8.8 W diode-cladding-pumped Tm/sup 3+/,Ho/sup 3+/-doped fluoride fibre laser

A maximum output power of 8.8 W was generated from a diode pumped Tm/sup 3+/,Ho/sup 3+/-doped ZBLAN glass fibre laser. The laser operated with a maximum slope efficiency of 36% with respect to the incident pump power. The wavelength was measured to be 2056 nm and some instability was observed in the output.