We investigate the linear response of silicon p-i-n diodes to sub-bandgap photons (1.4 μm-1.6 μm) that has been reported by many authors and left unexplored till then. The quantum efficiency of this mechanism is extremely low (typically 10−9) but has a drastic influence on silicon devices harnessing two-photon absorption. We show that this linear photonic current decreases with temperature, displaying an activation energy similar to the dark current one. We show that this behaviour is consistent with a photo-assisted Shockley-Read mechanism in which the occupancy factor of a defect state in the Si band gap is influenced by the sub-band gap photon flux.

We report a high power, single frequency, linearly polarized master oscillator power amplifier emitting 110 ns, 1 kW peak power pulses at 2050 nm. A 20% slope efficiency and a beam quality of M2=1.21 are achieved with three-stage double-clad Tm(3+)-doped fiber architecture. Various pump schemes are compared leading to the conclusion that 793 nm pump wavelength is the most efficient for amplification at 2050 nm. Based on numerical simulations, the Brillouin gain coefficient around 2 μm in Tm(3+) highly doped silica fiber is estimated to 1.2×10(-11) m/W. Output peak power is limited by stimulated Brillouin scattering to 535 W without mitigation and to 1 kW with application of a strain distribution along the doped fiber.

a b s t r a c tWe present design and performances of several eye-safe high peak power fiber lasers operating either around 1550 nm or 2000 nm. They share the limitations by nonlinear effects either Stimulated Brillouin Scattering for single frequency lasers or Kerr related effects for short pulse amplifiers. Performances above 1 kW peak power for single frequency lasers and 26 nJ for short pulse fiber lasers are reported. The influence of the saturation power of the fibers on the non-linearity is discussed and applied to a comparison between Erbium and Ytterbium co-doped fibers and Thulium doped fibers. The Brillouin gain properties in these fibers are also compared.

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