Erbium-doped all-fiber laser at 2.94 μm

We report what we believe is the first demonstration of laser emission at 2.94 mu m 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 mu m. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America