Ytterbium-sensitized Thulium-doped fiber laser in the near-IR with 980 nm pumping

The use of an unidirectional auxiliary pump at approximately 1600 nm in conjunction with a 980 nm primary pump for Ytterbium (Yb3+)-sensitized-Thulium (Tm3+)-doped single mode silica fiber (YTDF) is found to be very effective to activate the most significant resonance energy transfer from Yb3+ to Tm3+, in order to obtain significant emission in the near-infrared. The resulting laser performance of the YTDF at 1874 nm is reported here. The influence of the Tm3+/Yb3+ concentration, their relative proportions and the host glass composition on the lasing efficiency has also been investigated to optimize the fiber parameters for maximum laser output power

Emission decay and energy transfer in Yb/Tm Y-codoped fibers based on nano-modified glass

We report the results of an experimental investigation and theoretical analysis of luminescence decay in Yb/Tm Y-codoped fibers based on nano-modified glass. Based on the experimental results, numerical simulations allowed us to estimate the energy transfer efficiency between Yb3+ and Tm3+ ions. It was shown that yttria enhances the Yb/Tm energy transfer making fibers with Y-codoping a promising candidate for the development of light sources for laser applications and up-conversion emitters for visualization applications. These fibers demonstrate energy transfer efficiency of ∼50%, which makes them attractive for diode-pumping of Yb-ions at a wavelength of 975 nm