Ho3+-doped AlF3–TeO2-based glass fibers for 2.1 µm laser applications. (29th March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, S B; Jia, Z X; Yao, C F; Ohishi, Y; Qin, G S; Qin, W P
• Is Part Of: Laser physics letters. Volume 14:Number 5(2017:May)
• Publication Date: 2017-03-29
• Subjects: AlF3–TeO2-based glass fibers -- Ho3+-doped fibers -- 2.1 µm laser; Lasers -- Periodicals; Physics -- Periodicals; 621.366
• DOI: 10.1088/1612-202X/aa6701
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1612-2011

Abstract

Abstract: Ho 3+ -doped AlF3 –TeO2 -based glass fibers based on AlF3 –BaF2 –CaF2 –YF3 –SrF2 –MgF2 –TeO2 glasses are fabricated by using a rod-in-tube method. The glass rod including a core and a thick cladding layer is prepared by using a suction method, where the thick cladding layer is used to protect the core from the effect of surface crystallization during the fiber drawing. By inserting the glass rod into a glass tube, the glass fibers with relatively low loss (~2.3 dB m −1 @ 1560 nm) are prepared. By using a 38 cm long Ho 3+ -doped AlF3 –TeO2 -based glass fiber as the gain medium and a 1965 nm fiber laser as the pump source, 2065 nm lasing is obtained for a threshold pump power of ~220 mW. With further increasing the pump power to ~325 mW, the unsaturated output power of the 2065 nm laser is about 82 mW and the corresponding slope efficiency is up to 68.8%. The effects of the gain fiber length on the lasing threshold, the slope efficiency, and the operating wavelength are also investigated. Our experimental results show that Ho 3+ -doped AlF3 –TeO2 -based glass fibers are promising gain media for 2.1 µ m laser applications.