Abstract

In recent years high power fiber lasers have increasingly replaced other types of solid state lasers. This has been driven by a number of inherent advantages including compactness, high efficiency, better heat dissipation and outstanding beam quality. Fiber lasers were initially thought of as little more than a curiosity but the demonstration of erbium doped fiber amplifiers in the late 1980’s quickly changed that perception¹. It is interesting to note however that the touted advantages of the fiber host hardly apply to the types of fiber laser being developed for cutting, welding, marking, ranging, imaging etc. The fiber laser revolution has rather been driven by relentless improvements in semiconductor pump power and pump brightness² complemented by fiber techniques which allow single mode operation at high effective area.

© 2009 IEEE