Energy-Transfer Processes among Non-Homogeneously Distributed Rare-Earth Ions and Impact on Amplification and Lasing

Energy-transfer processes such as energy-transfer upconversion are often detrimental to the performance of rare-earth-doped amplifiers and lasers on the typical luminescence transitions in the near-infrared spectral region between 1-2 μm. In order to quantify the influence of these interionic processes on amplification and lasing, not only luminescence decay curves have to be measured, but also the population dynamics of the electronic level scheme need to be modeled. The usually encountered non-homogeneous ion distributions complicate the situation. Here we present a stochastic model of energy-transfer processes that takes a statistical ion distribution into account. The influence of energy-transfer upconversion and cross-relaxation on amplification and lasing on the 1.06 μm transition in Nd3+, the 1.53 μm transition in Er3+, or the 1.84 μm transition in Tm3+ under these conditions is investigated

Oriented zinc oxide nanorods: A novel saturable absorber for lasers in the near-infrared

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) oriented along the crystallographic [001] axis are grown by the hydrothermal method on glass substrates. The ZnO NRs exhibit a broadband (1–2 µm) near-IR absorption ascribed to the singly charged zinc vacancy VZn−1. The saturable absorption of the ZnO NRs is studied at ≈1 µm under picosecond excitation, revealing a low saturation intensity, ≈10 kW/cm2, and high fraction of the saturable losses. The ZnO NRs are applied as saturable absorbers in diode-pumped Yb (≈1.03 µm) and Tm (≈1.94 µm) lasers generating nanosecond pulses. The ZnO NRs grown on various optical surfaces are promising broadband saturable absorbers for nanosecond near-IR lasers in bulk and waveguide geometries

Femtosecond-laser-written hexagonal cladding waveguide in Tm:KLu(WO_4)_2: µ-Raman study and laser operation

We report on the fabrication, µ-Raman characterization, and continuous-wave laser operation of a channel waveguide with a hexagonal optical-lattice-like cladding fabricated in monoclinic Tm:KLu(WO4)2 crystal by femtosecond direct laser writing. µ-Raman spectroscopy indicates preservation of the crystalline quality in the core region and an anisotropic residual stress field. When pumped by a Ti:Sapphire laser at 802 nm, the Tm:KLu(WO4)2 buried channel waveguide laser generated 136 mW at 1843.7 nm with a slope efficiency of 34.2% and a threshold as low as 21 mW, which are the record characteristics for femtosecond-laser-written Tm crystalline waveguide lasers. The variation of the output coupling resulted in discrete wavelength tuning of the laser emission from 1785 to 1862 nm. The propagation losses in the waveguide are ~1.2 ± 0.3 dB/cm.E. K. acknowledges financial support from the Generalitat de Catalunya under grants 2016FI_B00844 and 2017FI_B100158. F.D. acknowledges additional support through the ICREA academia award 2010ICREA-02 for excellence in research. X. M. acknowledges support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 657630. A. R. acknowledges funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship Grant Agreement No. 747055. P. L. acknowledges financial support from the Government of the Russian Federation (Grant 074-U01) through ITMO Post-Doctoral Fellowship scheme

Comparative spectroscopic and thermo-optic study of Tm: LiLnF4 (Ln = Y, Gd, and Lu) crystals for highly-efficient microchip lasers at ~2 μm

We report on a detailed comparative study of the spectroscopic and thermo-optic properties of tetragonal Tm:LiLnF4 (Ln = Y, Gd, and Lu) crystals indicating their suitability for highly-efficient microchip lasers diode-pumped at ~791 nm and operating at ~1.91 μm. An a-cut 8 at.% Tm:LiYF4 micro-laser generated 3.1 W of linearly polarized output at 1904 nm with a slope efficiency of η = 72% and a laser threshold of only 0.24 W. The internal loss for this crystal is as low as 0.0011 cm-1. For 8 at.% Tm:LiGdF4 and 12 at.% Tm:LiLuF4 lasers, the output power reached ~2 W and η was 65% and 52%, respectively. The thermal lens in all Tm:LiLnF4 crystals is weak, positive and low-astigmatic. The potential for the Tm:LiLnF4 lasers to operate beyond ~2 μm due to a vibronic coupling has been proved. The Tm:LiYF4 vibronic laser generated 375 mW at 2026-2044 nm with η = 31%. The Tm:LiLnF4 crystals are very promising for passively Q-switched microchip lasers

