Bismuth doped fiber laser and study of unsaturable loss and pump induced absorption in laser performance

A short Bi doped fiber laser operating in the wavelength region of 1160-1179 nm has been demonstrated. The influence of unsaturable loss on laser performance is investigated. Excited state absorption in Bi doped germano-alumino silicate fiber is reported in the 900-1300 nm wavelength range under 800 and 1047 nm pumping. Bi luminescence and fluorescence decay properties under different pumping wavelengths are also investigated. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America