Optics Communications 283 (2010) 4041–4045

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Optics Communications
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / o p t c o m

A high power hybrid mid-IR laser source

Alexander Hemming a,⁎, Jim Richards b, Shayne Bennetts a, Alan Davidson a, Neil Carmody a, Phil Davies a,
Len Corena a, David Lancaster a,c
a
Electro-Optic Technology Group, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Edinburgh, S.A. 5111, Australia
b
Bob Seymour and Associates Pty Ltd, Hallett Cove, S.A. 5158, Australia
c
Now at Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), School of Chemistry & Physics, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, S.A. 5000, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: An efficient hybrid mid-IR laser system comprising a thulium fibre laser, Ho:YAG solid state laser and a zinc
Received 12 January 2010 germanium phosphide optical parametric oscillator is presented. A 790 nm diode pumped 1908 nm thulium
Received in revised form 27 May 2010 fibre laser operating at 30 W pumps an RTP q-switched Ho:YAG laser emitting 17 W at 40 kHz and 2090 nm.
Accepted 28 May 2010
The zinc germanium phosphide optical parametric oscillator efficiently converts this into the 3–5 μm region
producing 10.1 W with 59% optical conversion efficiency and an M2 = 1.5.
Keywords:
Crown Copyright © 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Mid-infrared
Thulium
Fibre laser
Ho:YAG
Optical parametric oscillator
ZGP

1. Introduction cy conversion from 1.064 μm to 2.128 μm adds complexity to the

system. Holmium based lasers offer emission in the 2.05–2.1 μm
Generation of high power laser radiation in the 2–5 μm spectral wavelength region depending on the crystalline host; with Ho:YAG
region is of importance for a range of applications including molecular emitting at 2090 nm and 2097 nm. Ho:YAG lasers can be resonantly
spectroscopy, directed infra-red countermeasures (DIRCM) and pumped using 1.9–2.0 μm thulium doped crystalline lasers [6] and
remote sensing. A lack of candidate architectures for direct generation thulium doped fibre lasers [7]. The combination of Tm:YLF and Ho:
leads to the use of optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) to provide a YAG solid state lasers has been used to pump ZGP OPOs, resulting in
robust route to the efficient generation of high power, high beam 3–5 μm output powers of 10.1 W [8] and 10.6 W [9] with an
quality radiation in this spectral region. rmM2 = 2.0 at 3.5 W. Tm, Ho co-doping has also been investigated
For generation in the 3–5 μm wavelength band ZnGeP2 (ZGP) is to simplify this architecture and allow direct diode pumping. This
currently the material of choice for OPOs. Its excellent thermal and approach suffers from upconversion losses which require cryogenic
mechanical properties along with high non-linear coefficients, cooling to maintain laser efficiency. An 800 nm diode pumped, liquid
(d36 = 75 pm/V [1]) result in highly efficient, high power OPO nitrogen cooled Tm, Ho:GdVO4 laser operating at 2049 nm has been
operation. Conversion efficiencies above 50% have been reported demonstrated as a high power ZGP OPO pump source. This system
[2,3]. When operating at high power, defect related absorption achieved 14.1 W of 3–5 μm ZGP OPO output power, with an M2 = 3.5
processes in ZGP make it advantageous for the pump source to be at at an output power of 6.0 W [10].
wavelengths longer than 2 μm to reduce thermal effects. A pump Advances in 2 μm thulium based double clad fibre lasers have
wavelength of 2.1 μm also results in the non-degenerate wavelengths provided an attractive route to the resonant pumping of holmium
of the OPO signal and idler operating either side of the CO2 absorption based solid state lasers. They offer improved system efficiency and
feature at 4.2 μm. This allows simultaneous access to the atmospheric enhanced power scalability which is attractive for DIRCM applica-
transmission windows in this spectral region. Suitable pump sources tions. The excellent inherent thermal management of fibre lasers
operating above 2 μm can either be generated directly using Ho doped allows high power operation with excellent beam quality. This
laser crystals, or indirectly via frequency conversion of mature Nd: enables efficient power scaling of low quantum defect holmium
YAG lasers operating at 1.064 μm [4,5]. However, non-linear frequen- based lasers for the pumping of ZGP OPO based DIRCM sources. There
are two architectures employed for pumping 2 μm thulium fibre
lasers. The laser can be pumped directly, typically at 1.57 μm using an
⁎ Corresponding author. Er:Yb doped fibre laser [11], or it can be pumped by 790 nm diodes
E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Hemming). resulting in efficient population of the upper laser level via cross

