title: Q-switched thulium-doped photonic crystal fiber laser.
abstract: We report a novel, Tm-doped photonic crystal fiber (PCF) actively Q-switched oscillator that provides ~8.9 kW peak power with 435 µJ, 49 ns pulses at 10 kHz repetition rate at 2 μm wavelength. This fiber has a mode-field area >1000 μm2, the largest of any flexible PCF providing diffraction-limited beam quality to the best of our knowledge. As an application, the oscillator is used as pump to generate >350 nm broadening in ~50 m of SMF-28 fiber.
authors.affiliation: Townes Laser Institute and CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA. pkadwani@creol.ucf.edu
authors.forename: Pankaj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kadwani
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Modsching
authors.forename: R Andrew
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Sims
authors.forename: Lasse
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Leick
authors.forename: Jes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Broeng
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Richardson