All-fiber widely tunable thulium laser

G. Stevens; T. Legg

doi:10.1117/12.2203478

11 March 2016 All-fiber widely tunable thulium laser

G. Stevens, T. Legg

Proceedings Volume 9728, Fiber Lasers XIII: Technology, Systems, and Applications; 972814 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2203478
Event: SPIE LASE, 2016, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

We present results from an all-fibre thulium laser system that can be tuned to any wavelength between 1710 – 2110 nm, without using any moving mechanical parts. An Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter (AOTF) is used as the tuning element, which allows for the wavelength to be tuned in ~ 20 μs. Core-pumped and cladding pumped thulium fibres are used to enable lasing action across the wavelength range. We use in-house fabricated fused fibre couplers and combiners that have a flattened coupling response with wavelength to allow for the system to be built in an all fibre design. These couplers have a coupling response that only varies by +/- 10% over the 400 nm operating range. The laser can output powers between 1-5 mW over 1710 – 2110 nm and has a linewidth of <0.2 nm. An Acousto-optic modulator is used as a switch on the output of the laser to switch the signal between core-pumped and cladding-pumped amplifier stages. This allows for the output signals to be amplified to ~1W levels.

Citation Download Citation

G. Stevens and T. Legg "All-fiber widely tunable thulium laser", Proc. SPIE 9728, Fiber Lasers XIII: Technology, Systems, and Applications, 972814 (11 March 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2203478

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