V. L. Temyanko

Phase locking and in-phase supermode selection in monolithic multicore fiber lasers.

We report a compact multicore fiber laser that utilizes an all-fiber approach for phase locking and in-phase supermode selection. By splicing passive coreless fibers of controlled lengths to both ends of an active 19-core fiber, we demonstrate that the fundamental in-phase supermode can be selectively excited with a completely monolithic fiber device, instead of conventional free-space and bulk optics, to achieve phase-locked operation for a multiemitter laser device.

Generation of 9.3-W multimode and 4-W single-mode output from 7-cm short fiber lasers

We generate 9.3-W continuous-wave 1535-nm multimode output from a 7.0-cm short-length Er-Yb codoped phosphate fiber laser. A slope efficiency of 29% is obtained at pump powers below 27 W. Very high output power per unit fiber length of 1.33 W/cm is achieved. From another 7.1-cm Er-Yb codoped fiber laser, 4.0-W single-transverse-mode output with M/sup 2//spl ap/1.1 is generated.

Generation of watt-level single-longitudinal-mode output from cladding-pumped short fiber lasers

We generate as much as 1.6 W of continuous-wave 1550 nm single-longitudinal-mode output from a cladding pumped Er-Yb codoped phosphate fiber laser. This power is to our knowledge among the highest in single-longitudinal-mode fiber lasers. The narrowband fiber Bragg grating output coupler is demonstrated to be an effective element for providing the single-longitudinal-mode selection.

Single-frequency fiber oscillator with watt-level output power using photonic crystal phosphate glass fiber

Utilizing phosphate glass fiber with photonic crystal cladding and highly doped, large area core a cladding-pumped, single-frequency fiber oscillator is demonstrated. The fiber oscillator contains only 3.8 cm of active fiber in a linear cavity and operates in the 1.5 micron region. Spectrally broad, multimode pump light from semiconductor laser diodes is converted into a single-mode, single-frequency light beam with an efficiency of about 12% and the oscillator output power reached 2.3 W.

Phase-locked multicore all-fiber lasers: modeling and experimental investigation

A systematic study on a compact, novel phase-locked multicore fiber laser device that is based on a truly all-fiber approach is presented. Supermode selection inside this monolithic fiber device is numerically analyzed, and multicore fiber lasers operating explicitly at the in-phase supermode are experimentally demonstrated.

Efficient and scalable side pumping scheme for short high-power optical fiber lasers and amplifiers

A new and simple method of pumping short high-power optical fiber lasers and amplifiers is described. In our approach, several passive coreless optical fibers are brought into direct contact alongside a single rare-earth doped active fiber which constitutes the active medium of the laser (amplifier). Pump light is delivered through the passive coreless fibers and penetrates into the active fiber via evanescent field coupling. To enhance the pump absorption in the gain medium, high-order spatial modes are excited in the pump delivery fibers, and an active fiber with high concentration of the dopant ions is used. As a demonstration of the viability of our approach, test results are reported on a 12-cm-long Er/sup +3/-Yb/sup +3/ codoped phosphate glass fiber laser. The laser output reaches 5 W using 23-W pumping into six coreless fibers. Above threshold, the laser has /spl sim/24% optical-to-optical conversion efficiency (with /spl sim/64% being the theoretical maximum). The linearity of the input-output characteristic for the laser suggests that the output power can be scaled up by applying higher pump power.

Short-length microstructured phosphate glass fiber lasers with large mode areas

We report fabrication and testing of the first phosphate glass microstructured fiber lasers with large Er–Yb-codoped cores. For an 11-cm-long cladding-pumped fiber laser, more than 3 W of continuous wave output power is demonstrated, and near single-mode beam quality is obtained for an active core area larger than 400 μm2.

Short cladding-pumped Er/Yb phosphate fiber laser with 1.5 W output power

We report experimental results on a high-power, cladding-pumped, heavily Er∕Yb co-doped phosphate fiber laser of very short length. Up to 1.5W cw laser power was obtained from an11-cm-long multimode-core active fiber with optimized input and output couplers, when pumped by a 15W diode laser at 975nm. The fiber laser was demonstrated at 1535nm with a linewidth <1.2nm, and a good beam quality of M2<3.

Tapered fiber bundles for combining high-power diode lasers

Tapered fiber bundles are often used to combine the output power of several semiconductor lasers into a multimode optical fiber for the purpose of pumping fiber lasers and amplifiers. It is generally recognized that the brightness of such combiners does not exceed the brightness of the individual input fibers. We report that the brightness of the tapered fibers (and fiber bundles) depends on both the taper ratio and the mode-filling properties of the beams launched into the individual fibers. Brightness, therefore, can be increased by selection of sources that fill a small fraction of the input fibers modal capacity. As proof of concept, we present the results of measurements on tapered fiber-bundle combiners having a low-output étendue. Under low mode-filling conditions per input multimode fiber (i.e., fraction of filled modes < or =0.29), we report brightness enhancements of 8.0 dB for 19 x 1 bundles, 6.7 dB for 7 x 1 bundles, and 4.0 dB for 3 x 1 combiners. Our measured coupling efficiency variations of approximately 1%-2% among the various fibers in a given bundle confirm the uniformity and quality of the fabricated devices.

Ultracompact cladding-pumped 35-mm-short fiber laser with 4.7-W single-mode output power

We report on ultracompact cladding-pumped fiber lasers, fabricated from single-mode phosphate glass microstructured optical fibers, with several watts of cw output at 1.5μm. A maximum cw output power of 4.7W has been achieved from a fiber laser that is only 35mm in length, corresponding to a yield of 1.34W∕cm of active microstructured fiber.