DIODE-PUMPED Q-SWITCHED FIBER LASER

A Q-switched fiber laser is developed for eyesafe ranging applications . Using a highly doped erbium fiber pumped with a 30-mW laser diode at 980 nm, pulses of 290-W peak power and 20-ns duration are obtained. T he laser consists of all-fiber elements, with the exception of a high- efficiency bulk acousto-optic Bragg cell aligned to the laser on the d iffracted beam to provide Q-switching with high hold-off. Three emissi on bands of erbium are made to lase in continuous wave (cw) and Q-swit ched operation. It is established that optimal c lasing is achieved at 1560 nm, and maximum intensity Q-switch pulses are produced at 1530 n m. The laser was packaged and tested in the field, demonstrating the r eadiness of this technology for ranging applications.