Fibre Optical Lasers

Fibre lasers have been one of the most active areas of laser development over the past decade. The fibre geometry provides high gain for a modest pump power and this has been the feature most widely exploited. The later advent of fibre gratings has further enhanced the versatility of active fibre devices. Now, there is increasing interest in the high power capabilities of fibre lasers, via cladding-pumped configurations, so that fibre lasers provide competitive solutions to areas formerly regarded as the sole province of bulk lasers. These aspects and other important developments that have taken place over the last decade will be reviewed.