0030-4018/$ – see front matter. Crown Copyright © 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.optcom.2010.05.078
4042 A. Hemming et al. / Optics Communications 283 (2010) 4041–4045

relaxation [12,13]. The 790 nm diode pumped architecture has The thulium doped active fibre is spliced between two lengths of
potential efficiency advantages but requires careful optimisation of 25 μm core, 250 μm cladding, 0.11 NA germanium doped fibre (GDF)
the fibre core composition. Efficient cross relaxation in the fibre core which simplifies cooling, packaging and handling of the fibre laser. A
requires high dopant concentrations in comparison to those needed fibre Bragg grating (FBG) written into one length of the GDF at
for the 1.57 μm pump architecture [12,13]. Slope efficiencies of over 1908 nm serves as the cavity high reflector, while the Fresnel
64% have been reported for a 790 nm diode pumped oscillator at reflection from the cleaved facet of the second length acts as the
2050 nm [14], and 48% at 1908 nm [15]. For 1.57 μm pumping, slope cavity output coupler. The fibre laser is pumped by a LIMO 790 nm
efficiencies of 60% have been achieved, however the generation of the fibre coupled diode package coupled into a 400 μm core, 480 μm
1.57 μm thulium pump power has a typical optical conversion fluorosilicate cladding, 0.22 NA SMA connectorised delivery fibre. The
efficiency of b 45% [11]. This effectively halves the diode to 2 μm laser diode was optimised for coupling into 200 μm fibres but the use
optical conversion efficiency to b 27%. Other 3–5 μm laser systems of the 400 μm patch cord improved the mechanical robustness of the
based on resonantly fibre laser pumped Ho:YAG lasers reported in the system by decreasing connector alignment tolerances, while also
literature have used commercial thulium doped fibre lasers based on increasing the fibre coupled diode power. The fibre connectors were
the 1.57 μm pump architecture. These systems have produced 5.1 W, not AR coated and the maximum output power from the 400 μm
M2 = 1.8 [3] and 12.6 W with an M2 b 2.6 [16]. delivery fibre was 141 W. The diode temperature was stabilised to
To the best of our knowledge this work presents the first 3–5 μm 25 °C by thermo-electric coolers (TECs) mounted on a water cooled
laser system based on a 790 nm diode pumped thulium doped fibre heat sink. The 400 μm/480 μm SMA connectorised delivery fibre was
laser. The system uses an in-house developed 1908 nm thulium fibre tapered to an outer diameter of 250 μm using a Vytran GPX-3400
laser, a high repetition rate low voltage electro-optic q-switched Ho: fusion splicer and spliced to the fibre laser assembly.
YAG laser and a dual crystal ZGP OPO to produce a 10.1 W mid-IR The thulium fibre laser was mounted on a 55 mm diameter
