All-fiber high-average power nanosecond-pulsed master-oscillator power amplifier at 2 μm with mJ-level pulse energy

We present a high-power nanosecond-pulsed Tm-doped fiber amplifier at 1.971 mu m based on a master-oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) configuration. When the repetition rate is 500 kHz and the pulse width is 63.3 ns, the average power reaches 238 W, the peak power reaches 7.06 kW, and the pulse energy is 0.477 mJ. When the pulse train's repetition rate is 300 kHz with a pulse width of 63.7 ns, the average power reaches 197 W, the peak power reaches 9.73 kW, and the pulse energy is 0.66 mJ. When the pulse train's repetition rate is 200 kHz with a pulse width of 58.2 ns, the average power reaches 150 W, the peak power reaches 12.1 kW, and the pulse energy is 0.749 mJ. The spectral linewidths of the pulse trains are 0.15, 0.14, and 0.10 nm for 500 kHz repetition rate, 300 kHz repetition rate, and 200 kHz repetition rate, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of high-power nanosecond-pulsed MOPA at 2 mu m with the maximum average power reaching 238 W, the maximum peak power reaching 12.1 kW, and the maximum pulse energy reaching 0.749 mJ. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America