All-fiber actively Q-switched Yb-doped laser

Abstract An all-fiber actively Q-switched Yb-doped laser is presented. Q-switching is performed by modulating a fiber Bragg grating via a magnetostrictive rod which is fixed to the fiber at the position of the grating. By exposing the rod to a changing magnetic field, the rod is stretched and relaxed causing the Bragg wavelength of the grating to shift and thereby changes the Q-factor of the cavity. Using Yb-doped fiber, pulses at 1052 nm are obtained at repetition rates from 1 to 200 kHz. At 75 kHz, 0.5 μJ pulses with peak powers of 3 W can be produced when 180 mW of pump power is applied. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first all-fiber actively Q-switched Yb-doped laser presented to date.

[1]  Liguo Luo,et al.  Passive Q-switched erbium-doped fibre laser with saturable absorber , 1999 .

[2]  Jens Limpert,et al.  High-power femtosecond Yb-doped fiber amplifier. , 2002, Optics express.

[3]  C. C. Cutler,et al.  Why does linear phase shift cause mode locking , 1992 .

[4]  Patrice Mégret,et al.  Dynamics of a self-Q-switched fiber laser with a Rayleigh-stimulated Brillouin scattering ring mirror. , 2004, Optics letters.

[5]  Yong Wang,et al.  Switching-induced perturbation and influence on actively Q-switched fiber lasers , 2004 .

[6]  David J. Richardson,et al.  Passively Q-switched 0.1mJ fiber laser system at 1.53µm , 1999 .

[7]  Alexander V. Kir'yanov,et al.  All-fiber passively Q-switched low-threshold erbium laser. , 2001 .

[8]  Wen-Fung Liu,et al.  Q-switched all-fiber laser with an acoustically modulated fiber attenuator , 2000, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[9]  Govind P. Agrawal,et al.  Nonlinear Fiber Optics , 1989 .

[10]  R. Kashyap.  Fiber Bragg Gratings , 1999 .

[11]  Jose L. Cruz,et al.  High-efficiency Q-switched erbium fiber laser using a Bragg grating-based modulator , 2002 .

[12]  Y. Jeong,et al.  Ytterbium-doped large-core fiber laser with 1.36 kW continuous-wave output power. , 2004, Optics express.

[13]  Ram Oron,et al.  Rayleigh backscattering and amplified spontaneous emission in high-power ytterbium-doped fiber amplifiers , 1999 .

[14]  D. Shepherd,et al.  Compact diode-pumped passively Q-switched tunable Er-Yb double-clad fiber laser. , 2002, Optics letters.

[15]  D J Richardson,et al.  High-energy, high-power ytterbium-doped Q-switched fiber laser. , 2000, Optics letters.

[16]  P. Pérez-Millán,et al.  Q-switched all-fiber laser based on magnetostriction modulation of a Bragg grating. , 2005, Optics express.

[17]  Alain Chandonnet,et al.  High-power Q-switched erbium fiber laser using an all-fiber intensity modulator , 1993 .

[18]  N. M. Cho,et al.  All-solid-state passively Q-switched mode-locked Nd-doped fiber laser. , 1990, Optics letters.

[19]  H. Kogelnik,et al.  Coupled‐Wave Theory of Distributed Feedback Lasers , 1972 .

[20]  J R Taylor,et al.  Supercontinuum self-Q-switched ytterbium fiber laser. , 1997, Optics letters.

[21]  Michel J. F. Digonnet,et al.  Rare earth doped fiber lasers and amplifiers , 1993 .

[22]  D. Kuizenga.  Short-pulse oscillator development for the Nd:glass laser-fusion systems , 1981 .