for both channel 1 and 16
were less than 0.02 nm and 0.8 dB, respectively, with the aver-
age output power for channel 1 being  −14.45 dBm and for
channel 16  −  16.37 dBm. Such findings provide evidence for
the high stability of the system and minimal power variation
at normal room temperature. The measurements of the tunable
single-wavelength were conducted concurrently to the stabil-
ity of the recommended setup.
Laser Phys. 27 (2017) 125101 M A M Salim et al

Figure 7.  (a) Wavelength stability, and (b) output power stability Figure 8.  (a) Wavelength stability, and (b) output power stability
performance for channel 1 (1047.8 nm) taken over 20 min. performance for channel 16 (1038.8 nm) taken over 20 min.

In comparison to the similar approach reported in

[15–17], the proposal demonstrated in this paper achieved
a comparable SMSR and lasing threshold using a simpler
setup and less equipment for the tunable wavelength output.
Furthermore, work in [15, 16] employed a tunable FBG as
wavelength filter, for which fabrication requires expensive
equipment such as a UV laser and phase mask, in contrast
to the significantly lower costs for AWG fabrication. The
wavelength generated with the AWG is discrete. However,
with the FBG, the wavelength can be continuously tuned,
which is required in some applications. Therefore, the AWG
used in the work described within this paper proves to be an
excellent choice as a wavelength selector for tunable wave-
length in the 1 µm region.

3.2.  Tunable dual wavelength

In this part of experiment, the maximum pump power was set Figure 9.  Tunable dual-wavelength laser spectrum of the AWG
to 285 mW for stability purposes and for better performance with increasing wavelength spacing.

4
Laser Phys. 27 (2017) 125101
Figure 10.  (a) Dual-wavelength output scan, and (b) peak power
stability test for spectral spacing of 3.5 nm with λ1  =  1047.48 nm
and λ2  =  1043.98 nm.
of the laser. By using the 3 dB coupler and by adjusting the
PC, the generation of a dual-wavelength in the AWG was suc-
cessfully achieved. The PC was used in this experiment to
adjust the peak output power of lasing, so that the balanced
dual-wavelength lasing output can be obtained. The output
of the dual wavelength can be realized by fixing one source
channel (channel 1) and another source to be selected from
the remaining 15 channels. The range of the generated dual-
wavelength output obtained from the experiment was 0.50 nm
(channel 1 and 2) to 7.5 nm (channel 1 and 16). By exchanging
the channel of the AWG from channel 2 to 16, the wavelength
spacing between adjacent channels was uniformly increased
(in multiples of 0.50 nm). This result is shown in figure 9, due
to the AWG’s 70 GHz inter-channel spacing. Alternatively,
operating the AWG with smaller inter-channel spacing within
the region of 25 GHz can narrow down the spacing between
the wavelength channels. The SMSR, together with the peak
power of the dual-wavelength output from channels 1–16,
equaled a total of 15 time sweeps from channel 2 to chan-
nel 16, with one output port fixed at channel 1. The SMSR
5
M A M Salim et al
Figure 11.  (a) Dual-wavelength output scan, and (b) peak power
stability test for spectral spacing of 7.5 nm with λ1  =  1047.48 nm
and λ2  =  1039.98 nm.
variance of the dual-wavelength laser was 1.2 dB with an
average SMSR of 58.19 dB, whereas the maximum differ-
ence of the SMSR and peak power was 3.47 dB and 4.03 dB,
respectively. The variance and average in output power was
1.2 dB and  −6.81 dBm respectively.
Figures 10(a) and (b) shows channel 1 and channel 8 having
a very stable lasing dual wavelength with adjacent wavelength
spacing of 3.5 nm (λ1  =  1047.48 nm and λ2  =  1043.98 nm),
and figures 11(a) and (b) illustrate channel 1 and channel 16
with stable dual wavelength with adjacent spacing of 7.5 nm
(λ1  =  1047.48 nm and λ2  =  1039.98 nm) over a period of
20 min. Both results show that the power fluctuation was less
than ~0.4 dB and this proves the stability of the proposed sys-
tem. The measurements of the switchable dual wavelength
were conducted concurrently, to confirm the stability of the
recommended setup. From this measurement, the proposed
setup stability performance is better than reported by [19],
which shows that the AWG is a reliable filter to generate very
stable dual-wavelength lasing with the added advantage of
wide wavelength selection.
Laser Phys. 27 (2017) 125101
4. Conclusion
This paper described in detail a successful demonstration
of tunable single- and dual-wavelength operation utilizing a
70 cm YDF and AWG. The proposed setup for single wave-
length resulted in the generation of 16 single wavelength
lasing that ranged from 1038.8 to 1047.8 nm, corresponding
to a 9 nm wavelength tuning range and a spacing between
wavelengths of 0.6 nm. The observed SMSR of the single-
wavelength generation had an average value of 52.97 dB and
a maximum difference of 2.97 dB. For the dual-wavelength
setup, the spacing ranged from 0.50 nm to 7.5 nm between the
two lasing wavelengths, with 15 different switchable wave-
length tuning. The average SMSR and output power were
58.19 dB and  −6.81 dBm, respectively. Both single- and
dual-wavelength results had a fluctuation of power less than
0.8 dB over 20 min scanning time, which indicates a very sta-
ble system for a switchable and tunable wavelength in fiber
laser.
Acknowledgment
This research is supported by University of Malaya research
funding, under grant number RU 002/2013, BR002-2016,
RP008A-13AET and RG143-12AET.
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