Efficient diode-pumped single-frequency erbium:ytterbium fiberlaser

We report a 7.6-mW single-frequency fiber laser operating at 1545 nm, using for the first time an Er³⁺:Yb³⁺ doped fiber and a fiber grating output coupler. The laser did not exhibit self-pulsation, which is a typical problem in short three-level fiber lasers, and had a relative intensity noise (RIN) level below -145.5 dB/Hz at frequencies above 10 MHz. The linewidth of the laser was limited by the relaxation oscillation sidebands in the optical spectrum and was typically less than 1 MHz     

Operation of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers and lasers pumped withfrequency-doubled Nd:YAG lasers

An optical amplifier consisting of an erbium-doped germanosilicate fiber optically pumped at 532 nm is described. Negligible excited-state absorption at 532 nm allows efficient pumping, enabling a gain of 34 dB at 1536 nm to be obtained for only 25 mW of pump power. The pulsed pump source produces negligible noise on the small signal if the pump repetition rate is above 10 kHz. Pulsed laser operation is achieved by pumping a Fabry-Perot erbium-doped fiber laser with a frequency-doubled Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. Pulses of 0.9-W peak power and 280-ns duration at 1.538-μm were obtained     

𝒬-switched neodymium-doped phosphate glass fiber lasers

The operation of a short-pulse, 𝒬-switched, neodymium-doped fiber laser operating at 1.054 μm is described experimentally and theoretically. The laser is efficiently pumped with a single-stripe AlGaAs laser diode and emits >1 kW pulses. It is seen that due to high gain short pulses with high energy extraction efficiency can be obtained. The feature of broad emission lines associated with rare-earth-doped glasses is exploited to demonstrate tunable, 𝒬-switched operation over a 40-nm tuning range     

All-fibre, diode-pumped recirculating-ring delay line

A Nd³⁺-doped optical fibre is used as an amplifier in a 35 m fibre recirculating delay line to overcome the round-trip losses experienced by injected pulses. Dichroic fused tapered couplers are used to couple light from a semiconductor source into the ring, to pump the amplifier. Injected pulses have been maintained for more than 300 round trips     

Wavelength selection and tuning by optical control in a two-segmenterbium-doped fiber laser

A new method for controlling the wavelength of an Er³⁺-doped fiber laser is proposed and demonstrated. Using two sections of dissimilar Er³⁺-doped fiber and pumping them separately, switching among several distinct lasing wavelengths has been observed. Wavelength tuning over a range of 8 nm has also been achieved     

Short-pulse, high-power Q-switched fiber laser

A high-power, laser-diode-pumped, Q-switched fiber laser operating at 1.053 μm which is suitable for use in time-multiplexed fiber sensor applications is described. The laser emits >1-kW pulses at 1.053 μm with 2-ns duration at up to 1-kHz repetition rates for an adsorbed pump power of only 22 mW at 810 nm. Tunable Q-switched operation over a 40-nm wavelength range has also been demonstrated     

Passively mode-locked Er3+ fiber laser using asemiconductor nonlinear mirror

A nonlinear mirror consisting of an InGaAs/InP multiple-quantum-well saturable absorber integrated with a Bragg reflector stack has been used to passively mode-lock a fiber laser in an extremely simple and advantageous linear-cavity configuration. To date, pulses as short as 7.6 ps have been observed     

Nd/sup 3+/-doped single mode fibre superfluorescent source with 320 mW output power

A diode array pumped Nd/sup 3+/-doped superfluorescent fibre source with 320 mW output power and a 4.6 nm FWHM bandwidth centred at 1058 mu m is reported. The device is prevented from lasing off reflected light from Rayleigh backscatter by seeding an Nd/sup 3+/-doped fibre amplifier with a primary superfluorescent source of moderate power.<>