Q-switched laser in an SMS cavity for inhibiting nonlinear effects

In the design of high-power Q-switched fiber lasers, nonlinear effects often become barriers that prevent the scale up of pulse energy and peak power. New designs and components that could inhibit or suppress nonlinear effects are in high demand, particularly in all-fiber configurations. In this paper, we demonstrated a Q-switched Yb-doped fiber laser in a single-mode multimode single-mode (SMS) structure to inhibit fiber nonlinear effects. The laser-generated Q-switched pulses with a peak power close to 1 kW (pulse width and energy of 100 ns and 92 mu J, respectively). The output spectrum of this laser was compared with that of a Q-switched Yb-doped fiber laser built in a conventional configuration with similar output peak power. The results showed, for the first time to our knowledge, that the SMS Q-switched laser completely inhibited the stimulated Raman scattering and significantly reduced self-phase modulation. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America