Directly written monolithic waveguide laser incorporating a distributed feedback waveguide-Bragg grating

We report the fabrication and performance of the first C-band directly written monolithic waveguide laser (WGL). The WGL device was created in an erbium- and ytterbium-doped phosphate glass host and consisted of an optical waveguide that included a distributed feedback Bragg grating structure. The femtosecond laser direct-write technique was used to create both the waveguide and the waveguide-Bragg grating simultaneously and in a single processing step. The waveguide laser was optically pumped at approximately 980 nm and lased at 1537 nm with a bandwidth of less than 4 pm. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.