Cladding pumped Ytterbium-doped fiber laser with holey inner and outer cladding.

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Materials Science
• Laser Physics

Background:

• Development of high-power fiber lasers is crucial for various applications.
• Large mode area (LMA) fibers are key to mitigating nonlinear effects and achieving high output power.
• Ytterbium (Yb) doping is a common and efficient gain medium for fiber lasers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate and characterize an ytterbium-doped all-glass double-clad large mode area holey fiber.
• To demonstrate a highly efficient cladding-pumped single transverse mode holey fiber laser.
• To investigate different operational modes including continuous-wave, Q-switched, and mode-locked.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of an ytterbium-doped all-glass double-clad large mode area (LMA) holey fiber.
• Cladding pumping of the fabricated fiber.
• Characterization of laser output in continuous-wave (CW), Q-switched, and mode-locked regimes.

Main Results:

• Demonstration of a cladding-pumped single transverse mode holey fiber laser.
• Achieved continuous-wave output powers exceeding 1W.
• Obtained laser efficiencies greater than 80% in CW operation.
• Successfully demonstrated both Q-switched and mode-locked laser operation.

Conclusions:

• The fabricated ytterbium-doped LMA holey fiber supports efficient laser operation.
• The demonstrated fiber laser exhibits high efficiency and versatile operational capabilities.
• This technology holds promise for high-power fiber laser systems.