Short-pulse-width self-pulsed Tm^3+-doped silica fiber lasers

Abstract

Influence of fiber length on the self-pulsing (SP) characteristics of 2 μm Tm3+-doped silica fiber lasers are investigated experimentally and theoretically. In SP operation, the laser pulse width narrows and the repetition rate increases with the decrease of fiber length. By shortening the fiber length to 2 m and angle-polishing the output fiber-end facet, SP pulse width less than 100 ns is achieved, comparable to that from conventional actively Q-switched Tm3+ fiber lasers. Theoretically simulated SP characteristics of the 2 μm Tm3+-doped fiber laser show good agreement with the experimental results. Further narrowing the pulse width in SP fiber lasers and their potential applications are also discussed.