Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in lasers emitting at 3 μm mainly because of their applications in laser surgery. The erbium-doped fluoride fiber is a promising tool for the construction of a compact and efficient all-solid-state laser in this wavelength region. Due to its geometry, the fiber provides large flexibility and potentially high pump- and signal-beam intensities without the drawbacks of thermal and thermo-optical effects that are typically encountered in bulk systems. By a better understanding of the spectroscopy of Er³⁺ in ZBLAN, the influence of the fiber geometry on the population mechanisms, and with the recent advances in diode and fiber technology, it has been possible to increase the output power of the erbium 3-μm fluoride fiber laser by two orders of magnitude from the 10-mW to the 1-W range. A further increase of the output power by yet another order of magnitude can be expected in the near future.

© 2001 EPS