Multiwavelength modelocked lasers

A multiwavelength laser source, comprising:

• an optical fiber cavity formed between two mirrors, the optical fiber cavity having a laser source and an optical fiber within the cavity;
• means for actively modelocking the laser source within the cavity, the means for modelocking includes an rf source having a frequency of approximately 2.5 GHz to approximately 600 MHz and a bias source, the rf source and the bias source being injected into the laser source;
• and
• spectral filter means inside of the optical cavity between the two mirrors having a pair of reflective surfaces separated apart from one another by an adjustable varying gap which varies between a value greater than zero to approximately 10 mm, the spectral filter means for simultaneously generating at least twenty tunable separate modelocked wavelengths from the optical fiber cavity of the laser source.

A method of generating modelocked multiwavelengths from a device, comprising the steps of:

• providing an optical fiber cavity having a single laser source and an optical fiber positioned between two mirrors;
• modelocking the single laser source within the optical fiber cavity by injecting the single laser source with an rf source having a frequency of approximately 2.5 GHz to approximately 600 MHz and a bias source;
• and
• generating at least twenty tunable separate modelocked wavelengths from a spectral filter means located inside the optical fiber between the two mirrors within the optical fiber cavity, the spectral filter means having a pair of reflective surfaces separated apart from one another by an adjustable variable gap which varies between a value greater than zero to approximately 10 mm.