Ytterbium-doped silica fiber lasers: versatile sources for the 1-1.2 μm region

Abstract

Ytterbium-doped silica fibers exhibit very broad absorption and emission bands, from -800 nm to -1064 nm for absorption and -970 nm to -1200 nm for emission. The simplicity of the level structure provides freedom from unwanted processes such as excited state absorption, multiphonon nonradiative decay, and concentration quenching. These fiber lasers therefore offer a very efficient and convenient means of wavelength conversion from a wide variety of pump lasers, including AlGaAs and InCaAs diodes and Nd:YAG lasers. Efficient operation with narrow linewidth at any wavelength in the emission range can be conveniently achieved using fiber gratings. A wide range of application for these sources can be anticipated. In this paper, the capabilities of this versatile source are reviewed. Analytical procedures and numerical data are presented to enable design choices to be made for the wide range of operating conditions.

Ultrashort-pulse fiber ring lasers

“…The stability region for the solitons, which lies between the two curves of (12) and (13), is shown in Fig. 7a.…”

“…Yb +3 [12,13] have also been used as dopants or co-dopants in silica or fluoride fibers, allowing new lasing or pumping wavelengths, and Pr +3 has been incorporated into fluoride fiber, providing emission at 1.3 µm [14,15].…”

“…Since that time Er +3 -doped fiber lasers have received much attention, because the lasing wavelength at 1.55 µm falls within the low-loss window of optical fibers and thus is suitable for optical fiber communications. Rare-earth ions such as Ho +3 [7,8], Tm +3 [9-11], and * Current address: Lucent Technologies/Bell Labs, 791 Holmdel-Keyport Road, Holmdel, NJ, USA * * Current address: NTT Access Network Systems Laboratory, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki-ken 319-11, Japan Yb +3 [12,13] have also been used as dopants or co-dopants in silica or fluoride fibers, allowing new lasing or pumping wavelengths, and Pr +3 has been incorporated into fluoride fiber, providing emission at 1.3 µm [14,15]. …”

Experimentally verified modeling of erbium-ytterbium co-doped DFB fiber lasers

“…7 also shows the emission cross section of Yb ions calculated by using McCumber theory (e.g., see [29]), assuming emission and absorption cross sections are equal at 975 nm [30]. Both cross-sections spectra are within the range of values reported previously [30]- [32] …”

Spectroscopic excitation and quenching processes in rare-earth-ion-doped AI203 and their impact on amplifier and laser performance

“…Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers have been crucial for the development of optical communication technology, due to the wide-band emission from the Er [53][54][55], although their ability to provide amplification over the very broad wavelength range from  975 to  1200 nm is expected to generate increasing interest in the near future. Apart from their broad gain bandwidth, Yb 3+ -doped fiber amplifiers can offer high output power and excellent power conversion efficiency.…”