Pulsed fluoride fiber lasers at 3 μm [Invited]

Enormous performance gains have been made in fluoride-based fiber lasers operating around 3 μm due to advances in fiber fabrication and improvements in high-power pump diode technologies during the last decade. Pulsed fluoride fiber lasers capable of producing high-energy/high-peak power mid-infrared pulses are of significant interest for a variety of applications. Q-switched and mode-locked fiber lasers have been demonstrated with various techniques in recent years. In this paper, pulsed Er3+- and Ho3+-doped ZBLAN (ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF) fiber lasers are reviewed, and our achievement of pulsed fiber laser sources at 3 μm is presented. Power/energy scaling of pulsed ZBLAN fiber lasers and their potential applications are discussed.