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• A highly stable single-longitudinal-mode erbium-doped fiber laser was proposed. • A novel mode-selection filter, composed of two Type-Ⅱ fiber rings and a 1.5 m SA was used to realize SLM output. • The maximum wavelength drift was not observed and the maximum peak power fluctuation was kept at a low level of 0.16 dB. • The minimum linewidth at an integration time of 0.005 s was 2.8809 kHz. Single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) fiber lasers have the advantages of stable output, long coherence length, and low noise. However, several fiber lasers still maintain multiple longitudinal mode outputs. Thus, a highly stable SLM erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) was proposed and investigated. The dual-ring compound cavity (DRCC) filter, composed of two Type-Ⅱ fiber rings, and a 1.5 m unpumped erbium-doped fiber (EDF) was used as a mode-selection filter. The mode-selection capability of the DRCC filter and unpumped EDF was investigated and discussed theoretically and experimentally. The proposed EDFL could generate stable SLM output with an optical signal-to-noise ratio of ∼ 64 dB over 60 min. The maximum wavelength drift was not observed on an optical spectrum analyzer and the maximum peak power fluctuation was kept at a low level of 0.16 dB. The output power variations with different pump powers, the relative intensity noise, the relaxation oscillation, and the linewidth at different integration times were investigated. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed EDFL acted as a strain sensor and temperature sensor with sensitivities of 1.0 pm/με and 11.4 pm/℃ were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A thulium-doped fiber laser with bidirectional single-longitudinal-mode output was proposed. • The proposed TDFL had a simple structure to realize bidirectional output, using only two 2 × 2 optical couplers. • A novel cascaded triple-ring cavity filter was proposed and investigated. The reversibility and the capability of mode selection filtering were investigated by simulation and experiment. • The minimum relative intensity noise was less than −130 dB/Hz at 2 ≥ 2 MHz around the 2-μm band. Single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) fiber lasers play important roles in optical fiber communication. However, there has been little reported research on bidirectional SLM output, especially in the 2-μm band. In the work reported here, a bidirectional SLM output thulium-doped fiber laser (TDFL) using a cascaded triple-ring cavity (CTRC) filter was proposed and investigated. To realize bidirectional output, the proposed TDFL had a simple structure, using only two 2 × 2 optical couplers. To realize SLM output, the transmission spectrum, as well as the reversibility of the CTRC filter were discussed and investigated in detail. The direction-switchable SLM output was realized by polarization-dependent loss. By tuning the polarization controller carefully, each direction could generate SLM output with an optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) > 72 dB. The maximum wavelength and peak power fluctuation over 60 min were, respectively, 0.01 nm and 0.48 dB. The variation of output power with pump power, linewidth, relaxation oscillation, and relative intensity noise were also investigated. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a sub-ring cavity filter has been used to realize bidirectional SLM output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]