Gain dynamics study provides an attractive method to understand the intensity noise behavior in fiber amplifiers. Here, the gain dynamics of a medium power (5 W) clad-pumped Yb-fiber amplifier is experimentally evaluated by measuring the frequency domain transfer functions for the input seed and pump lasers from 10 Hz to 1 MHz. We study gain dynamic behavior of the fiber amplifier in the presence of significant residual pump power (compared to the seed power), showing that the seed transfer function is strongly saturated at low Fourier frequencies while the pump power modulation transfer function is nearly unaffected. The characterization of relative intensity noise (RIN) of the fiber amplifier is well explained by the gain dynamics analysis. Finally, a 600 kHz bandwidth feedback loop using an acoustic-optical modulator (AOM) controlling the seed intensity is successfully demonstrated to suppress the broadband laser intensity noise. A maximum noise reduction of about 30 dB is achieved leading to a RIN of -152 dBc/Hz (~1 kHz-10 MHz) at 2.5 W output power.
We have developed a watt-level random laser at 532 nm. The laser is based on a 1064 nm random distributed ytterbium (Yb) gain-assisted fiber laser seed with a 0.35 nm linewidth and 900 mW polarized output power. A study for the optimal length of the random distributed mirror was carried out. A Yb-doped fiber master oscillator power amplifier architecture is used to amplify the random seeder laser without additional spectral broadening up to 20 W. By using a periodically poled lithium niobate crystal in a single-pass configuration, we generate in excess of 1 W random laser at 532 nm by second-harmonic generation (SHG) with an efficiency of 9%. The green random laser exhibits an instability <1%, an optical signal-to-noise ratio >70 dB, a 0.1 nm linewidth, and excellent beam quality.
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