A low quantum defect and power scalable Yb-doped glass waveguide laser

• Published in: Optical materials 2024-11, Vol.157, p.116399, Article 116399
• Main Authors: Vaid, Harsh, Saxena, Sharashti, Kannan, Pradeesh, Choudhary, Amol
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0925-3467
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optmat.2024.116399

We present a continuous wave laser action in ytterbium (Yb)-doped phosphate glass buried channel waveguides. The 25 mm long waveguides were fabricated by the standard ion exchange method. When pumped with a 976 nm laser diode, the waveguide laser emits at 982.4 nm, yielding an ultralow quantum defect of 0.66 %. The impact of coupling and pump power variation on the laser emission wavelengths is demonstrated. Furthermore, the results of pulsing using a monolayer graphene as a saturable absorber (SA) are presented and a pulse train with a repetition rate of 1 MHz and a pulse width of 700 ns was obtained. •Ion-exchanged Yb-doped glass waveguide laser emits at 982.4 nm when pumped at 976 nm, yielding ultralow quantum defect of 0.66 %.•The impact of coupling variation on laser emission wavelength is presented.•The effect of launched pump power on laser longitudinal modes is demonstrated.•Pulsing of waveguide laser using graphene as SA is presented. A pulse width of 700 ns is measured with a pulse PRR of 1 MHz.