source with a beam quality of M2 = 1.5. threaded spool which was stabilised to 20 °C by TECs and a fan cooled
heat sink. The fibre laser assembly is mounted in the mid-IR laser
2. Experiment system where a dichroic mirror, high transmission (HT) over 1850–
2150 nm, and high reflectivity (HR) at 790 nm, is butt coupled to the
The pump laser used in this work follows from development and cleaved facet. The dichroic mirror retro-reflects unabsorbed pump
power scaling of 790 nm diode pumped 1908 nm thulium fibre lasers power due to the short fibre length thereby increasing the fibre laser
[17]. A schematic of the laser architecture is shown in Fig. 1. The laser optical conversion efficiency by 5%. The fibre laser output is focussed
is based on ∼ 1.65 m of commercial thulium doped silica fibre from into the Ho:YAG rod using a pair of 25 mm focal length Infrasil singlet
Nufern (LMA-TDF-25/250), which consisted of a 25 μm core centred lenses with a combined transmission of ∼ 97% at 1908 nm.
in a 250 μm octagonal shaped silica cladding. A fluoro-polymer The Ho:YAG laser resonator is shown schematically in Fig. 2. The
coating provides a pump NA of 0.46. Reabsorption processes at resonator consists of an L-shaped cavity with a Ho:YAG rod in one arm
1908 nm require that the fibre length be kept as short as is practical to and an RTP (RbTiOPO4) q-switch in the other. The dichroic fold mirror
reduce the number of thulium ions in the laser cavity. This minimises allows the thulium pump laser output to be imaged into the holmium
cavity reabsorption losses at 1908 nm and allows short wavelength rod and also defines the laser cavity s-polarisation. The RTP q-switch
operation in preference to the free-running wavelength of ∼ 1960 nm. allows high repetition rate, low voltage q-switching of the cavity. A
The fibre absorption at 790 nm is ∼ 4 dB/m resulting in a single pass 2090 nm anti-reflection (AR) coated quarter wave plate is used to
pump absorption of ∼ 7 dB. The fibre core is surrounded by a 40 μm achieve hold-off with no voltage applied to the RTP crystal. This
diameter pedestal region which decreases the effective core NA to increases the lifetime of the RTP crystals which suffer from electro-
0.11, corresponding to a V-number of 4.3 [18]. Without the pedestal chromism when held at high voltages. The q-switch consists of two
structure the core would be highly multi-mode, V ∼ 8, due to the high 3 × 3 × 10 mm crystals mounted in a thermally compensated
thulium dopant concentration required for efficient cross relaxation in scheme [19], and provides quarter-wave retardation for 2090 nm
the 790 nm pumped architecture. at ∼ 1200 V. A 100 μm thick Infrasil etalon narrows the emission from

