12.2 W ZGP OPO pumped by a Q-Switched Tm3+:Ho3+-codoped fiber laser

Abstract

We present our latest results in power scaling of midwave-infrared (MWIR) optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) based on a Zinc Germanium Phosphide (ZGP) crystal, utilizing a single oscillator fiber laser as pump source.To obtain a compact and complexity-reduced pump source emitting at ≥ 2.09 µm, a Q-switched Tm 3+ :Ho 3+codoped fiber laser was developed. Based on this pump source at an emission wavelength of 2.1 µm, we achieved an MWIR output power of 12.2 W with pulse energies of up to 270 µJ and a conversion efficiency exceeding 43 %. This result exceeds the published power records of ZGP-based OPOs pumped by 2 µm Q-switched fiber lasers by 50 % and sets a new benchmark for average power scaling and pulse energy of Q-switched pump sources.