PREDICTING THE PERFORMANCE DATA FOR A FIBER LASER BY MEASURING THE EMITTED FLUORESCENCE POWER OF THE END-ON PUMPED FIBER

A novel method is described that enables the prediction of the main la ser parameters (threshold pump power, output power, slope- and extract ion efficiency) without having realized the laser itself: The emitted fluorescence power of an end-on pumped fiber is absolutely measured al ong the fiber Using specific material parameters of the doped glass an d the waveguide attenuation, we calculate the laser properties without taking the resonator losses into account. This approach is extremely useful for fibers with special design parameters. We have used this me thod to characterize a fiber with a novel design, the M-profile fiber Combining the results with the measurements on the realized laser, the impact of resonator losses (e.g, tilted fiber endfaces, effects of bu tt-coupled mirrors) can be inferred and improvements can be undertaken .