Femtosecond-laser-written Tm:KLu(WO_4)_2 waveguide lasers

Depressed-index channel waveguides with a circular and photonic crystal cladding structures are prepared in a bulk monoclinic Tm:KLu(WO4)2 crystal by 3D direct femtosecond laser writing. The channel waveguide structures are characterized and laser operation is achieved using external mirrors. In the continuous-wave mode, the maximum output power of 46 mW is achieved at 1912 nm corresponding to a slope efficiency of 15.2% and a laser threshold of only 21 mW. Passive -switching of a waveguide with a circular cladding is realized using single-walled carbon nanotubes. Stable 7 nJ/50 ns pulses are achieved at a repetition rate of 1.48 MHz. This first demonstration of ∼2 μm fs-laser-written waveguide lasers based on monoclinic double tungstates is promising for further lasers of this type doped with Tm3+and Ho3+ ions .Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) (FIS2013-44174-P, FIS2015-71933-REDT, MAT2013-47395-C4-4-R, MAT2016-75716-C2-1-R, TEC 2014-55948-R); Departament d’Innovació, Universitats i Empresa, Generalitat de Catalunya (DIUE) (2014SGR1358); Junta de Castilla y León (UIC016, SA046U16); Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA) Academia (2010ICREA-02); H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) (657630); Government of the Russian Federation (074-U01); National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Korea of MSIP (2016R1A2A1A05005381)

Femtosecond-laser-written Ho:KGd(WO4)2 waveguide laser at 21 μm

We report on efficient laser operation of the first holmium monoclinic double tungstate waveguide laser fabricated by femtosecond direct laser writing. A depressed-index buried channel waveguide with a 60 μm diameter circular cladding was inscribed in 5 at.% Ho3+:KGd(WO4)2. It was characterized by confocal microscopy and μ-Raman and μ-luminescence spectroscopy, indicating well-preserved crystallinity of its core. Pumped by a thulium bulk laser, the holmium waveguide laser generated 212 mW at 2055 nm with a slope efficiency of 67.2%. The waveguide propagation losses were 0.94±0.2  dB/cm.Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) (2017SGR755); Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (H2020) (747055); Consejería de Educación, Junta de Castilla y León (SA046U16, UIC016); Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) [FIS2017-87970-R, MAT2016-75716-C2-1-R (AEI/FEDER, UE), TEC 2014-55948-R]; Generalitat de Catalunya (2016FI_B00844, 2017FI_B100158, 2018FI_B200123); ICREA academia (2010ICREA-02); Government of the Russian Federation (074-U01); European Community’s Horizon 2020 Research (654148); Laserlab- EUROPE (MBI MBI002365)

Semiconductor saturable absorber mirror mode-locked Yb:YAP laser

We report on sub-30 fs pulse generation from a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror mode-locked Yb:YAP laser. Pumping by a spatially single-mode Yb fiber laser at 979 nm, soliton pulses as short as 29 fs were generated at 1091 nm with an average output power of 156 mW and a pulse repetition rate of 85.1 MHz. The maximum output power of the mode-locked Yb:YAP laser amounted to 320 mW for slightly longer pulses (32 fs) at an incident pump power of 1.52 W, corresponding to a peak power of 103 kW and an optical efficiency of 20.5%. To the best of our knowledge, this result represents the shortest pulses ever achieved from any solid-state Yb laser mode-locked by a slow, i.e., physical saturable absorber

35 W continuous-wave Ho:YAG single-crystal fiber laser

We report on a high-power Ho:YAG single-crystal fiber (SCF) laser inband pumped by a high-brightness Tm-fiber laser at 1908 nm. The Ho:YAG SCF grown by the micro-pulling-down technique exhibits a propagation loss of at. A continuous-wave output power of 35.2 W is achieved with a slope efficiency of 42.7%, which is to the best of our knowledge the highest power ever reported from an SCF-based laser in the 2 spectral range. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Cambridge University Press in association with Chinese Laser Press

Passively Q-switched femtosecond-laser-written thulium waveguide laser based on evanescent field interaction with carbon nanotubes

Surface channel waveguides (WGs) were fabricated in a monoclinic Tm3+:KLu(WO4)2 crystal by femtosecond direct laser writing (fs-DLW). The WGs consisted of a half-ring cladding with diameters of 50 and 60 μm located just beneath the crystal surface. They were characterized by confocal laser microscopy and -Raman spectroscopy, indicating a reduced crystallinity and stress-induced birefringence of the WG cladding. In continuous-wave (CW) mode, under Ti:sapphire laser pumping at 802 nm, the maximum output power reached 171.1 mW at 1847.4 nm, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 37.8% for the 60 μm diameter WG. The WG propagation loss was 0.7±0.3 dB/cm. The top surface of the WGs was spin-coated by a polymethyl methacrylate film containing randomly oriented (spaghetti-like) arc-discharge single-walled carbon nanotubes serving as a saturable absorber based on evanescent field coupling. Stable passively -switched (PQS) operation was achieved. The PQS 60 μm diameter WG laser generated a record output power of 150 mW at 1846.8 nm with =34.6%. The conversion efficiency with respect to the CW mode was 87.6%. The best pulse characteristics (energy/duration) were 105.6 nJ/98 ns at a repetition rate of 1.42 MHz.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) (FIS2013-44174-P, FIS2015-71933-REDT, MAT2016-75716-C2-1-R (AEI/FEDER,UE), TEC2014-55948-R); Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) (2017SGR755); Consejería de Educación, Junta de Castilla y León (SA046U16, UIC016); Generalitat de Catalunya (2016FI_B00844, 2017FI_B100158, 2018 FI_B2 00123)