Pulsing mechanism based on power adiabatic evolution of pump in Tm-doped fiber laser

Abstract

We prove an alternative pulsing mechanism based on power adiabatic evolution of pump in Tm-doped fiber laser. A pulsed laser technique, unlike Q-switching and gain-switching, is explored under the equilibrium between the stimulated emission and absorption. After the laser reaching a CW steady state, the temporal fluctuation of pump power is called power adiabatic evolution if it does not break the balance between the stimulated emission and the absorption. Under the pump power adiabatic evolution the population densities in the upper and lower laser levels get clamped to their steady-state values, and the temporal shape of output laser is identical with that of pump. Based on the power adiabatic evolution of pump a laser pulse can therefore be generated by a pulsed pump which is added to a CW pump. Moreover, the temporal profile, duration and peak power of the laser pulse can all be precisely controlled. Power adiabatic evolution of pump can be achieved in the three pumping shemes of Tm-doped fiber laser, provided that the duration of pump pulse is broader than a certain value. The study on the pulsing mechanism highlights an alternative pulsed technique possessing several advantages over Q-switching and gain-switching.