Energy recycling versus lifetime quenching in erbium-doped 3-μm fiber lasers

Author

Pollnau, Markus ; Jackson, Stuart D.

Author_Institution

Inst. of Appl. Opt., Swiss Fed. Inst. of Technol., Lausanne, Switzerland

Volume

38

Issue

2

fYear

2002

fDate

2/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

162

Lastpage

169

Abstract

Based on recently published spectroscopic measurements of the relevant energy-transfer parameters, we performed a detailed analysis of the population mechanisms and the characteristics of the output from Er ³⁺-singly-doped and Er³⁺, Pr³⁺-codoped ZBLAN fiber lasers operating at 3 μm, for various Er³⁺ concentrations and pump powers. Whereas both approaches resulted in similar laser performance at Er³⁺ concentrations <4 mol.% and pump powers <10 W absorbed, it is theoretically shown here that the Er³⁺-singly-doped system will be advantageous for higher Er³⁺ concentrations and pump powers. In this case, energy recycling by energy-transfer upconversion from the lower to the upper laser level can increase the slope efficiency to values greater than the Stokes efficiency, as is associated with a number of Er³⁺-doped crystal lasers. Output powers at 3 μm on the order of 10 W are predicted

Keywords

absorption coefficients; erbium; fibre lasers; infrared spectra; laser transitions; optical pumping; praseodymium; radiative lifetimes; 10 W; 3 micron; Er³⁺ concentrations; Er³⁺, Pr³⁺-codoped ZBLAN fiber lasers; Er³⁺-doped crystal lasers; Er³⁺-singly-doped ZBLAN fiber lasers; Stokes efficiency; ZBLAN:Er³⁺,Pr³⁺; ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF:Er,Pr; energy recycling; energy-transfer parameters; energy-transfer upconversion; erbium-doped 3-μm fiber lasers; laser transitions; lifetime quenching; output powers; population mechanisms; pump powers; slope efficiency; spectroscopic measurements; upper laser level; Energy measurement; Erbium; Erbium-doped fiber lasers; Laser excitation; Laser theory; Performance evaluation; Power lasers; Pump lasers; Recycling; Spectroscopy;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.980268

Filename

980268