160 W high-power, high-efficiency, near-diffraction-limited beam quality all-fiber picosecond pulse laser

We experimentally demonstrate a high-power, high-efficiency, near-diffraction-limited beam quality all-fiber picosecond pulse laser, which consists of a passively mode-locked seed laser and three-stage master power amplifiers. A repetition frequency multiplier and a high Yb-doped gain fiber with shorter length are utilized in the laser system to suppress the nonlinear effects and reduce the pulse broadening caused by dispersion. Moreover, the homemade light mode controllers based on a coiling and tapering fiber technique and the active fiber of the amplifier with a relatively small mode area are adopted to improve the beam quality. In addition, by experimentally adjusting the active fiber length, the optical conversion efficiency of the overall laser system can be optimized. Eventually, a 160 W high-power, high-efficiency, near-diffraction-limited picosecond pulse fiber laser is obtained, with the beam quality factor M-2 at 1.12 and an optical conversion efficiency of the system of 75%. (C) 2016 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)