Novel approach for single-ended operation of a cladding-pumped fibre laser

Abstract

A novel, all-fibre geometry for achieving predominantly single-ended laser operation of a fibre laser without the use of high reflectivity dielectric coatings or in-fibre Bragg gratings is described. This approach has been applied to a simple cladding-pumped Yb-doped silica fibre laser pumped by a high-power diode source at ∼976 nm. In preliminary experiments the fibre laser yielded 29 W of output at 1080 nm for 48 W of launched pump power. At pump powers over 25 W the slope efficiency with respect to absorbed pump power was 78%. The prospects for further improvement in performance and higher output power are considered.