Q-switched neodymium-doped phosphate glass fiber lasers

The operation of a short-pulse, Q-switched, neodymium-doped fiber laser operating at 1.054 mu m is described experimentally and theoretically. The laser is efficiently pumped with a single-stripe AlGaAs laser diode and emits >1 kW pulses. It is seen that due to high gain short pulses with high energy extraction efficiency can be obtained. The feature of broad emission lines associated with rare-earth-doped glasses is exploited to demonstrate tunable, Q-switched operation over a 40-nm tuning range. >