TiOxNy Thin Film Sputtered on a Fiber Ball Lens as Saturable Absorber for Passive Q-Switched Generation of a Single-Tunable/Dual-Wavelength Er-Yb Double Clad Fiber Laser

Abstract

The use of titanium oxynitride (TiOxNy) thin films as a saturable absorber (SA) element for generation of passive Q-switched (PQS) laser pulses, from a linear cavity Er-Yb double-clad fiber (EYDCF) laser, is demonstrated. Additionally, the deposition of the material as a thin film covering a fiber micro-ball lens (MBL) structure is reported for the first time. The TiOxNy coating is deposited by a direct current (DC) magnetron-sputtering technique. The MBL is inserted within the laser cavity in a reflection configuration, alongside a reflecting mirror. As a result, the coated fiber MBL simultaneously acts as a SA element for PQS laser pulses generation and as an interference filter for wavelength selection and tuning of the generated laser line. Tunable single-laser emission in a wavelength range limited by dual-wavelength laser generation at 1541.96 and 1547.04 nm is obtained. PQS laser pulses with a repetition rate from 18.67 to 124.04 kHz, minimum pulse duration of 3.57 µs, maximum peak power of 0.359 W, and pulse energy of 1.28 µJ were obtained in a pump power range from 1 to 1.712 W.