Output saturation of the 2.71 μm laser in erbium-doped ZBLAN fibers

Abstract

The output saturation of the 2.71 μm laser in erbium-doped ZBLAN fibers was measured. The laser resonator was a Fabry-Perot configuration with a buttcoupled dichroic input mirror and the cleaved end of the fiber as output mirror, corresponding to an output reflectivity of 4%. The single mode fibers were pumped with up to 850 mW using a Ti:sapphire laser operated at 791 nm. The erbium concentration in the fibers was 1000 ppm, 5000 ppm, and 10000 ppm wt.