We have demonstrated a highly-efficient cladding-pumped ytterbium-doped fiber laser generating 1.36 kW of continuous-wave output power at 1.1 mum with 83% slope efficiency and near diffraction-limited beam quality. The laser was end-pumped through both fiber ends and showed no evidence of roll-over even at the highest output power, which was limited only by available pump power.

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In the past decade nanowires have attracted an increase interest because of their extraordinary mechanical strength. In fact, material properties in the nanoregime are extremely different from those found in macroscopic samples: few crystalline materials have shown a tensile strength in excess of 10 GPa in the form of nanowires. Still the length of defect-free crystalline nanowires is limited to a few millimeters and the strength of long nanowires is compromised by defects. The strength of glass nanowires is less affected by single defects. In this paper we present the ultimate strength of glass silica nanowires manufactured by a top-down fabrication technique; this is the highest value reported for glass materials. The measured ultimate strength is in excess of 10 GPa and increases for decreasing nanowire diameters. Scanning electron micrographs of the broken fragments showed a fragile rupture.

Photodarkening of Yb-doped aluminosilicate fibers by continuous wave 488 nm irradiation was investigated. The irradiation induced significant excess loss in the UV-visible spectroscopy (VIS) region in Yb-doped aluminosilicate fibers while pure aluminosilicate fibers showed negligible induced loss. Ultraviolet-VIS-near-infrared spectroscopy revealed an absorption peak at 220 nm in unexposed Yb-doped aluminosilicate fiber preforms. The observed peak was attributed to Yb-associated oxygen deficiency centers (ODCs) and proposed as a precursor of the photodarkening. The proposed model was supported by measurements on oxygen-loaded Yb-doped aluminosilicate fibers. In these, the photodarkening could be significantly reduced, which we attribute to a smaller number of ODCs following oxygen loading.

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