4.5 W mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in a ZBLAN fiber pumped by a Q-switched mode-locked Tm3+- doped fiber laser

The generation of mid-infrared (mid-IR) supercontinuum (SC) radiation, ranging from 2 - 5 μm, is subject of intense research due to its wide range of applications. A very popular host media for mid-IR SC generation are soft glass fibers owing to their low-loss transmission in the mid-IR wavelength regime, particularly fluoride fibers are very attractive for high-power operation. In this research study, a diode-pumped Q-switched mode-locked (QML) thulium (Tm 3+ )-doped double-clad silica fiber laser is used to pump a ZrF 4- BaF 2- LaF 3- AlF 3- NaF (ZBLAN) fiber for mid-IR SC generation. The QML regime of the fiber laser is actively generated by two acousto-optic modulators. The Tm 3+ -fiber laser provided up to 23.5 W (26 W) of average output power in QML (continuous wave) regime with a slope efficiency of 36 % (32 %). The measured beam quality has been close to the diffraction-limit in QML regime. The system delivered mode-locked pulses with a duration of 7.5 ps, measured with a commercial autocorrelator system, at a repetition rate of 46 MHz. The Q-switched envelopes had a width between 50 and 150 ns depending on the output power level and the adjustable repetition rate. Mid-IR SC with an average output power in all spectral bands of 4.5 W have been achieved with more than 3 W/ 1.7 W/ 1 W/ 0.36 W after a long-wave-pass filter with a 3 dB-edge at 2.15 μm/ 2.65 μm/ 3.1 μm/ 3.5 μm.