STABLE AND EFFICIENT PULSED MID-INFRARED LASER GENERATION FROM AN Er~(3+)-DOPED ZBLAN FIBER LASER

摘要

We demonstrate a stable and efficient passively Q-switched 2.8 mu m Er3+-doped ZBLAN fiber laser with a broadband semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. Enabled by the broadband optical modulator, the stable Q-switched fiber laser can deliver a maximum average power over 700 mW with corresponding per-pulse energy of 8.19 mu J and a pulse width of 1.3 mu s at a repetition rate of 88.6 kHz under an incident pump power of 3.8 W. In addition, the slope efficiency can reach 22.5%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest reported slope efficiency for the passively Q-switched Er3+-doped ZBLAN fiber laser.