Dual-band Tm(3+)-doped tellurite fiber amplifier and laser at 1.9 μm and 2.3 μm

Ultrabroadband amplification and two-color CW lasing simultaneously near 1.9 μm and 2.3 μm in a Tm(3+)-doped tellurite fiber were demonstrated experimentally, for the first time to the best of our knowledge. A low-loss Tm(3+)-doped core fiber from TeO(2)–ZnO–La(2)O(3)–Na(2)O glasses stable against crystallization was produced by a special technique, providing a low concentration of hydroxyl groups. Supercontinuum from a highly GeO(2) doped silica fiber pumped by an Er fiber laser system was used as a seed for an amplifier. A maximum gain of 30 dB and 7 dB was measured at 1.9 μm and 2.3 μm, respectively. We report detailed experimental and theoretical studies, which are in a very good agreement, of laser amplification and generation in the manufactured fiber with carefully measured and calculated parameters. A quantitatively verified numerical model was used to predict power scalability at 2.3 μm in schemes with optimized parameters at increased pump power. The presented results show that a high-quality tellurite fiber is a promising candidate for developing lasers in the 2.3 μm atmospheric window which are particularly relevant for applications in gas sensing, eye-safe laser radars, breath analysis, remote sensing and stand-off trace gas detection.