ABSTRACT
This chapter covers bidirectional lightwave propagations in an erbiumdoped ›ber ring laser and the optical bistability behavior. We exploit the bidirectional lightwave propagation effect, which is normally undesirable in many linear photonics systems, in constructing a kind of ›ber laser con-›guration based on a nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) and a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror (NALM) structure. The laser is operated in different regions of the operation, and the switching capability of the laser is identi-›ed based on its bistability behavior.
