High-Brightness Multimode Fiber Lasers for Resonant Pumping

Abstract

We present multimode fiber lasers for tandem pumping of high power Er-, Tm-, and Yb-doped lasers. These pump sources are based on especially developed multimode Er- and Yb-doped double-clad fibers. Er-doped lasers with record pump conversion efficiency >48% at 1565 nm and more than 41% at 1535 and 1590 nm were realized. Yb-doped fiber laser at 1020 nm with record high 85% pump conversion efficiency was demonstrated. Also, we propose novel design of compact and cost-effective multimode laser scheme. The potential of power scaling of proposed lasers to the 1-10-kW level and their advantages as resonant pump sources are discussed.