Fig. 1. Schematic of the 1908 nm double clad thulium fibre laser. GDF: germanium
doped fibre and HR FBG: high reflectivity fibre Bragg grating. Fig. 2. Schematic of the mid-IR solid state frequency conversion stage.
 A. Hemming et al. / Optics Communications 283 (2010) 4041–4045 4043

dual lines at 2090 nm and 2097 nm to a single feature at 2090 nm. The power operation was only limited by the available diode power and
cavity uses a double-passed pump architecture to increase the pump the diode cooling system.
absorption and conversion efficiency of the quasi 3-level laser. The flat The few-moded nature of the thulium fibre, V = 4.3, results in
cavity end mirror is HR at both 1908 nm and 2090 nm, and the output multiple wavelengths in the fibre laser output spectrum. These
coupler (OC) is 50% reflectivity at 2090 nm with a 100 mm radius of correspond to the different wavelength resonances of the fibre's
curvature (ROC). The water cooled Ho:YAG rod consists of 30 mm of spatial modes with the fibre Bragg grating (FBG). The spectrum of the
0.7 wt.% Ho doped YAG, with 5 mm un-doped YAG end-caps bonded laser output shows a dominant feature at 1908 nm corresponding to
to each end to reduce refractive end effects at high pump powers. This the fundamental mode of the fibre laser, as seen in Fig. 3. Also shown
results in a total crystal length of 40 mm, and a minimum geometric are peaks at shorter wavelengths that are associated with the higher
cavity length of ∼ 110 mm. The thulium pump laser is focussed to a order spatial modes. The wavelength structure changes as a function
170 μm 1/e2 radius in the Ho:YAG crystal slightly underfilling the of pump power and fibre temperature, and this is thought to be due to
predicted cavity mode size of 190 μm. the variation in coupling between modes at thermally sensitive
The output beam from the Ho:YAG laser is imaged by a pair of positions in the laser such as splices. The beam quality of the laser
planar convex Infrasil lenses AR coated over 1850–2150 nm, to form a output was measured by using a Pyrocam III thermal camera to record
beam waist in the OPO. The pump beam waist is positioned in the beam profiles around a waist formed in the output laser beam by a
centre of the type I, doubly resonant OPO cavity, which consists of two singlet focussing lens. A Gaussian profile was fitted to the transverse
12 mm ZGP crystals in a walk-off compensated geometry and 200 mm beam profiles using a least squares algorithm which yielded 1/e2 beam
ROC HR and OC mirrors. The crystals are AR coated at 2090 nm and radii as a function of position. These beam radii were least squares
3.5–5.0 μm. The cavity HR mirror is R b 1% at 2090 nm and R N 98% over fitted to a hyperbolic function, resulting in M2x/y = 1.4/1.5.
the range 3.5–5.0 μm, and the output coupler is R b 1% at 2090 nm and
R = 50% over the signal and idler bandwidth. The crystals are cooled 3.2. Ho:YAG laser
using TECs and mounted to allow angular adjustment of the crystals,
and hence tuning of the OPO output spectrum. The overall length of The Ho:YAG laser stage efficiently converts the high average
the OPO is 27 mm. The HT pump cavity optics are used off-centre power from the thulium fibre laser to high peak power pulses suitable
to minimise any feedback from the OPO optics to the Ho:YAG for non-linear frequency conversion into the mid-IR. The high beam
oscillator. quality of the thulium fibre laser lends itself to an end pumped Ho:
YAG laser architecture as depicted in Fig. 2. This geometry results in
efficient operation due to the excellent overlap of pump and cavity
3. Results modes and the low quantum defect inherent to a resonantly pumped
holmium laser. The Ho:YAG output power is shown in Fig. 4. The
3.1. Thulium fibre laser laser delivered a maximum output of 17.1 W operating at a q-switch
frequency of 40 kHz. The pulse length was 32 ns and the pulse
The thulium fibre laser achieved over 30 W of output power at energy 450 μJ, resulting in a peak power of 14.1 kW. The q-switch was
1908 nm as shown in Fig. 3 with a slope efficiency of 38% and a operated at up to 50 kHz without impacting the Ho:YAG output
threshold of 8.0 W. The diode pump power was measured using a power. The slope efficiency was 68% with a threshold of 2.1 W and the
400 μm core, 480 μm cladding, 0.22 NA SMA patch cord similar to that optical conversion efficiency from the thulium fibre pump laser
used in the construction of the fibre laser as described previously. On was 62%.
initial construction the thulium fibre laser had a slope efficiency of The Ho:YAG laser could be operated with and without an etalon to
38% with a threshold of 2 W. Over 18 months of operation the fibre stabilise the output wavelength. Either of the operating wavelengths,
laser slope efficiency has remained constant but the threshold was 2090 nm and 2097 nm, could be selected by angle tuning the etalon in
observed to increase to nearly 8 W of diode pump power. When used comparison to the free-running case where both wavelengths were
to pump the Ho:YAG laser the thulium laser was operated at powers present in varying amounts depending on the laser power. Pulse
up to ∼ 30 W. At higher pump powers degradation of the Ho:YAG lengths were shorter for the 2090 nm wavelength, 32 ns compared to
beam quality was observed which is attributed to thermal lensing 38 ns, indicating that higher gain is present at this wavelength. The
induced cavity instability. The thulium fibre laser was capable of beam quality was characterised using the same method as described
output powers of over 50 W with no sign of roll-over and higher previously for the thulium fibre laser. The beam quality at maximum

