Over 50 W all-fiber mid-infrared supercontinuum laser

• Published in: Optics express Vol. 31; no. 19; p. 31082
• Main Authors: Jiao, Yadong, Jia, Zhixu, Zhang, Chengyun, Guo, Xiaohui, Meng, Fanchao, Guo, Qi, Yu, Yongsen, Ohishi, Yasutake, Qin, Weiping, Qin, Guanshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 11.09.2023
• ISSN: 1094-4087; 1094-4087
• DOI: 10.1364/OE.498183

Broadband supercontinuum laser sources in the mid-infrared region have attracted enormous interest and found significant applications in spectroscopy, imaging, sensing, defense, and security. Despite recent advances in mid-infrared supercontinuum laser sources using infrared fibers, the average power of those laser sources is limited to 10-watt-level, and further power scaling to over 50 W (or hundred-watt-level) remains a significant technological challenge. Here, we report an over 50 W all-fiber mid-infrared supercontinuum laser source with a spectral range from 1220 to 3740 nm, by using low loss (<0.1 dB/m) fluorotellurite fibers we developed as the nonlinear medium and a tilted fusion splicing method for reducing the reflection from the fluorotellurite-silica fiber joint. Furthermore, the scalability of all-fiber mid-infrared supercontinuum laser sources using fluorotellurite fibers is analyzed by considering thermal effects and optical damage, which verifies its potential of power scaling to hundred-watt-level. Our results pave the way for realizing all-fiber hundred-watt-level mid-infrared lasers for real applications.