Optimization of Erbium-Doped Actively Q-Switched Fiber Laser Implemented in Symmetric Configuration

Author

Kolpakov, Stanislav A. ; Sergeyev, S. ; Chengbo Mou ; Gordon, Neil T. ; Kaiming Zhou

Author_Institution

Sch. of Eng. & Appl. Sci., Univ. of Aston, Birmingham, UK

Volume

20

Issue

5

fYear

2014

fDate

Sept.-Oct. 2014

Firstpage

329

Lastpage

336

Abstract

We report the results of an experimental study aimed at improving the performance of actively Q-switched fiber lasers. Unlike generic design schemes employing photonic crystal fibers, large modal diameter fibers or double-clad fibers, we demonstrate a high-power, actively Q-switched laser based on standard communication erbium doped fibers with peak irradiance beyond the state-of-the-art at 3.1 GW/cm ². The laser had 2.2 kW peak power, 15.5 ns pulse duration and 36.8 μJ pulse energy. We have also investigated the dynamics of pulse generation and have successfully suppressed pulse instabilities caused by backscattered laser emission reaching the pump laser diodes.

Keywords

Q-switching; erbium; fibre lasers; optical pulse generation; optical pumping; backscattered laser emission; energy 36.8 muJ; erbium-doped actively Q-switched fiber laser; high-power actively Q-switched laser; pulse duration; pulse energy; pulse generation dynamics; pulse instability; pump laser diodes; standard communication erbium doped fibers; symmetric configuration; time 15.5 ns; Fiber gratings; Laser excitation; Power lasers; Pump lasers; Semiconductor lasers; Active Q-switching; erbium-doped fiber; fiber laser; giant pulse; optimization;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1077-260X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JSTQE.2014.2301015

Filename

6714372