High-power fiber-bulk hybrid lasers

W. Andrew Clarkson; Deyuan Shen; Jayanta K. Sahu

doi:10.1117/12.660930

28 February 2006 High-power fiber-bulk hybrid lasers

W. Andrew Clarkson, Deyuan Shen, Jayanta K. Sahu

Proceedings Volume 6100, Solid State Lasers XV: Technology and Devices; 61000A (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.660930
Event: Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering, 2006, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

We report on recent progress in power scaling of cladding-pumped Er,Yb and Tm-doped silica fiber lasers in the ~1.5μm and ~2μm spectral regimes respectively, and also on some recent developments in fiber-bulk hybrid lasers based Er:YAG and Ho:YAG operating at ~1.6μm and ~2.1μm respectively. A cladding-pumped Tm-doped silica fiber laser pumped by a beam-shaped diode-stack at 790nm and with core composition optimized for efficient 'two-for-one' cross-relaxation yielded 66W of continuous-wave output at ~2μm for 117W of launched pump power. The corresponding slope efficiency with respect to launched pump power was 61%. An Er,Yb fibre laser, cladding-pumped by two spatially-multiplexed diode-stacks at 976nm and with core composition optimized for efficient energy-transfer from Yb³⁺ to Er³⁺, yielded up to 188W of continuous-wave output at 1570nm with an average slope efficiency with respect to launched pump power of 41%. The prospects for a further increase in output power from Tm and Er,Yb fiber lasers are considered. Efficient operation of hybrid Er:YAG and Ho:YAG lasers, pumped in-band by Er,Yb and Tm doped fibre lasers operating at 1532nm and 1907nm respectively has been demonstrated. Both lasers, when operated in continuous-wave mode, had slope efficiencies with respect to incident pump power of ~80%. The Er:YAG laser produced ~60W of continuous-wave output at 1645.3nm for 82 W of incident pump power, and, in Q-switched mode, produced pulses of energy, ~5.5mJ and duration, ~81ns (FWHM) corresponding to a peak power of ~67kW at a repetition rate of 500Hz for an incident pump power limited by the onset damage to 16.8W. The prospects for further improvement in continuous-wave and Q-switched performance are discussed.

Citation Download Citation

W. Andrew Clarkson, Deyuan Shen, and Jayanta K. Sahu "High-power fiber-bulk hybrid lasers", Proc. SPIE 6100, Solid State Lasers XV: Technology and Devices, 61000A (28 February 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.660930

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available