The demand for high-power lasers in the 2 μm region is growing across various applications. Thulium-Doped Fiber Lasers (TDFL) lead with 50-60 % slope efficiencies and over 1 kW of output power. Thulium:Holmium-co-Doped Fiber Lasers (THDFL) show lower slope efficiencies but operate beyond 2.1 μm, beneficial for atmospheric applications. The latter laser type being so-far less explored. We compare TDFL and THDFL power scaling in a Master-Oscillator Power-Amplifier (MOPA) setup, assessing thermal constraints and output power limits for distinct fiber geometries. This study provides a direct comparison and important background on laser design to meet specific power requirements.
We report our latest results in nonlinear mid-infrared frequency conversion using a fiber-based single-oscillator pumping a ZGP-based OPO. To minimize absorption in the ZGP crystal a simplified Q-switched Tm3+:Ho3+-codoped fiber laser was realized, emitting at 2.1 μm. Based on this pump source, mid-infrared output powers up to 12.2 W were achieved with pulse energies up to 271 μJ and conversion efficiencies of 43.4%. Representing an improvement of about 50% over the state-of-the-art.
We report on an all-fiber Master Oscillator Power Amplifier (MOPA) laser at a signal wavelength of 2048 nm, designed for pumping an Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO). This setup offers the benefit of miniaturization while being rugged and thereby suite the demands for mobile counter measures. By utilizing the MOPA structure to design suitable OPO pump pulses the overall mid-IR conversion efficiency is enhanced enabling the scaling of the mid-IR average power. Thus, 50 W average power at a wavelength of 2048 nm is generated and applied to pump a ZGP OPO. For a ZGP OPO pump power of 20 W, mid-IR output power of 11.1 W is achieved. At this maximum output power, a beam quality M2 of 2.2 is measured for signal and idler. To our knowledge this is the highest mid-IR brightness achieved by a fiber laser pumped ZGP OPO.
A nanosecond-pulsed Tm-doped fiber laser (TDFL) operating at 2050 nm is reported based on a flexible photonic crystal fiber with a core diameter of 50 μm. The TDFL delivers gaussian-shaped pulses with a maximum pulse energy of 1.9 mJ, corresponding to a peak power of 15.4 kW and a pulse width of 116 ns. The average output power of the pulsed TDFL is 114 W at a pulse repetition rate of 60 kHz. The measured output spectrum shows a single peak at 2050 nm with a 3-dB-linewidth of 130 pm and a 10-dB-linewidth of 370 pm. The TDFL serves as an excellent pump source for mid-IR generation through nonlinear-frequency conversion in optical parametric oscillators based on ZnGeP2.
In this work we propose a simulation tool to analyze the case of conduction-driven thermal blooming and compare the results with measurements at the 2055 nm absorption line of CO2. Using a split-step beam propagation method and incorporating the spatial refractive index change related to the absorption-driven radial temperature gradient resulting from conduction, the effect of beam distortion can be described for arbitrary wavelengths and various atmospheric conditions. The model is benchmarked by experimental investigations using a tunable 100-W thulium fiber laser.
We report on the scaling of a polarization-maintaining MOPA at a signal wavelength of 2048 nm, designed for pumping an optical parametric oscillator (OPO). By utilizing the MOPA structure to design suitable OPO pump pulses the overall mid-IR conversion efficiency is enhanced enabling the scaling of the mid-IR average power. 60 W of average power is achieved and applied to pump different ZGP OPOs. The resonator designs are investigated and compared regarding scalability and beam quality.
We present our latest results in power scaling of Midwave-Infrared (MWIR) Optical Parametric Oscillators (OPOs) based on a Zinc Germanium Phosphide (ZGP) crystal, utilizing a single oscillator fiber laser as pump source. To obtain a compact and complexity-reduced pump source emitting at ≥ 2.09 μm, a Q-switched Tm3+:Ho3+- codoped fiber laser was developed. Based on this pump source at an emission wavelength of 2.1 μm, we achieved an MWIR output power of 12.2W with pulse energies of up to 270 μJ and a conversion efficiency exceeding 43 %. This result exceeds the published power records of ZGP-based OPOs pumped by 2 μm Q-switched fiber lasers by 50 % and sets a new benchmark for average power scaling and pulse energy of Q-switched pump sources.
An actively Q-switched diode-pumped Tm3+-doped fiber laser (TDFL) operating at 2050 nm is reported based on a flexible Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) with a core diamter of 50 μm. Using a fiber length of 3 m, the TDFL delivers gaussian shaped pulses with a maximum pulse energy of 1.5 mJ, corresponding to a peak power of 16 kW and a pulse width of 88 ns. The measured output spectrum shows a single peak at 2050 nm with a 3-dB-linewidth of 100 pm and 10-dB-linewidth of 270 pm. For a longer fiber length of 7 m, the effective gain is redshifted by reabsorbtion, increasing the achievable pulse energy up to 1.9 mJ. The average output power of the pulsed TDFL can be scaled to more than 100 W with a slope efficiency of 46 %. In all configurations the TDFL delivers nearly diffraction limited beam quality (M2 ⪅1.3).
A polarization-maintaining (PM) pulsed three-stage master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) emitting at 2047 nm is reported, generating 19.8W of output power (396 μJ pulse energy) for a 50 ns pulse width at a repetition rate of 50 kHz. The output signal is linearly polarized and a diffraction limited beam quality is achieved. This MOPA laser is used to pump a doubly resonant ZnGeP2 (ZGP) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) in a linear cavity. A mid-IR output power of 8.1W, accordingly 162 μJ of pulse energy, and a conversion efficiency of 44 % are obtained in the 3-5 μm band.
A diode-pumped actively Q-switched Tm3+-doped fiber laser is reported generating pulse energies of 800 μJ, pulse widths of 43 ns and peak powers of 17.5 kW. By using the single-oscillator as a pump source for nonlinear frequency conversion, mid-IR pulse energies of 230 μJ are extracted from a ZnGeP2 (ZGP) optical parametric oscillator (OPO).
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