Efficient skew-angle cladding-pumped tunable narrow-linewidth Yb-doped fiber laser

Area of Science:

• Fiber laser technology
• Laser physics
• Optical engineering

Background:

• Development of tunable fiber lasers is crucial for spectroscopy and optical communications.
• Yb-doped fiber lasers offer efficient operation in the near-infrared spectrum.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a cladding-pumped tunable Yb-doped fiber laser.
• To investigate the tuning range and output characteristics of the developed laser system.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a skew-angle design for the fiber laser cavity.
• Incorporated a volume Bragg grating in a retroreflector configuration for wavelength tuning.
• Employed cladding-pumping for efficient energy transfer.

Main Results:

• Achieved a tuning range of over 30 nm, from 1022 to 1055 nm.
• Recorded output powers exceeding 4.3 W.
• Maintained a spectral bandwidth of 5 GHz and an M(2) value below 1.3 across the tuning range.

Conclusions:

• The developed fiber laser demonstrates broad tunability and high output power.
• The skew-angle design and volume Bragg grating are effective for achieving tunable laser operation.
• The laser system shows promise for applications requiring tunable near-infrared light sources.