Abstract

The development and characterization of a room-temperature single-mode 2pm Tm-Ho:KYF laser are presented. A maximum single-mode CW output power of ~70 mW at the central wavelength of 2.078 μm has been obtained. In multimode operation, KYF laser has showed, to our knowledge, the largest tunability range (99 nm) ever obtained for Tm-Ho codoping in any crystalline host, whereas the single-mode emission could be tuned over a range of ~40 nm. Frequency and relative intensity noise have been investigated showing a 1-ms emission linewidth of ~600 kHz and an intensity noise spectrum which is quantum-noise limited for Fourier frequencies higher than 1 MHz.

© 2004 Optical Society of America