FIBER GRATING-STABILIZED, SEMICONDUCTOR PUMP SOURCE

摘要

High power semiconductor lasers for pumping fiber devices, such as fiber amplifiers and fiber lasers, include an optical gain region disposed between a rear end and the output end, the width of the optical gain region being greater at the output end than at the rear end. The optical gain region may include a single mode channel region coupled to a flared amplifier region. The light output from the laser is coupled via a lens system into a fiber for propagating to the fiber device to be pumped. Light is fedback into the laser, for example from a fiber Bragg grating, to induce the laser to operate in coherence collapse. The broad bandwidth output associated with coherence collapse permits the laser to deliver high optical powers into the fiber without the onset of stimulated Billion scattering. Fiber grating feedback improves the quality of the beam output by the laser, thus enhancing coupling efficiency into the fiber. The pump laser may be used to pump multiple fiber devices. Multiple pump lasers may be combined together.