10 mJ cladding-pumped Tm-doped silica fiber laser operating in gain-switched mode

A cladding-pumped Tm-doped silica fiber laser operating in a gain-switched, moderate output energy regime at a wavelength of approximately 2 mum is reported. When pumped with the output of a flashlamp-pumped Ti:sapphire laser, a maximum total output energy of 10.1 mJ per pump pulse is produced at a slope efficiency of 30 % (with respect to launched pump energy) and at an optical-to-optical efficiency of 17%. In addition, the laser has been continuously tuned using an intracavity prism over a range of 109 nm, from 1909 nm to 2018 nm.