Tm<sup>3+</sup> Doped Multi-Ring Profile Single-Mode Fiber Laser for Application in the Eye-Safe Spectral Range
Piotr Miluski, Maria Michalska, Marcin Kochanowicz, Krzysztof Markowski, Marek Łodziński, Wojciech A. Pisarski, Joanna Pisarska, Marta Kuwik, Magdalena Leśniak, Jacek Żmojda, Dominik Dorosz, Jacek Świderski, Jan Dorosz
Abstract
New construction of a silica-based multi-ring profile of Tm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3+</sup> doped fiber laser is presented. Optimisation of both multi-ring refractive index profile and active ions distribution towards high beam quality mode propagation is a new approach in developing active fiber constructions. Using a system of layers forming the core allows controlling the dopant profile and, consequently, the emission properties of fiber lasers (power density, beam profile shape etc.). The preform fabricated using MCVD technology is presented. The refractive index profile (Δn = 9·10<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">−3</sup>), EPMA-EDS analysis (Tm<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub>O<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> and Al<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub>O<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> concentration 0.56 and 5.2 wt% respectively), and excited state (<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup>F<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">4</sub>) decay time are shown. The double-clad fiber laser based on the Fabry-Perot resonator construction (17/240 μm core/cladding) was used for single-mode laser beam generation at a wavelength of 1938.8 nm (exc. @ 790 nm) with an FWHM bandwidth of 0.17 nm (1.68 W output power, M<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup><sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</sub> = 1.10, M<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup><sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">y</sub> = 1.23). For the optimized gain fiber (25/330 μm core/cladding diameters) length, the laser provided an output power of >5 W with a slope efficiency of ∼26%, determined to the absorbed pump power.