An efficient actively Q-switched Tm³⁺-doped single-oscillator fiber laser based on a silica polarization-maintaining (PM) double-clad fiber provided average powers of 23 W at pulse widths of 65 ns at 40 kHz pulse repetition frequency. It was used to directly pump a ZnGeP₂ optical parametric oscillator (OPO). Up to 6.5 W were generated in mid-IR wavelength range.

A diode-pumped, actively mode-locked high-power thulium (Tm³⁺)-doped double-clad silica fiber laser is demonstrated, providing an average output power in mode-locked (continuous wave) operation of 53 W (72 W) with a slope efficiency of 34% (38%). Mode-locking in the 6th-harmonic order was obtained by an acousto-optic modulator driven at 66 MHz without dispersion compensation. The shortest measured output pulse width was 200 ps. Owing to a diffraction grating as cavity end mirror, the central wavelength could be tuned from 1.95 to 2.13 μm. The measured beam quality in mode-locked and continuous wave operation has been close to the diffraction limit.

A single-oscillator actively Q-switched mode-locked (QML) thulium-doped silica fiber laser is presented and used to pump a ZrF₄-BaF₂-LaF₃-AlF₃-NaF (ZBLAN) fiber for mid-infrared (mid-IR) supercontinuum (SC) generation. The fiber laser provided high-peak-power levels directly from the oscillator delivering single mode-locked pulse energies up to 48 μJ, being 2-4 orders of magnitude higher than conventional continuous wave mode-locked lasers. By pumping a ZBLAN fiber specially designed for high-output-power SC generation, 7.8 W have been achieved in all spectral bands with a spectrum extending to 4.2 μm.

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