100-W-level single-mode ytterbium-free erbium fiber laser

We report on an ytterbium-free, erbium-doped single-mode all-fiber laser reaching a record output power of 107 W at 1598 nm, with a slope efficiency of 38.6% according to the absorbed pump power at 981 nm. The erbium-doped gain fiber, co-doped with cerium, aluminum, and phosphorus, was fabricated in-house with adjusted doping concentrations to reduce erbium ions clustering, thereby increasing efficiency while keeping the numerical aperture low to ensure a single-mode laser operation. The addition of cerium co-dopant in the core glass of an erbium system is used for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, in order to adjust the fiber's numerical aperture without increasing the erbium concentration. Numerical modeling, validated by the experimental results, demonstrates that adding aluminum and phosphorus at high concentration mitigates erbium ions clustering, with an estimated erbium paired ions of only 5.0% in the reported gain fiber.