Pump-to-Stokes transfer of relative intensity noise in Brillouin fiber ring lasers

We have experimentally investigated pump-to-Stokes intensity noise transfer in both the frequency domain and the time domain in all-fiber single-frequency Brillouin ring lasers. In the high-frequency region (> 1 MHz), the pump-to-Stokes noise transfer function can be much smaller than unity, indicating that the Brillouin fiber lasers act as an efficient low-pass filter. The maximum noise reduction of 40-60 dB was observed at antiresonant frequencies that are multiples of half the cavity free spectral range. This is the first experimental demonstration, to the authors' knowledge, of intensity noise reduction in Brillouin fiber lasers. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.