Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA)-Fiber Ring Laser and Its Application to Stress Sensing

Yoshitaka Takahashi, Shinji Sekiya, Tatsuro Suemune

.

DOI: 10.4236/opj.2011.14027                

Abstract

We have developed a novel optical fiber ring laser using a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) as the gain medium, and taking advantage of polarization anisotropy of its gain. The frequency difference of the bi-directional laser is controlled by birefringence which is introduced in the ring laser cavity. The beat frequency generated by combining two counter-propagating oscillations is proportional to the birefringence, the fiber ring laser of the present study is, therefore, applicable to the fiber sensor. The sensing signal is obtained in a frequency domain with the material which causes the retardation change by a physical phenomenon to be measured. For the application to stress sensing, the present laser was investigated with a photoelastic material.

Keywords

Fiber Laser, Fiber Sensor, Ring Laser, Semiconductor Optical Amplifier, Optical Sensor

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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