All-fiber actively Q-switched Yb-doped laser

An all-fiber actively Q-switched Yb-doped laser is presented. Q-switching is performed by modulating a fiber Bragg grating via a magnetostrictive rod which is fixed to the fiber at the position of the grating. By exposing the rod to a changing magnetic field, the rod is stretched and relaxed causing the Bragg wavelength of the grating to shift and thereby changes the Q-factor of the cavity. Using Yb-doped fiber, pulses at 1052 nm are obtained at repetition rates from 1 to 200 kHz. At 75 kHz, 0.5 mu J pulses with peak powers of 3 W can be produced when 180 mW of pump power is applied. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first all-fiber actively Q-switched Yb-doped laser presented to date. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.