High Efficiency Gain Media for Eye-Safer 1.55 µm Ultrafast Fiber Amplifiers

Compelling applications of infrared ultrafast lasers—ranging from ship self defense and aircraft self defense, to medical and micromachining applications—have defined a critical performance point at about one millijoule per pulse from a reliable and robust portable laser system with high average power. Increasing amplifier efficiency is a critical need in order to reach high average powers needed to ensure a system capable of meeting Navy application needs. This program aims to develop novel specialty fibers to be used in amplification schemes which will operate at substantially higher efficiencies that the current state of the art. Increased efficiency will reduce waste heat produced by the amplifiers, substantially reducing the thermal management burden and leading to a variety of size and weight advantages for a packaged fiber ultrafast laser system utilizing the fibers developed under this program.