Low threshold 2nd-order random lasing of a fiber laser with a half-opened cavity

In this paper, we reported the realization of 2nd-order random lasing in a half-opened fiber cavity, which is formed by a FBG with central wavelength at the 1st-order Raman Stokes wavelength and a single-mode fiber (SMF) performing as a random distributed feedback mirror. Using this proposed method, the threshold of 1st-order (2nd-order) random lasing is reduced to 0.7 (2.0) W, which is nearly 2 times lower than that observed in a completely-opened cavity. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America