title: Microstructured polymer fiber laser.
abstract: A microstructured polymer optical fiber doped with Rhodamine 6G dye was fabricated and demonstrated as an optical amplifier and a fiber laser. As an amplifier, the fiber achieved a gain in excess of 30 dB. As a pulsed fiber laser, the fiber exhibited a threshold of 20 microJ, a slope efficiency of 18%, and a lifetime as high as 130,000 shots at 10 Hz. The maximum output energy was 16 microJ. The advantages that such fibers offer lie in the simplicity and flexibility of their fabrication and in their potential for use as compact, tunable solid-state sources.
authors.affiliation: Australian Photonics Cooperative Research Centre, Optical Fibre Technology Centre and School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. a.argyros@oftc.usyd.edu.au
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Argyros
authors.forename: Martijn A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: van Eijkelenborg
authors.forename: Stuart D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Richard P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Mildren