A high power neodymium-doped fiber laser using a novel fiber geometry

We report on a neodymium-doped fiber laser emitting about 1.3 W at lambda = 1050 nm with a slope efficiency of about 60%. A novel fiber design in the form of a doped high index ring waveguide allows to convert the pump light completely within about 1 m fiber length making this type of fiber laser attractive for short pulse generation, too. The properties of this fiber with regard to the realisation of an optimised laser have been modelled using a numerical solution of the scalar Helmholtz equation. The theoretical predictions are verified experimentally. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.