Seongwoo Yoo

Erbium:Ytterbium Codoped Large-Core Fiber Laser With 297-W Continuous-Wave Output Power

We have demonstrated a high-power and high-efficiency erbium:ytterbium (Er:Yb) codoped fiber laser that produces 297 W of continuous-wave output at 1567 nm. The slope efficiency with respect to the launched pump power changed from 40% to 19% at higher output power due to the onset of Yb colasing at 1067 nm. However, the Yb colasing was essential for the suppression of catastrophic pulsation at high pump powers that otherwise results if the Yb-band gain is allowed to build up. Spectroscopic characteristics of the fiber and the impact of the Yb colasing on the 1567-nm slope efficiency are also discussed.

Photodarkening in Yb-doped aluminosilicate fibers induced by 488 nm irradiation

Photodarkening of Yb-doped aluminosilicate fibers by continuous wave 488 nm irradiation was investigated. The irradiation induced significant excess loss in the UV-visible spectroscopy (VIS) region in Yb-doped aluminosilicate fibers while pure aluminosilicate fibers showed negligible induced loss. Ultraviolet-VIS-near infrared spectroscopy revealed an absorption peak at 220 nm in unexposed Yb-doped aluminosilicate fiber preforms. The observed peak was attributed to Yb-associated oxygen deficiency centers (ODCs) and proposed as a precursor of the photodarkening. The proposed model was supported by measurements on oxygen loaded Yb-doped aluminosilicate fibers. In these, the photodarkening could be significantly reduced, which we attribute to a smaller number of ODCs following oxygen loading.

Bismuth doped fiber laser and study of unsaturable loss and pump induced absorption in laser performance

A short Bi doped fiber laser operating in the wavelength region of 1160-1179 nm has been demonstrated. The influence of unsaturable loss on laser performance is investigated. Excited state absorption in Bi doped germano-alumino silicate fiber is reported in the 900-1300 nm wavelength range under 800 and 1047 nm pumping. Bi luminescence and fluorescence decay properties under different pumping wavelengths are also investigated.

Multi-watts narrow-linewidth all fiber Yb-doped laser operating at 1179 nm.

An all-fiber, narrow-linewidth, high power Yb-doped silica fiber laser at 1179 nm has been demonstrated. More than 12 W output power has been obtained, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 43% with respect to launched pump power, by core-pumping at 1090 nm. In order to increase the pump absorption, the Yb-doped fiber was heated up to 125 degrees C. At the maximum output power, the suppression of amplified spontaneous emission was more than 50 dB. Furthermore, theoretical work confirms that the proposed laser architecture can be easily scaled to higher power.

Neodymium-doped cladding-pumped aluminosilicate fiber laser tunable in the 0.9-/spl mu/m wavelength range

A tunable high-power cladding-pumped neodymium-doped aluminosilicate fiber laser is demonstrated. The maximum power reached was 2.4 W with a slope efficiency of 41% and a threshold pump power of 1.68 W, both with respect to launched pump power, when cladding pumped by two 808-nm diode pump sources at both fiber ends. The dependence of the tuning range on the fiber length is investigated. The tuning range changed from 922 to 942 nm for a 25-m-long fiber to 908-938 nm with a 14-m-long fiber, because of reabsorption effects. The output linewidth was 0.26 nm in a diffraction-limited beam. Operation on the challenging 0.9-/spl mu/m three-level transition in neodymium-doped double-clad fiber laser was facilitated by a W-type core refractive index profile. This filtered out the unwanted and competing strong transition at 1.06 /spl mu/m while guidance of 0.9 /spl mu/m remained intact.

Wideband EDFA Based on Erbium Doped Crystalline Zirconia Yttria Alumino Silicate Fiber

A wideband erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) is demonstrated using an Erbium-doped zirconia fiber as the gain medium. With a combination of both Zr and Al, we could achieve a high erbium doping concentration of 4320 ppm in the glass host without any phase separations of rare-earths. The Erbium doped fiber (EDF) is obtained from a fiber preform, which is fabricated in a ternary glass host, zirconia-yttria-aluminum codoped silica fiber using a MCVD process. Doping of Er2O3 into Zirconia yttria-aluminosilicate based glass is done through solution doping process. The maximum gain of 21.8 dB is obtained at 1560 nm with 2 m long of EDF and co-pumped with 1480 nm laser diode. At high input signal of -4 dBm, a flat-gain at average value of 8.6 dB is obtained with a gain variation of less than 4.4 dB within the wavelength region of 1535-1605 nm and using 3 m of EDF and 100 mW pump power. The corresponding noise figure is maintained below 9.6 dB at this wavelength region.

Excited state absorption measurement in the 900-1250 nm wavelength range for bismuth-doped silicate fibers

The feasibility of direct laser diode pumping of Bi-doped fiber lasers at the wavelengths of 915 and 975 nm was examined by measuring excited state absorption in Bi-doped silicate fibers for the wavelength range of 900-1250 nm. When the Bi-doped fibers were pumped at 1047 nm a strong excited state absorption was found at 915 and 975 nm, whereas no significant excited state absorption was observed in the 1080 nm pumping band nor in the emission band, approximately 1160 nm, of Bi-doped fiber lasers.

Performance comparison of Zr-based and Bi-based erbium-doped fiber amplifiers.

In this Letter, we present a comprehensive comparison of the performance of a zirconia-based erbium-doped fiber amplifier (Zr-EDFA) and a bismuth-based erbium-doped fiber amplifier (Bi-EDFA). The experimental results reveal that a Zr-EDFA can achieve comparable performance to the conventional Bi-EDFA for C-band and L-band operations. With a combination of both Zr and Al, we could achieve a high erbium-doping concentration of about 2800 ppm (parts per million) in the glass host without any phase separations of rare earths. The Zr-based erbium-doped fiber (Zr-EDF) was fabricated using in a ternary glass host, zirconia-yttria-aluminum codoped silica fiber through a solution-doping technique along with modified chemical vapor deposition. At a high input signal of 0 dBm, a flat gain at average value of 13 dB is obtained with a gain variation of less than 2 dB within the wavelength region of 1530-1575 nm and using 2 m of Zr-EDF and 120 mW pump power. The noise figures are less than 9.2 at this wavelength region. It was found that a Zr-EDFA can achieve even better flat-gain value and bandwidth as well as lower noise figure than the conventional Bi-EDFA.

Development of a glass optical fiber containing ZnO–Al2O3–SiO2 glass-ceramics doped with Co2+ and its optical absorption characteristics

Abstract A new type of glass fibers with optical characteristics unattainable by the conventional fiber processing method is presented. Silica glass fibers containing ZnO–Al2O3–SiO2 (ZAS) glass-ceramics particles doped with Co2+ in the core region of the optical fiber were developed using a silica slurry method. The ZAS glass-ceramics particles were found to be preserved in the core of the fiber even after the modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) process and the fiber-drawing process at high temperatures. The observed absorption bands at IR regions were due to the tetrahedral Co2+ in the ZnAl2O4 crystals of the ZAS glass-ceramics in the core of the fiber.

Fiber design for high-power fiber lasers

This paper reviews the progress in active fibers suitable for power scaling, highlighting the advances in fiber design that will enable the control of nonlinearities such as SRS and SBS in high power fiber lasers, as well as making feasible a practical high power three-level system.