Single-frequency fiber laser of 315 mW at 1940 nm based on a Tm : YAG/Ho : YAG-co-derived silica fiber

Abstract

A 1940 nm single-frequency distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) fiber laser was demonstrated based on a Tm : YAG/Ho : YAG-co-derived silica fiber (THCDSF). The THCDSF, which had a core dopant concentration of 8.02 wt.% Tm2O3 and 1.18 wt.% Ho2O3, was prepared via the melt-in-tube (MIT) method using a Tm : YAG and a Ho : YAG as the precursor core and a silica tube as the cladding. Employing 1.8 cm of the THCDSF, we achieved a maximum single-frequency output power of 315 mW at 1940 nm when pumped by a 1610 nm fiber laser. The slope efficiency of the laser was 29.68% for the absorbed pump power. The laser linewidth was less than 23.65 kHz, and the relative intensity noise (RIN) stabilized at −145 dB/Hz after exceeding 4.8 MHz. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a single-frequency DBR laser with a Tm3+/Ho3+ fiber as the gain medium.