The graphs presented here show results of numerical simulation of the temporal evolution of the output power of a Tm3+:ZBLAN fiber laser and the respective population inversion of the laser energy level. This speciality fiber is of great interest because it has a low phonon energy. It is then possible to pump successively several energy levels by an upconversion process with a single IR laser source. When pumped to their 1G4 level Tm3+ ions could emit photons around 800 nm by two different way, the 1G4
3H5 transition (785 nm) and the 3H4 3H6 transition (805 nm). However, those photons can be reabsorbed by the ground level that plays the role of a saturable absorber. The laser exhibits then a self-pulsed behaviour.
- A close-up view of the pulses emitted at 785 nm (1G4 3H5 transition) with the population inversion between the two laser energy levels.
- A close-up view of the pulses emitted at 805 nm (3H4 3H6 transition) with the population inversion between the two laser energy levels.
Guillaume Androz is an engineer who graduated from the National School of Physics (ENSPG) in Grenoble, France. He is currently a Ph.D student at the Center of Optics Photonics and Laser (COPL) at Laval University, Québec, Canada.