2.8-µm polarization-maintaining Er fiber laser mode-locked by a GaSb-based SESAM
Simone Normani, Saïd Idlahcen, Pavel Loiko, Saad Hatim, Pierre-Henry Hanzard, Alisson Rodrigues de Paula, Lauren Guillemot, Thomas Godin, Thibaud Berthelot, Solenn Cozic, Samuel Poulain, Eero Koivusalo, Mircea Guină, Patrice Camy, Ammar Hideur
Abstract
A GaSb-based SEmiconductor Saturable Absorber Mirror (SESAM) enables continuous-wave picosecond mode-locked operation with excellent stability of a polarization-maintaining mid-infrared Er:ZBLAN fiber laser. The GaSb-based SESAM mode-locked fiber laser delivers an average output power of 190 mW at 2.76 µm at a repetition rate of 32.07 MHz (corresponding to a pulse energy of ∼6 nJ) and exhibits a high signal-to-noise ratio of ∼80 dB. The polarization extinction ratio is more than 23 dB. By employing an intracavity diffraction grating, the laser wavelength is continuously tunable across 2.706-2.816 µm. Passively Q-switched operation of this laser is also demonstrated.