ABSTRACT
A cascaded Raman fibre laser (RFL) [1-12] uses the nonlinear process of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) [13] (see chapter B1.7) in optical fibres to shift the wavelength of light from an input pump laser out to another desired wavelength. Devices at almost any wavelength can be made by proper choice of a pump wavelength and by cascading the pump through several Raman shifts. Fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs) are the reflectors most commonly used to form the multiple Fabry-Pe´rot resonator cavities. These devices were developed in the telecommunications field to fill a need for lasers that could emit in the fundamental mode of an optical fibre at higher powers than that which could be obtained from diode lasers.
