Passively Q-switched thulium-doped fiber laser with silver-nanoparticle film as the saturable absorber for operation at 2.0 μm
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2016
Abstract
In this work, a compact thulium-doped fiber laser with a Q-switched output is proposed and demonstrated. A thulium-doped fiber is used for the laser, with a peak absorption of 200 dB m-1 at 790 nm and a cutoff wavelength of 1350 nm as the primary gain medium, and a silver-based saturable absorber as the pulse generation mechanism. The pulses obtained from the proposed laser have repetition rates from 38.3 kHz up to 56.2 kHz, with a pulse width as low as 4.2 μs and pulse energy as high as 67.3 nJ at a maximum pump power of 228.8 mW. The generated pulses are highly stable, showing no changes or fluctuations over operation for a period of 60 min, and further validated with signal-to-noise ratios of 57.0 dB and 59.5 dB in the optical and frequency domains respectively. The proposed laser has high potential for eye-safe applications in manufacturing and medicine.
Keywords
Silver, Saturable absorber, Q-switching, Thulium-doped fiber laser
Divisions
Science
Funders
Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia (MOHE): Grant of LRGS(2015)/NGOD/UM/KPT,University of Malaya: Grant of RU010/2016 and ROGS (BR003-2016)
Publication Title
Laser Physics Letters
Volume
13
Issue
12
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons