Although stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in optical fiber is a penalizing nonlinear effect in optical communication systems, it is possible to make good use of SBS in other applications such as in Brillouin fiber lasers (BFLs). A BFL can potentially have a very narrow linewidth and very low relative intensity noise (RIN) and frequency noise, making them excellent coherent laser sources that can be used in telecommunications, defense and metrology. The goal of this research work, which is in the framework of ATOS (Antenne acoustique en technologie Tout Optique pour la Surveillance, All Optical Acoustic Antenna for Security) project, is to obtain a compact Brillouin laser with a very low threshold power. In order to match these two conditions, it is essential to use a fiber with a very high Brillouin gain coefficient gB and with a small effective mode area to ensure a stronger light confinement in the fiber core. For this research work, we have combined both alternatives by using a microstructured optical fiber made of chalcogenide glass. These materials are known to have very high gB, which can be two orders of magnitudes higher than in the case of a standard silica fiber. In this work, we have, first of all, experimentally demonstrated that it is possible to obtain a compact, low threshold and low noise Brillouin laser using microstructured chalcogenide fibers. Then, we have studied the feasibility of using this laser cavity in the framework of the ATOS project while proposing alternative applications for metrology and telecommunications.
