High-power synchronously pumped femtosecond Raman fiber laser

Area of Science:

• Fiber laser technology
• Nonlinear optics
• Ultrafast photonics

Background:

• Development of high-power ultrafast fiber lasers is crucial for various scientific applications.
• Raman fiber lasers offer unique wavelength tunability and high-power capabilities.
• Operating in the normal dispersion regime presents specific challenges and opportunities for pulse generation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report a high-power synchronously pumped femtosecond Raman fiber laser.
• To investigate its performance in the normal dispersion regime.
• To characterize its operational modes and efficiency.

Main Methods:

• Synchronous pumping of a Raman fiber laser using a picosecond Yb(3+)-doped fiber laser.
• Generation of highly chirped femtosecond pulses.
• External pulse compression to achieve short pulse durations.
• Experimental characterization of coherent and noise-like regimes.
• Numerical simulations for validation.

Main Results:

• Achieved high average power of 0.76 W and 18 nJ pulse energy.
• Demonstrated high optical conversion efficiency of 88%.
• Produced highly chirped pulses with a compressed pulse duration of 147 fs.
• Observed and characterized two distinct operational regimes: coherent and noise-like.
• Numerical simulations showed good agreement with experimental findings.

Conclusions:

• A high-power femtosecond Raman fiber laser operating in the normal dispersion regime was successfully developed.
• The laser exhibits high efficiency and versatile operational modes.
• The results are validated by numerical simulations, confirming the laser's performance and characteristics.