Abstract

A single-oscillator actively $Q$-switched mode-locked (QML) thulium-doped silica fiber laser is presented and used to pump a ${\mathrm{ZrF}}_4\text{-}{\mathrm{BaF}}_2\text{-}{\mathrm{LaF}}_3\text{-}{\mathrm{AlF}}_3\text{-}\mathrm{NaF}$ (ZBLAN) fiber for mid-infrared (mid-IR) supercontinuum (SC) generation. The fiber laser provided high-peak-power levels directly from the oscillator delivering single mode-locked pulse energies up to 48 μJ, being 2–4 orders of magnitude higher than conventional continuous wave mode-locked lasers. By pumping a ZBLAN fiber specially designed for high-output-power SC generation, 7.8 W have been achieved in all spectral bands with a spectrum extending to 4.2 μm.

© 2016 Optical Society of America

High power mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in a single-mode ZBLAN fiber with up to 21.8 W average output power

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