Open AccessScalable waveguide design for three-level operation in Neodymium doped fiber laser
Author(s) -
Paul H. Pax,
V. V. Khitrov,
Derrek R. Drachenberg,
G. Allen,
Benjamin G. Ward,
Mark Dubinskii,
Michael J. Messerly,
Jay W. Dawson
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.24.028633
Subject(s) - materials science , cladding (metalworking) , fiber laser , optics , neodymium , slope efficiency , laser , laser power scaling , double clad fiber , waveguide , optoelectronics , optical fiber , wavelength , dispersion shifted fiber , fiber optic sensor , physics , metallurgy
We have constructed a double clad neodymium doped fiber laser operating on the three-level 4 F 3/2 → 4 I 9/2 transition. The laser has produced 11.5 W at 925 nm with 55% slope efficiency when pumped at 808 nm, comparable to the best previous results for a double-clad fiber configuration on this transition. Higher power pumping with both 808 nm and 880 nm sources resulted in an output of 27 W, albeit at lower slope efficiency. In both cases, output power was limited by available pump, indicating the potential for further power scaling. To suppress the stronger four-level 4 F 3/2 → 4 I 11/2 transition we developed a waveguide that provides spectral filtering distributed along the length of the fiber, based on an all-solid micro-structured optical fiber design, with resonant inclusions creating a leakage path to the cladding. The waveguide supports large mode areas and provides strong suppression at selectable wavelength bands, thus easing the restrictions on core and cladding sizes that limited power scaling of previous approaches.