• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.732-737
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• 2023

A high-power Yb-doped femtosecond (fs) fiber laser at a repetition rate of 1.83 GHz is reported. By employing a 5-stage repetition rate multiplier, the repetition rate of the mode-locked master oscillator was multiplied from 57.1 MHz to 1.83 GHz. The ultrashort pulse output at 1.83 GHz was amplified in a two-stage Yb-doped fiber amplifier, leading to >100 W of fs laser output with a pulse duration of 290 fs. The theoretical pulse width along the fiber was simulated, showing that it was in good agreement with experimental results. Further improvement in power scaling is discussed.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.209-214
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• 2021

High-power continuous-wave operation of a Yb-doped double-clad fiber laser at 1018 nm, pumped by high-power diode lasers at 976 nm, is reported. Based on numerical calculation of the gain and laser signal power along the length of the Yb fiber, it is found that robust operation at 1018 nm can be achieved for a high Yb³⁺-ion excitation density greater than 11.5%, accompanied by high suppression of the feedback from the fiber's end facet. The Yb fiber laser constructed in house yields 626 W of continuous-wave output at 1018 nm for 729 W of incident pump power, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 86.6%. The prospect for power scaling is considered.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.147-152
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• 2021

We report high-power continuous-wave operation of a Yb-doped fiber laser at 1070 nm, pumped by high-power laser diodes at 976 nm. Based on theoretical calculation of the stimulated Raman scattering and temperature distribution in the fiber, we construct a bidirectionally pumped Yb-fiberlaser system incorporating a pair of fiber Bragg gratings and a cladding light stripper. The fiber laser yields 3.0 kW of continuous-wave output at 1070 nm in a diffraction-limited beam with M² ≈ 1.26 for 4.1 kW of incident pump power, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 81.5%. The prospects for further power scaling are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.95-100
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• 2016

High-power quasi-continuous-wave (qcw) operation in Yb-doped double-clad fiber lasers with near-diffraction-limited quality of the output beam is reported. Based on numerical simulation, we built a simple, all-fiberized Yb fiber laser, and a fiber-based master-oscillator power amplifier (MOPA). Both laser systems have successfully produced qcw output with average power greater than 150 W at 1080 nm and 10 ms pulse duration at 10 Hz repetition rate, corresponding to a peak power greater than 1.5 kW for 205 W of pump power at 976 nm. Laser performance, including beam quality and slope efficiency, was characterized in both configurations. Prospects for power scaling and applications are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.805-811
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• 2014

In this investigation, we constructed and demonstrated a simple Yb-doped fiber laser, of which longitudinal modes are mode-locked without any additional devices to compensate the dispersion caused by optical components. Non-linear polarization rotation (NPR) was adopted for the mode-locking mechanism and a polarization controller (PC) was used for a kind of spectral filters to restrict the bandwidth for mode-locking. As the result, the laser was successfully operated as mode-locked with the repetition rate of 42.2 MHz and the spectrum was broadened up to approximately 16 nm at 1033 nm center wavelength when the laser was mode-locked. In this paper, the operation of the developed Yb-doped mode-locked laser is explained with the concept of Lyot filter realized by a PC, which enables mode-locking under normal dispersion. In the industrial applications, this laser can be used as a seed laser of the high power lasers for optical manufacturing.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.1 no.5
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• pp.525-528
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• 2017

High-energy, high-power, quasi-continuous wave (QCW) operation of double-clad Yb fiber lasers incorporating an incoherent signal combiner is reported. We constructed four efficient, high-power Yb fiber lasers, each of which produced rectangular pulses at 1080 nm with a pulse energy greater than 15 J, and a pulse duration of 10 ms at a repetition rate of 10 Hz, corresponding to an average power of over 150 W and a peak power of over 1.5 kW for ~200 W of incident pump power at 915 nm. These laser outputs were combined by a homemade incoherent fiber signal combiner with low loss, yielding a maximum peak power of ~6.0 kW in a beam with $M^2{\approx}12.5$. The detailed laser characteristics and prospects for further power scaling in QCW operation are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.142-147
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• 2020

In this paper, we report highly efficient second harmonic generation of continuous-wave Yb fiber lasers incorporating a periodically poled LiTaO₃ device (MgO:PPSLT) as a frequency converter. The seed laser output from a Yb fiber master oscillator using a Fabry-Perot feedback cavity was amplified in a Yb fiber amplifier stage, yielding 28.5 W of linearly polarized output at 1064 nm in a beam with beam quality, M², of ~1.07. Second harmonic generation was achieved by passing the laser beam through MgO:PPSLT. Under optimized conditions, we obtained 11.1 W of green laser output at 532 nm for an incident signal power of 25.0 W at 1064 nm, corresponding to a conversion efficiency of 44.4%. The detailed investigation to find the optimized operating conditions and prospects for further improvement are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.103-107
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• 2012

We investigate the dependence of the output of a mode locked Yb-doped fiber laser on incident intra-cavity intensity on a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). To vary the incident intra-cavity intensity, we change the beam spot size on a SESAM by varying the focal length of a lens installed in the front of the SESAM.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.716-721
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• 2016

A single-and dual-wavelength switchable polarized Yb-doped double-clad fiber laser around 1120 nm based on a pair of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) is demonstrated. The polarization-maintaining (PM) linear cavity is composed of a double clad PM Yb-doped fiber (YDF) and a pair of PM FBGs. The laser can operate in stable dual-wavelength or wavelength-switching modes due to the polarization hole burning (PHB) and the spatial hole burning (SHB) enhanced by the PM linear cavity. In dual-wavelength operation, the two orthogonally polarized wavelengths are centered at 1118.912 nm and 1119.152 nm, with an interval of 0.24 nm and a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 35 dB. The maximum output power is 14.67 W when the launched LD pump is 24 W corresponding to an optical efficiency of 61.1%. The lasing lines switchover may be realized by adjusting the polarization controller (PC) fitted in the cavity. The two single-wavelengths are 1118.912 nm and 1119.152 nm. When the injected LD pump is 24 W, the highest output powers are 7.68 W and 8.64 W corresponding to optical efficiencies of 32% and 36% respectively. The spectral linewidth of the lasing lines are 0.075 nm and 0.07 nm, and the average numerical values of PER aredB and 19.9 dB, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.120-125
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• 2021

We have developed a linearly polarized high-power Yb-doped fiber laser in the master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) scheme for efficient spectral beam combining. We modulated the phase of the seed laser by pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS), with the bit length optimized to suppress stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), and subsequently amplified seed power in a 3-stage amplifier system. We have constructed by coiling the polarization-maintaining (PM) Yb-doped fiber, with core and cladding diameters of 20 ㎛ and 400 ㎛ respectively, to a diameter of 9-12 cm for suppression of the mode instability (MI). Finally, we obtained an output power of 1.004 kW with a slope efficiency of 83.7% in the main amplification stage. The beam quality factor M² and the polarization extinction ratio (PER) were measured to be 1.12 and 21.5 dB respectively. Furthermore, the peak-intensity difference between the Rayleigh signal and SBS signal was observed to be 2.36 dB in the backward spectra, indicating that SBS is successfully suppressed. In addition, it can be expected that the MI does not occur because not only there is no decrease in slope efficiency, but also the beam quality for each amplified output is maintained.