A monitored laser system has a laser having a first mirror; an exit mirror, at least a portion of a laser cavity defined by the first mirror and the exit mirror; and an active region located in the laser cavity, the active region containing a material that is capable of stimulated emission at one or more wavelengths of laser light within a tuning range of the laser. A multiple reflectivity band reflector (MRBR) is coupled to at least a portion of laser light emitted from the laser and transmits filtered laser light. The MRBR has a plurality of layers of material arranged in parallel such that the reflector has a plurality of reflectivity peaks within the tuning range, each reflectivity peak separated from neighboring reflectivity peak by a reflectivity trough having a trough minimum, said reflectivity peaks characterized by a peak profile and said trough minima between said reflectivity peaks characterized by a trough profile. At least one of the peak and trough profiles has a substantially non-constant relationship of wavelength to reflectivity. A first photodiode coupled to at least a portion of the filtered laser light produces an output based on the amount of light received. The emitted wavelength of the laser is adjusted toward a desired wavelength within the tuning range based at least in part on the output of the first photodiode.