Q-switched thulium-doped fiber laser

Abstract

A tunable <i>Q</i>-switched thulium-doped single-mode silica fiber laser is presented for the first time. Its performance is analyzed as a function of pulse repetition rate and pumping power. The optimization of laser parameters resulted in 4 W/130 ns, 1.92-μm wavelength pulses generated at a 4-kHz repetition rate. From the measured values of small-signal attenuation and intrinsic saturation power, the thulium ion parameters at the pump and signal wavelength are derived and used in theoretical modeling of the laser. The moderate power required from the Ti:sapphire pump laser used in the experiment suggests that similar resuIts can be obtained using a laser diode pump.