Peng X, Kim K, Mielke M, Booth T, Nicholson JW, Fini JM, Liu X, Desantolo A, Westbrook PS, Windeler RS, Monberg EM, Dimarcello FV, Headley C, Digiovanni DJ. Higher-order mode fiber enables high energy chirped-pulse amplification.
OPTICS EXPRESS 2013;
21:32411-32416. [PMID:
24514834 DOI:
10.1364/oe.21.032411]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Energy scaling of femtosecond fiber lasers has been constrained by nonlinear impairments and optical fiber damage. Reducing the optical irradiance inside the fiber by increasing mode size lowers these effects. Using an erbium-doped higher-order mode fiber with 6000 µm(2) effective area and output fundamental mode re-conversion, we show a breakthrough in pulse energy from a monolithic fiber chirped pulse amplification system using higher-order mode propagation generating 300 µJ pulses with duration <500 fs (FWHM) and peak power >600 MW at 1.55 µm. The erbium-doped HOM fiber has both a record large effective mode area and excellent mode stability, even when coiled to reasonable diameter. This demonstration proves efficacy of a new path for high energy monolithic fiber-optic femtosecond laser systems.
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