Abstract
We demonstrate the first gain-switched, singly doped, single-mode holmium-doped silicate glass fibre laser that operates at 2.106 microm. Using a gain-switched 1.909-microm thulium-doped fibre laser as the pump source, output pulses of energy 3.2 microJ and pulse duration of 150 ns were generated at 80 kHz and slope efficiency of 44%. Pulse stacking within the holmium-doped fibre laser resulted in significantly shorter 70 ns pulses.
Highlights
Pulsed fibre lasers operating in the 2 μm region of the spectrum are of particular interest to a range of applications in defence, medicine and telecommunications
We demonstrate the first gain-switched, singly doped, singlemode holmium-doped silicate glass fibre laser that operates at 2.106μm
Pulse stacking within the holmium-doped fibre laser resulted in significantly shorter 70 ns pulses
Summary
Pulsed fibre lasers operating in the 2 μm region of the spectrum are of particular interest to a range of applications in defence, medicine and telecommunications. A series of continuous wave (CW) singly-Ho3+-doped fibre lasers operating at 2.1 μm have been reported [3,4], for pulsed operation, the reported Q-switched [5] and mode-locked [6] Ho3+-doped fibre lasers have involved Tm3+ as a sensitiser, which can compromise the overall efficiency because of energy transfer upconversion and may limit the wavelength; the longest wavelength reported being 2.08 μm [7]. In this paper we extend the work associated with fibre lasers using singly Ho3+-doped silicate glass because of the possibility of augmenting the overall efficiency as a result of separating the Tm3+-based laser from the Ho3+-based laser. To this end, we report, to the best of our knowledge, the first demonstration of a pulsed singly doped and single mode. Ho3+-doped silicate glass fibre laser operating at 2.106 μm that is pumped using a gain switched Tm3+-doped silicate glass fibre laser
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