Industrial 6 kW high-stability single-stage all-fiber laser oscillator based on conventional large mode area ytterbium-doped fiber

Abstract

Abstract We have demonstrated an industrial 6 kW single-stage end-pumped all-fiber laser oscillator based on a conventional large mode area ytterbium-doped fiber (YDF) with 30 μm core diameter and 600 μm inner-cladding diameter. As a result, the fiber oscillator achieved a maximum output power of 6.07 kW at a central wavelength of ∼1080 nm with a slope efficiency of ∼65.8%. The power of Raman Stoke light was 21.6 dB smaller than the signal light at the output power of 6.07 kW. For industrial application, the stimulated Raman scattering effect was further suppressed by employing a 50 μm-core delivery fiber, and no sign of dynamic transverse mode instability comes into view during the whole experiment. The power stability measurement at ∼6 kW operation was carried out for continuous 2 h, and the power fluctuation was within 0.31%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first detailed demonstration of industrial 6 kW high-stability single-stage all-fiber laser oscillator based on conventional YDF. The results provide a significant guidance for the construction of more than 6 kW output power single-stage end-pumped all-fiber laser systems.