Methods for synthesizing fibers having nanoparticles therein are provided, as well as preforms and fibers incorporating nanoparticles. The nanoparticles may include one or more rare earth ions selected based on fluorescence at eye-safer wavelengths, surrounded by a low-phonon energy host. Nanoparticles that are not doped with rare earth ions may also be included as a co-dopant to help increase solubility of nanoparticles doped with rare earth ions in the silica matrix. The nanoparticles may be incorporated into a preform, which is then drawn to form fiber. The fibers may beneficially be incorporated into lasers and amplifiers that operate at eye safer wavelengths. Lasers and amplifiers incorporating the fibers may also beneficially exhibit reduced Stimulated Brillouin Scattering.

A laser amplifier includes a planar optical waveguide for laser amplification, and an input optical system for inputting signal light to a core layer of the planar optical waveguide. The input optical system includes: a collimating lens for converting output light from a signal light source into parallel light; an anamorphic prism for reducing the beam width in a first direction of output light from the collimating lens; and a cylindrical lens for collecting output light from the anamorphic prism in a second direction, and output light from the cylindrical lens is input to the core layer.

A fiber amplifier that is particularly configured to provide gain across a large extent of the C-band spectral range (i.e., a gain bandwidth of at least 42 nm, preferably within the range of 46-48 nm) utilizes a specially-designed discrete Raman amplifier in combination with a high inversion level EDFA to extend the gain bandwidth of a conventional EDFA C-band optical amplifier, while maintaining the gain ripple below an acceptable value. The EDFA provides operation at a highly-inverted level and the specialized discrete Raman amplifier (sDRA) element has particular parameters (dispersion, length, effective area) selected to maintain operation within a “small gain” regime while also extending the long wavelength edge of the gain bandwidth and reducing the gain ripple attributed to the EDFA component.

Methods for synthesizing fibers having nanoparticles therein are provided, as well as preforms and fibers incorporating nanoparticles. The nanoparticles may include one or more rare earth ions selected based on fluorescence at eye-safer wavelengths, surrounded by a low-phonon energy host. Nanoparticles that are not doped with rare earth ions may also be included as a co-dopant to help increase solubility of nanoparticles doped with rare earth ions in the silica matrix. The nanoparticles may be incorporated into a preform, which is then drawn to form fiber. The fibers may beneficially be incorporated into lasers and amplifiers that operate at eye safer wavelengths. Lasers and amplifiers incorporating the fibers may also beneficially exhibit reduced Stimulated Brillouin Scattering.

A system includes a light transmitter configured to emit a first light beam. The first light beam includes a primary portion and an amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) portion. The system also includes a host material configured to receive the first light beam and emit a second light. The host material is configured to generate the second light by depopulation of chromophores of one or more dopants in the host material caused by energy of the primary portion of the first light beam. The second light is continuous wave and speckle free.

A Raman fiber laser source is configured with a feeding fiber delivering MM pump radiation to an inner cladding of double-clad MM Raman fiber laser. The MM pump beam radiation has a sufficient power to produce Raman scattering in the MM Raman fiber converting the pump radiation to a MM signal radiation at a Raman-shifted wavelength λram which is longer than a wavelength λpump of the pump radiation. The Raman laser source further has a pair of spaced reflectors defining therebetween a resonator for the signal radiation at a 1.sup.st Stokes wavelength and flanking at least part of the MM core of the Raman fiber which is provided with a central core region which is doped with impurities for enhancing Raman process. The reflectors and central core region are dimensioned to correspond to the fundamental mode of the MM signal radiation which is output from the Raman fiber with an M.sup.2 factor ≤1.1 and in a power range between a few kW and tens of kW.

An optical element is provided. The optical element may comprise a material, the material being a matrix and a set of particles included in the matrix, the material having a molar fraction of SiO.sub.2 higher than or equal to 65 percent, each particle having a dimension smaller than or equal to 80 nanometers.

The present application is directed to various architectures of a laser oscillator which include an optical element, reflective, refractive, or diffractive injection device for injection seeding and/or locking a laser oscillator.

A ring laser gyroscope is provided. A light source is configured to generate light of a first wavelength. A plurality primary cavity mirrors are configured to route light of a second wavelength around a primary cavity to a readout device. One primary cavity mirror of the plurality of primary cavity mirrors includes a gain medium. The pumping mirror and the one primary cavity mirror including the gain medium is positioned and configured to reflect the light of the first wavelength back and forth in a pumping cavity through the gain medium, wherein the light of the first wavelength stimulates the gain medium to generate the light of the second wavelength that are reflected around the primary cavity to the readout device.

High-power, highly efficient 3-level system fiber lasers are described. The lasers can operate at an average power of about 50W or greater with an efficiency of about 60% or greater with low diffraction limited mode quality. The lasers incorporate an all-solid photonic bandgap fiber that includes a large core (20 micrometers or greater), a high core/clad ratio (greater than 15%), and a waveguide cladding designed to define a transmission band to suppress the 4-level system of the gain medium through determination of the node size of individual nodes of a cladding lattice.