Yoh IMAI and Noriaki SHIMADA

Department of Computer Science and Electronics, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Kawazu 680-4, Iizuka, Fukuoka, 820 Japan

(Accepted June 24, 1994)

A Brillouin fiber laser (BFL) consisting of a fiber ring resonator with different fiber temperatures emits two-frequency light output. The two-frequency BFL yields an optical beat output which can be utilized as an optical frequency shifter. The output beat frequency is controllable by the temperature difference in the fiber ring resonator and changes with a step of a resonant frequency interval of BFL. The temperature dependence of the BFL output frequency was 2.4 MHz/°C. The stability of the output beat frequency to the temperature fluctuation was estimated as 1.04°C/2.5 MHz.

Key words : stimulated Brillouin scattering, Brillouin fiber laser, nonlinear optical effect, optical fiber, optical frequency shifter, fiber ring resonator