High-power diode-pumped Q-switched Er3+:YAG single-crystal fiber laser for active imaging system

Igor Martial (1, 2) , Julien Didierjean (1) , François Balembois (2) , Patrick Georges (2)

1 Fibercryst
2 Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique / Elsa

We describe an efficient laser emission from a directly grown Er3+:YAG single-crystal fiber that is resonantly pumped using a continuous-wave (CW) laser diode at 1532 nm. In a longitudinal pumping, it emits 12.5 W at 1645 nm with a slope efficiency of 32%, which is the highest ever reported for a directly grown Er:YAG single-crystal fiber laser. Using an off-axis pumping scheme, CW output powers up to 7.3 W can be reached and in Q-switched operation, the laser produces 2 mJ pulses with a duration of 38 ns at the repetition rate of 1 kHz with an M² factor below 1.8. To our knowledge this is the first directly grown Er3+:YAG single-crystal fiber Q-switched laser. In dual-side pumping scheme a laser emission at 1617 nm is achieved with output powers up to 5.7 W representing the highest output power ever achieved by a diode-pumped Er:YAG laser at this wavelength.

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

Igor Martial, Julien Didierjean, François Balembois, Patrick Georges. High-power diode-pumped Q-switched Er3+:YAG single-crystal fiber laser for active imaging system. Defense, Security and Sensing, Apr 2011, Orlando, United States. ⟨hal-00588871⟩