title: Erbium-doped all-fiber laser at 2.94 microm.
abstract: We report what we believe is the first demonstration of laser emission at 2.94 microm in an erbium-doped fluoride fiber laser. The low-loss all-fiber Fabry-Perot laser cavity was formed by two fiber Bragg gratings of 90% and 15% reflectivities in a 6.6 m, 7 mol.% Er-doped double-clad fiber. A maximum cw output power of 5.2 W was measured, which is to our knowledge the highest reported to date for a diode-pumped laser at this wavelength. A coreless endcap was fused at the output fiber end to prevent its deterioration at high output powers. Our results, including the slope efficiency of 26.6% with respect to launched pump power, suggest that erbium could be a better alternative than holmium in the search for a replacement for the flashlamp-pumped Er:YAG at 2.94 microm.
authors.affiliation: Center for Optics, Photonics and Lasers, Université Laval, Québec G1K 7P4, Canada. dominic.faucher.1@ulaval.ca
authors.forename: Dominic
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Faucher
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernier
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Caron
authors.forename: Réal
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vallée
mesh_terms: D004566:Electrodes; D004871:Erbium; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004871:Erbium