Multi-watt operation of a holmium doped silica fibre laser at 2.2 µm

Holmen, L.G., Shardlow, P.C., Barua, P., Sahu, J.K., Simakov, N., Hemming, A. and Clarkson, W.A. (2019) Multi-watt operation of a holmium doped silica fibre laser at 2.2 µm. 2019 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe and European Quantum Electronics Conference, CLEO/Europe-EQEC 2019, ICM – International Congress Centre, Munich, Germany. 23 - 27 Jun 2019. 1 pp . (doi:10.1109/CLEOE-EQEC.2019.8872447).

Abstract

Laser sources operating in the atmospheric transmission window between 2.1 and 2.25 µm are of interest for a range of applications (e.g. remote sensing, free-space communication and defence). Holmium fibre lasers provide good coverage of the lower part of this spectral region [1], but operation towards 2.2 µm is much more challenging due to a reduced emission cross-section and higher propagation losses associated with the IR absorption edge of fused silica. Furthermore, OH^- -contamination can cause additional absorption around 2.2 µm. Here we investigate the limits of long-wavelength tuning of a holmium-doped fibre laser, and report, to the best of our knowledge, the first watt-level (4.1 W) output from a silica fibre laser operating at 2.2 µm.

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Contributors

Author: P.C. Shardlow

Author: J.K. Sahu

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