Q-switched Yb-doped all-fiber laser based on in-line acousto-optic modulation

VILLEGAS, IRMA; CUADRADO LABORDE, CHRISTIAN; DIEZ, ANTONIO; CRUZ, JOSE LUIS; MARTINEZ-GAMES, MARIA; ANDRES BOU, MIGUEL

Barcelona, Spain

Workshop; 18th International Laser Physics Workshop (LPHYS’09); 2009

ICFO

All-fiber Q-switched lasers are robust and compact coherent sources of light. In-fiber modulation techniques reduce the losses, when comparing with the case of using external modulators (typical insertion losses of a pigtailed acousto-optic bulk modulator are > 3 dB), and are directly compatible with high peak powers. However, few all-fiber active Q-switching techniques have been published for lasers based on Yd-doped fiber [1]. The short relaxation time of the excited state of Yb+3 ions is a challenge for the all-fiber modulation techniques. Here we investigate the use of all-fiber modulators based on the acousto-optic interaction between flexural waves and co-propagating core and cladding modes. This technique has been demonstrated in Er-doped fiber lasers [2], achieving high repetition rates above 100 kHz.