We experimentally demonstrate a single-frequency Yb-doped multimode fiber amplifier (~76 modes) with a focused Gaussian output beam and enhanced stimulated-Brillouin-scattering (SBS) threshold. With few-mode excitation, the SBS threshold output power (57 W) is already an order of magnitude higher than that for a single-mode fiber amplifier of the same length. The output beam, however, is slightly speckled. To achieve high beam quality, we optimize the input wavefront to focus output light to a single diffraction-limited spot and simultaneously achieve much higher SBS threshold (up to 105 W), because forming a tight output focus requires coherent amplification of many modes.
We present the development of a high-power laser source operating at 532 nm produced by frequency doubling a Ybdoped fiber amplifier. The fiber amplifier has a multistage design, and uses large mode area Yb-doped fibers as the gain medium to produce > 2 kW of laser power at 1064 nm. The amplifier design is optimized to reduce non-linear effects, and operates at linewidths as narrow as 45 GHz. By focusing the fiber amplifier output into an LBO crystal, more than 1 kW of 532 nm light is produced. Single pass conversion efficiencies as high as 54% are achieved providing a unique combination of high power and high quality 532 nm laser source. The 532 nm laser is fiber coupled, making it an ideal source for industrial applications.
One of the current challenges towards the development of ultrafast 2 microns all-fiber laser systems delivering transform-limited pulses is to manage dispersion and nonlinearities which are well-known limiting factors in fiber-based systems due to their negative impact on pulse duration and shape.
Here, we present what we believe to be, to the best of our knowledge, the first all-solid step-index dispersion tailored fiber designed with anomalous dispersion around 2 microns. This all-solid, step-index ultra-high numerical aperture (UHNA) fiber offers an efficient and simple alternative compared to existing approaches such as free-space optical systems or micro-structured fibers that are complex to manufacture and handle. The combination of highly Ge-doped core with a small core diameter allows tailoring the material and waveguide components of the dispersion to reach the anomalous dispersion required by the application.
In this work, details will be provided using experimental and calculated values via the example of a non-PM UHNA fiber with 2.45 microns core and 0.34 NA. This fiber was designed to achieve anomalous dispersion of -45 ps/(nm.km) at 2 microns. It will be shown that the UHNA fiber design can be further tuned to achieve specific values of anomalous dispersion and dispersion slope. The fiber performances were confirmed using a 2 microns chirp-pulsed fiber amplifier where the pulse duration was measured at 24 ps and 4.3 ps without and with the UHNA fiber respectively. A PM-UHNA fiber design is currently being developed and will be characterized and tested following a similar fashion.
We present development of a nanosecond Q-switched Tm3+-doped fiber laser with 16 W average power and 4.4 kW peak power operating at 1940 nm. The laser has a master oscillator power amplifier design, and uses large mode area Tm3+-doped fibers as the gain medium. Special techniques are used to splice Tm3+-doped fibers to minimize splice loss. The laser design is optimized to reduce non-linear effects, including modulation instability. Pulse width broadening due to high gain is observed and studied in detail. Medical surgery is a field of application where this laser may be able to improve clinical practice. The laser together with scanning galvanometer mirrors is used to cut precisely around small footprint vessels in tissue phantoms without leaving any visible residual thermal damage. These experiments provide proof-of-principle that this laser has promising potential in the laser surgery application space.
We present results on the amplifier performance and characteristics of Yb-doped Single Mode fiber amplifiers spanning a broad range of wavelengths from 1028 nm to 1100 nm. Both PM and non-PM amplifiers are discussed, with emphasis on the use of polarization controllers in intrinsically non-PM amplifiers to obtain high Polarization Extinction Ratios (PER). In general, outside the 1064nm region, there has been relatively little discussion or work towards developing high power fiber amplifiers for operation at either 1030 nm or 1100 nm with narrow line-width and high brightness, primarily due to amplifier design and architecture issues related to strong re-absorption and amplified spontaneous emission. Here we address key fiber and amplifier design characteristics aimed at mitigating these issues while highlighting performance attributes and challenges for operation near either end of the above defined spectral range.
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