Kilowatt-Class Fiber Lasers Feasible

Investigations with high-power ytterbium-doped and erbium/ytterbium-codoped fiber lasers at the University of Southampton and Southampton Photonics Inc. in the UK indicate that the lasers could offer output powers greater than 1 kW, enabling them to displace traditional crystal-based solid-state lasers.

The research group presented its findings at Photonics West in San Jose, Calif., in January. They reported 272 W of 1080-nm radiation from an Yb-doped fiber laser and 103 W of eye-safe 1565-nm radiation from an Er/Yb-codoped system. They indicated that output powers as high as 4 kW should be possible with the development of suitable high-power pump sources.