Research of high brightness 1018 nm ytterbium doped fiber laser

The effect of the gain fiber parameters for the design of a short wavelength ytterbium doped fiber laser (YDFL) is analyzed theoretically, and based on these analyses, we find viable approaches to improve the laser performances. High power 1018 nm YDFL system was constructed, output characteristics of 1018 nm laser with the core/cladding, doping concentration and gain fiber length are experimentally investigated. It is found that increasing the core/cladding area ratio, reducing the doping concentration and shortening the fiber length is effective way to suppress the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) gain and ensure the laser operation at 1018 nm. A record output power of 154 W at 1018 nm is obtained, with a brightness of 5.7GW/cm(2)-sr, optical-optical conversion efficiency is 71% when the laser operated at maximal power. Meanwhile, ASE and spurious oscillation are suppressed efficiently.