High-efficiency Brillouin random fiber laser using all-polarization maintaining ring cavity

We report a high-efficiency (25%) Brillouin random fiber laser (BRFL) with Brillouin gain medium of 2-km polarization maintaining fiber (PMF) as well as distributed Rayleigh scattering feedback from 500-m PMF. The characteristics of lasing efficiency and relative intensity noise (RIN) have been comprehensively studied comparing with the BRFLs with half-open ring cavity and bidirectional pumping linear open configuration. The enhanced lasing efficiency using PMF-BRFL with half-open ring cavity enables sub-kHz linewidth, lower phase fluctuation and frequency jitter comparing with phase locked pump laser, thanks to the polarization-matched efficient Brillouin gain in PMFs. The RIN and frequency instability of the proposed PMF-BRFL induced from external disturbance, e.g., mechanical and thermal noise, have been effectively suppressed with respect to conventional SMF-based BRFL. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America