2 μm laser properties of Tm^3+-doped large core sol-gel silica fiber

Abstract

Tm3+-doped 0.1Tm(2)O(3)-1Al(2)O(3)-98.9SiO(2) (mol%) silica glass with good uniformity was prepared by sol-gel method combining with high temperature sintering. The core glass sized Phi 3.2 x 50 mm with Delta n of 5 x 10(-4) was obtained after gelation, heat treatment, melting and polishing. Its spectroscopic properties were evaluated according to the detected absorption and fluorescence spectra. The maximum emission cross-section of Tm3+ ion in this glass is 6.2 x 10(-21) cm(2) and tested fluorescence lifetime is 836 mu s at 1806 nm. Large core double cladding fiber with core NA of 0.102 was prepared by rod-in-tube and high temperature drawing. Its tested optical loss is 1.1 dB/m at 1333 nm. 1.11 W fiber laser output centered at 1969 nm with M-2 factor of 1.99 was obtained from a 140 cm length double-cladding fiber with core diameter of 38 mu m. The quasi-single mode laser with M-2 factor of 1.33 was achieved in the fiber with core diameter of 19 mu m. (C)2014 Optical Society of America