ABSTRACT
The advent of low-loss fluoride fibers has led to the demonstration of numerous roomtemperature lasers based on rare earth transitions at wavelengths ranging from 0.38 to 3.45 µm. Fluoride fiber lasers are of interest because they provide a means of generating laser output at wavelengths for which there are currently few or no solid-state laser sources, particularly in the spectral regions lower than 0.63 µm and higher than 2.0 µm. As nearly all rare earth doped fluoride fiber lasers have been pumped in the 0.63-to 1.2µm region, they can take advantage of the relatively mature AlGaInP (0.63-0.69 µm), InGaAlAs/ GaAlAs (0.78-0.88 µm), and InGaAs (0.90-1.2 µm) semiconductor laser technologies, as well as diode-pumped, solid-state lasers, such as the Nd3+-doped YAG laser (1.064, 1.112, 1.116, and 1.123 µm) and the Yb3+-doped silica fiber laser (1.1-1.2 µm). Thus, the potential for the development of all-solid-state laser sources based on fluoride fiber exists.
