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Mode locking and Q-switching of a neodymium doped monomode fibre laser

Mode locking and Q-switching of a neodymium doped monomode fibre laser
Mode locking and Q-switching of a neodymium doped monomode fibre laser
A cw Nd-doped monomode fibre laser has been actively mode-locked and Q-switched at 1.08µm and 0.906µm. Subnanosecond mode-locked pulses of ~20 pJ and Q-switched pulses of 200 nsec and ~10W peak power are observed at 1.08µm. There has been much recent interest in laser systems using as the gain medium rare earth-doped optical fibres which only support a single waveguide mode at the lasing wavelength. The small diameter of the active region, i.e. the fibre core, combined with longitudinal pumping by a laser allows the achievement of low thresholds, high conversion efficiencies and high gain. The small core diameter also eliminates the thermal distortion and thermal birefringence problems that plague bulk glass systems. As an illustration of these benefits of a fibre laser, we note that cw operation has been achieved, with low threshold, even for three-level laser schemes. Thus Er doped fibre, operating at 1.55µm, (4 I 13/2 to 4 I 15/2) has been operated as a cw laser and cw operation of a Nd-doped fibre has been achieved on the 4F3/2 to 4 I 9/2 transition at ~0.9µm. Neither of these transitions has been operated at room temperature in a bulk glass-laser with continuous-wave output.
136-137
SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Alcock, I.P.
d0984a5a-455b-410f-b46b-6286e6c3c268
Ferguson, A.I.
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Hanna, D.C.
3da5a5b4-71c2-4441-bb67-21f0d28a187d
Huaren, G.
06e12cd6-cf58-48c9-8b30-65e919896173
Phillips, M.W.
02fc598e-35d4-4c18-8752-f0bec31896c6
Tropper, A.C.
f3505426-e0d5-4e91-aed3-aecdb44b393c
Alcock, I.P.
d0984a5a-455b-410f-b46b-6286e6c3c268
Ferguson, A.I.
7764759c-2b56-4e74-ad3d-fc8b666853c3
Hanna, D.C.
3da5a5b4-71c2-4441-bb67-21f0d28a187d
Huaren, G.
06e12cd6-cf58-48c9-8b30-65e919896173
Phillips, M.W.
02fc598e-35d4-4c18-8752-f0bec31896c6
Tropper, A.C.
f3505426-e0d5-4e91-aed3-aecdb44b393c

Alcock, I.P., Ferguson, A.I., Hanna, D.C., Huaren, G., Phillips, M.W. and Tropper, A.C. (1986) Mode locking and Q-switching of a neodymium doped monomode fibre laser. In Proceedings of the European Conference on Optics Optical Systems and Applications. SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. pp. 136-137 .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

A cw Nd-doped monomode fibre laser has been actively mode-locked and Q-switched at 1.08µm and 0.906µm. Subnanosecond mode-locked pulses of ~20 pJ and Q-switched pulses of 200 nsec and ~10W peak power are observed at 1.08µm. There has been much recent interest in laser systems using as the gain medium rare earth-doped optical fibres which only support a single waveguide mode at the lasing wavelength. The small diameter of the active region, i.e. the fibre core, combined with longitudinal pumping by a laser allows the achievement of low thresholds, high conversion efficiencies and high gain. The small core diameter also eliminates the thermal distortion and thermal birefringence problems that plague bulk glass systems. As an illustration of these benefits of a fibre laser, we note that cw operation has been achieved, with low threshold, even for three-level laser schemes. Thus Er doped fibre, operating at 1.55µm, (4 I 13/2 to 4 I 15/2) has been operated as a cw laser and cw operation of a Nd-doped fibre has been achieved on the 4F3/2 to 4 I 9/2 transition at ~0.9µm. Neither of these transitions has been operated at room temperature in a bulk glass-laser with continuous-wave output.

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Published date: 1986
Venue - Dates: European Conference on Optics Optical Systems and Applications, 1986-01-01

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Local EPrints ID: 77668
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/77668
PURE UUID: ebb5d202-fb26-4e79-bf94-39428440abd6

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Date deposited: 11 Mar 2010
Last modified: 13 Mar 2024 23:57

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Contributors

Author: I.P. Alcock
Author: A.I. Ferguson
Author: D.C. Hanna
Author: G. Huaren
Author: M.W. Phillips
Author: A.C. Tropper

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