Fig. 3. Output power and slope efficiency of thulium doped fibre laser after 18 months Fig. 4. Output power and slope efficiency of Ho:YAG laser. Inset: variation of RTP
of operation. Inset: thulium double clad fibre laser output spectrum. operating voltage with Ho:YAG output power.
4044 A. Hemming et al. / Optics Communications 283 (2010) 4041–4045

output power was measured to be M2x/y = 1.2/1.3, demonstrating that

the high brightness thulium fibre laser is efficiently coupled to the
fundamental mode of the Ho:YAG laser cavity. The 3-level nature of
the holmium laser transition results in reabsorption of the laser in
unpumped regions of the rod; this soft aperturing effect may
contribute to the suppression of the higher order modes thereby
improving the beam quality.

3.3. ZGP OPO

Coupling of the Ho:YAG output into the ZGP OPO was achieved via
two plano convex Infrasil lenses. For diagnostic purposes a half-wave
plate (HWP) and dichroic polariser (DP) were inserted between the
Ho:YAG and ZGP OPO providing variable attenuation of the Ho:YAG
pump power incident on the OPO (Fig. 2). The maximum Ho:YAG
output of 17.1 W resulted in 16.5 W being coupled into the OPO. The
Ho:YAG beam was focussed to a spot size of 190 μm1/e2 radius Fig. 6. Measured ZGP OPO output spectrum.
corresponding to a peak power density of 22 MW cm− 2. The OPO
attained a maximum 3–5 μm output of 10.1 W with a slope efficiency
of 63%, measured by varying the HWP to alter the incident pump
power. The OPO optical conversion efficiency was 59% with an output
pulse length of 29 ns. Typical pump, depleted pump and OPO output
pulse shapes are shown in Fig. 5, illustrating the pulse shortening due
to the threshold of the non-linear frequency conversion process. The
OPO pulse stability was comparable to that of the Ho:YAG pump laser.
The Ho:YAG stability was marginally degraded as the conversion
efficiency of the OPO increased, due to feedback from the OPO to the
Ho:YAG laser.
Spectra of the OPO output were measured using a 0.5 m
monochromator, 300 lines/mm grating blazed at 3.6 μm with a scan
time of 60 s. A 0.25 m monochromator and Pyrocam III thermal
imager was also used to observe either the signal or idler spectrum in
real time. Measurements were taken once the output spectrum was
constant, indicating that the OPO had reached thermal equilibrium
and the cavity length had stabilised [3]. Fig. 6 shows a spectrum
corresponding to maximum output power corrected for grating
Fig. 7. Beam quality measurements of the ZGP OPO output, (upper) signal and (lower)
response, and consist of a series of peaks distributed about the
idler (X axis (dash), and Y axis (solid) data shown). A: Far-field OPO signal beam profile.
4.2 μm degeneracy wavelength. The signal and idler bands cover a B: Near-field OPO signal beam profile.
wavelength range of more than 250 nm which can be tuned by
rotation of the ZGP crystals.
Beam quality measurements were independently taken of both
signal and idler using IR bandpass filters, (3200–4000 nm and 4200– 4. Discussion
5000 nm), resulting in M2x/y = 1.5/1.5 for the signal and M2x/y = 1.5/1.5
for the idler at an output power of 10.1 W. Beam quality measurement The initial slope efficiency and threshold of 38% and 2 W for the
data are presented in Fig. 7 with typical near and far-field beam thulium fibre laser was lower than that typically observed using this
profiles of the signal beam. fibre type in this architecture of 44% and 10 W [17]. This is partly due
to the shorter than usual length of thulium fibre used in this thulium
laser. The use of a short fibre length serves to reduce reabsorption
losses improving stability for 1908 nm operation when used to pump
a Ho:YAG laser. When operating at an output power of 30 W the
impact of the shorter thulium fibre length on the optical conversion
efficiency is minimised by the decreased laser threshold offsetting the
reduced slope efficiency. Other factors which lower the thulium laser
slope efficiency compared with previously published values [15] are
the inclusion of 3% collimation losses and ∼ 10% pump coupling losses
associated with the delivery fibre taper. The low index silicone coating
of the patch cord increases the measured launched diode power by
guiding light in the fluorosilicate cladding. The cladding mode power
is not efficiently transmitted through the taper into the fibre laser
due to the high NA ∼ 0.4 of the silicone coated cladding compared to
that of the core, NA = 0.22. This results in a pump transmission loss
of ∼ 10% through the taper. More heavily doped thulium fibres
optimised for 790 nm diode have recently been developed. Slope
efficiencies over 52% have been demonstrated at 1908 nm in master
Fig. 5. Output power and slope efficiency of ZGP OPO. Inset: Ho:YAG pump (upper), oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) architectures [15]. However we
depleted Ho:YAG (middle) and ZGP OPO output (lower) pulse shapes. have found reabsorption losses make 790 nm pumped 1908 nm
 A. Hemming et al. / Optics Communications 283 (2010) 4041–4045 4045

