502 Watt, single transverse mode, narrow linewidth, bidirectionally pumped Yb-doped fiber amplifier

Abstract

High power operation of narrow linewidth optical fiber amplifiers is usually limited by the onset of stimulated Brillouin scattering. In this paper, we present results demonstrating over 500 Watts of power in a single mode beam from a fiber designed to suppress stimulated Brillouin scattering through a reduction in the overlap of the optical and acoustic fields. Simulations demonstrate the potential for this fiber to achieve greater than 1000 Watts of output power.