Dominic Faucher

20 W passively cooled single-mode all-fiber laser at 2.8 μm

A maximum output power of 20.6 W at 2.825 μm from an erbium-doped all-fiber laser is reported, which we believe is the highest output power for this laser transition in single-mode operation. The slope efficiency of the passively cooled laser was up to 35.4% with respect to the absorbed pump power. Accounting for an estimated round-trip intracavity loss of 1.3 dB, we calculated a theoretical conversion efficiency of 39.5%, which is 15% higher than the Stokes efficiency of 34.3%. We believe this is the first experimental confirmation of the predicted pump energy recycling for this fiber laser. The narrow laser linewidth varied from 0.09 to 0.16 nm from low to maximum output power.

Bragg gratings photoinduced in ZBLAN fibers by femtosecond pulses at 800 nm.

Fiber Bragg gratings were written in thulium-doped and undoped single-mode ZBLAN fibers by focusing femtosecond laser pulses on the fiber core through a phase mask. Maximum index modulation of the order of 1 x 10(-3) was induced in both types of fibers. Measurements of the transverse refractive index changes across the core and cladding regions indicate that the grating formation originates from a negative index change.

Erbium-doped all-fiber laser at 2.94 μm

We report what we believe is the first demonstration of laser emission at 2.94 microm in an erbium-doped fluoride fiber laser. The low-loss all-fiber Fabry-Perot laser cavity was formed by two fiber Bragg gratings of 90% and 15% reflectivities in a 6.6 m, 7 mol.% Er-doped double-clad fiber. A maximum cw output power of 5.2 W was measured, which is to our knowledge the highest reported to date for a diode-pumped laser at this wavelength. A coreless endcap was fused at the output fiber end to prevent its deterioration at high output powers. Our results, including the slope efficiency of 26.6% with respect to launched pump power, suggest that erbium could be a better alternative than holmium in the search for a replacement for the flashlamp-pumped Er:YAG at 2.94 microm.

3.7 W fluoride glass Raman fiber laser operating at 2231 nm

The first demonstration of a multi-watt continuous wave fluoride glass Raman fiber laser operating beyond 2.2 μm is reported. A maximum output power of 3.7 W was obtained from a nested cavity setup with a laser slope efficiency of 15% with respect to the launched pump power.

Highly stable and efficient erbium-doped 2.8 μm all fiber laser

We demonstrate the efficient and stable CW laser operation at 2.824 microm of a diode-pumped erbium-doped fluoride fiber laser employing an intracore fiber Bragg grating high reflector. An output power of 5 W and an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 32% are reported. The temporal and spectral stability of the laser represent a significant improvement over previous work. This report paves the way to the commercialization of compact and stable fiber lasers for spectroscopic and medical applications.

Highly Efficient and High-Power Raman Fiber Laser Based on Broadband Chirped Fiber Bragg Gratings

A highly efficient and high-power Raman fiber laser was developed based on the use of broadband fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) as optical couplers. The broadening of the Stokes signal is analyzed in both cases where the laser emission is restricted or not by the FBGs bandwidth. The use of broadband FBGs with minimized cladding-mode losses allows us to overcome the problem of power leakage outside the laser cavity through the input coupler. It is shown that by carefully tailoring the intracavity spectral losses and the FBGs losses, lasing efficiencies approaching the quantum limit can be obtained. In fact, 7.8 W of Stokes power with a conversion efficiency of 93.6% has been obtained

Towards the development of fiber lasers for the 2 to 4 μm spectral region

A growing number of applications are calling for compact laser sources operating in the mid-infrared spectral region. A review of our recent work on monolithic fiber lasers (FL) based either on the use of rare-earth fluoride fibers or on Raman gain in both fluoride and chalcoge- nide glass fibers is presented. Accordingly, an erbium-doped double clad fluoride glass all-FL operating in the vicinity of 3 μm is shown. In addition, we present recent results on the first demonstrations of both fluoride and chalcogenide Raman fiber lasers operating at 2.23 and 3.34 μm, respec- tively. It is shown that based on this approach, monolithic FLs could be

High-Power and Widely Tunable All-Fiber Raman Laser

A high-power and widely tunable all-fiber Raman laser is demonstrated. The Raman fiber laser has been tuned over a range of 60 nm from 1075 to 1135 nm and delivers up to 5.0 W of Stokes output power for 6.5 W of launched pump power. Efficiencies ranging from 76.1 to 93.1% and laser thresholds from 0.78 to 2.59 W have been measured. The spectrum of the depolarized Raman gain coefficient of the germanosilicate fiber has also been inferred from our experimental measurements.

Monolithic fluoride-fiber laser at 1480 nm using fiber Bragg gratings.

We report what we believe is the first monolithic fluoride-fiber laser making use of fiber Bragg gratings written directly in the doped fluoride-fiber core. The Tm(3+):ZBLAN fiber laser is upconversion pumped at 1070 nm and emits at 1480 nm. Using two different all-fiber cavities, we observed a threshold as low as 75 mW and a conversion efficiency of up to 40% with respect to launched pump power.

Understanding the fiber tip thermal runaway present in 3µm fluoride glass fiber lasers

When the tip of a fluoride glass fiber is exposed to ambient air, water vapor reacts with the glass constituents, increasing the OH contaminants at the surface. These OH impurities then diffuse inside the glass according to Ficks laws. Laser radiation at around 3 µm is strongly absorbed by the OH contaminants, causing local heating of the fiber tip resulting in an increase of the diffusion process which ultimately leads to fiber tip destruction. We accurately model this phenomenon by combining the diffusion theory with a basic thermal equation. Experimental measurements are in agreement with the model predictions for a good range of operating conditions.