Compact, all fibre, linearly polarised, single-mode Ytterbium doped fibre laser utilizing point-by-point inscribed intra-core fibre Bragg gratings

We report on the development of a compact, all fibre laser source operating at 1 μm with a linearly polarized (extinction ratio > 20 dB) and very narrow linewidth (12 pm) output. The unique cavity design included a fibre Bragg grating high reflector and output coupler, inscribed via the point-by-point method directly into the active core. A single splice within the cavity between the fibre incorporating the high reflector and the output coupler permitted re-orientation of the stressors at an angle of 90 degrees to each other, which produced a single lasing polarisation. This simple technique removed the need for a more complicated and expensive polarization controller. KEYWORD LIST: Lasers, Fibre laser, Bragg gratings, point-by-point method, polarization maintaining, all-fibre. Photonics: Design, Technology, and Packaging III edited by Wieslaw Z. Krolikowski, Costas M. Soukoulis, Ping Koy Lam, Timothy J. Davis, Shanhui Fan, Yuri S. Kivshar Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6801, 68010O, (2008) · 0277-786X/08/$18 · doi: 10.1117/12.759300 Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6801 68010O-1