MOPA architectures quite susceptible to instability when used to etalon was 9.6 W with a slope efficiency of 60% and an optical
pump a Ho:YAG laser in a double-passed cavity configuration. conversion efficiency of 55%. Thus the removal of the etalon reduced
After more than 18 months of operation the slope efficiency of the the output power by 0.5 W and decreased the optical conversion
thulium fibre laser has remained constant but the laser threshold has efficiency from diode power to 3–5 μm output power by 4%.
increased by a factor of 4 to nearly 8 W indicating increased losses in The optical conversion efficiency of the system, from input diode
the cavity and/or the pump propagation. Microfracturing and power to ZGP OPO output is 11.7%. There is potential to improve this
associated scattering of pump light were observed in an earlier further by the use of higher concentration thulium fibre and improved
generation of this system which displayed a similar increase in lens and delivery fibre coatings. Laser development in-house has
threshold. In that system densely packed hairline fractures were demonstrated thulium lasers with optical conversion efficiencies of
noted in the thulium doped fibre including sections which were coiled 45% using the same type of fibre used in the current laser. This
at greater than 100 mm diameter. That laser had been operated in a improvement would increase the optical conversion efficiency from
similar manner to the system described here, which includes quasi- 11.7% to greater than 15%.
continuous wave operation at repetition rates from 10 Hz to 1 kHz.
Photo-darkening has also been reported to degrade performance in 5. Conclusion
some 790 nm pumped heavily doped thulium fibres and may be
contributing to the degradation observed [20]. We have developed an efficient system for mid-IR generation
The Ho:YAG laser described here uses an RTP q-switch to achieve based upon a 790 nm diode pumped thulium doped double clad fibre
low voltage high repetition rate q-switching without piezo-electric laser. The system achieved a maximum output power of 10.1 W in the
ringing which can lead to multiple pulsing in BBO q-switches [21]. At 3–5 μm band output with beam quality of M2x/y = 1.5/1.5 and an
high average power operation the phase retardation of the q-switch optical conversion efficiency of 11.7%. The system demonstrates the
was found to vary as a function of output power. The q-switch voltage use of an RTP q-switch for high power operation at 2.1 μm with q-
required for optimum output power is shown in Fig. 4 and switch repetition rates of up to 50 kHz. Further development of the
corresponds to the RTP q-switch providing quarter-wave retardation 790 nm diode pumped thulium fibre laser and improved coupling
to produce efficient q-switched operation in conjunction with the optics between stages should allow optical conversion efficiencies of
intra-cavity quarter-wave plate. The q-switch voltage was adjusted by greater than 15% to be achieved.
monitoring the power transmitted through the intra-cavity dichroic
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