In-band pumping of Tm:LiYF 4 channel waveguide: a power scaling strategy for ∼2 μm waveguide lasers

Pavel Loiko (1) , Romain Thouroude , Rémi Soulard (2) , Lauren Guillemot (2) , Gurvan Brasse , Blandine Guichardaz (3) , Alain Braud (2) , Ammar Hideur (4) , Mathieu Laroche (2) , Hervé Gilles (2) , Patrice Camy (2)

1 Center for Optical Technologies and Department of Materials Science and Engineering
2 CIMAP - UMR 6252 - Centre de recherche sur les Ions, les MAtériaux et la Photonique
3 FEMTO-ST - Franche-Comté Électronique Mécanique, Thermique et Optique - Sciences et Technologies (UMR 6174)
4 CORIA - Complexe de recherche interprofessionnel en aérothermochimie

We report on a novel power scaling strategy for thulium waveguide (WG) lasers relying on in-band pumping by high-brightness Raman fiber lasers (RFLs) and the use of liquid-phase-epitaxy-grown fluoride crystalline thin films for better thermal management. Thulium channel WGs are produced by microstructuring the Tm3+:LiYF4/LiYF4 epitaxies via diamond-saw dicing. They are pumped by a RFL based on an erbium master oscillator power amplifier and a GeO2-doped silica fiber and emit polarized output at 1679 nm. A CW in-band-pumped (H63→F43) Tm3+:LiYF4 WG laser generates up to 2.05 W of a linearly polarized single-transverse-mode output at 1881 nm with a slope efficiency of 78.3% and a laser threshold of only 12 mW (versus the absorbed pump power).

Domaines: Optique / photonique

Pavel Loiko, Romain Thouroude, Rémi Soulard, Lauren Guillemot, Gurvan Brasse, et al.. In-band pumping of Tm:LiYF 4 channel waveguide: a power scaling strategy for ∼2 μm waveguide lasers. Optics Letters, 2019, 44 (12), pp.3010. ⟨10.1364/OL.44.003010⟩. ⟨hal-02152331⟩