Switchable multiwavelength thulium-doped fiber laser with cylindrical vector beam emission

We experimentally demonstrate a switchable multiwavelength thulium-doped fiber laser with cylindrical vector beam (CVB) emission, which is the first report, to our best knowledge, on the generation of CVBs in a 2 µm wavelength band. The Sagnac loop filter, made up of a 50:50 coupler, a section of polarization-maintaining fiber and a polarization controller, serves as a periodical filter and accounts for the excitation of multiwavelength channels. The mode-selective coupler consisting of both tapered single-mode and four-mode fibers has been designed and fabricated as a mode converter from LP₀₁ to LP₁₁ mode with a purity of  >80%. By adjusting the polarization controllers, laser outputs with 1–3 switchable wavelengths have been realized in the spectrum ranging from 1988–1998 nm. The laser could find miscellaneous applications in wavelength/mode-division multiplexing system, etc. (letter)