Watt-level visible laser in double-clad Pr³⁺-doped fluoride fiber pumped by a GaN diode

We report on a red praseodymium fiber laser delivering 1.07 W at 634.5 nm with a slope efficiency of 20.7% (versus the incident pump), a laser threshold of 0.55 W, and a single-mode output (Mx,y2<1.1) in the quasi-continuous-wave regime. It is based on a 0.6 mol.% Pr³⁺-doped ZBLAN double-clad fiber with a 5.5 µm core, a double D-shaped (diameters, 115/125 µm) inner cladding, and a length of 5.0 m. The fiber is pumped by a multimode 443 nm GaN diode. The laser design is optimized using a numerical model. The proposed concept is suitable for the development of diode-pumped high brightness watt-level visible praseodymium fiber lasers.