The present embodiment relates to an optical amplifier and the like having a structure for enabling efficient use of pumping light while avoiding complication of a device structure. In such an optical amplifier, since pumping light from a pumping light source is supplied to each core of an amplification MCF, a coupling MCF in which adjacent cores form a coupled core is arranged between the amplification MCF and the pumping light source. The pumping light source is optically connected to a specific core of the coupling MCF, and pumping light is coupled from the specific core to remaining cores except the specific core in the coupling MCF before pumping light is supplied to each core of the amplification MCF. This enables coupling of pumping light between optically connected cores between the amplification MCF and the coupling MCF.

A high average and peak power single transverse mode laser system is operative to output ultrashort single mode (SM) pulses in femtosecond-, picosecond- or nanosecond-pulse duration range at a kW to MW peak power level. The disclosed system deploys master oscillator power amplifier configuration (MOPA) including a SM fiber seed, outputting a pulsed signal beam at or near 1030 nm wavelength, and a Yb crystal booster. The booster is end-pumped by a pump beam output from a SM or low-mode CW fiber laser at a pump wavelength in a 1000-1020 nm wavelength range so that the signal and pump wavelengths are selected to have an ultra-low-quantum defect of less than 3%.

A Holmium-doped fiber amplifier (HDFA) with cascaded pumping is disclosed. The cascaded pumping has at least two pumping stages arranged so that an emission spectrum of a preceding pumping stage at least partly corresponds to an absorption spectrum of the succeeding pumping stage, and the pumping stages are staggered so that an emission spectrum of the last pumping stage at least partly corresponds to an absorption spectrum of the Holmium-doped fiber.

An on-chip ultra-narrow linewidth laser and a method for obtaining a single-longitudinal mode ultra-narrow linewidth optical signal are provided in the present invention. The on-chip ultra-narrow linewidth laser includes a laser generating gain unit for generating a broad-spectrum initial optical signal and performing wavelength filtering on the generated optical signal, and also includes a distributed scattering feedback unit for performing linewidth compression on the optical signal; the laser generating gain unit is connected with the distributed scattering feedback unit, so that the optical signal generated by the laser generating gain unit is subjected to wavelength filtering and then output to the light guide component of the distributed scattering feedback unit to scatter to form an optical signal with a narrower linewidth to achieve linewidth compression, and the optical signal returning along the original path and fed back to the optical signal of the laser generating gain unit is subjected to gain amplification and wavelength filtering once again, repeating until achieving a steady state so as to obtain a single-longitudinal mode ultra-narrow linewidth optical signal. The laser can obtain a steady single-longitudinal mode ultra-narrow linewidth optical signal, and is simple in structure and small in volume.

A hybrid optical amplifier is proposed that includes a preamplifier element formed of single-clad Ho-doped optical fiber and a power amplifier element formed of single-clad Tm-doped (or Tm—Ho co-doped) optical fiber. The preamplifier is used to impart gain to an input signal propagating at a wavelength λ.sub.S in the presence of a first pump beam operating at λ.sub.P1, creating an amplified output over a defined transmission bandwidth. The power amplifier element is disposed at the output of the preamplifier element and provides an additional level of gain to the output of the preamplifier element in the presence of a second pump beam operating at λ.sub.P2. A passband filter may be used between the preamplifier and the power amplifier to ensure that only wavelength components within the defined transmission bandwidth are applied as an output to the power amplifier.

A laser system may include a seed laser formed from a Ti:Sapphire laser providing pulsed light and an optical parametric amplifier to generate pulsed light within a Holmium emission spectrum as seed pulses in response to the pulsed light from the Ti:Sapphire laser. A laser system may further include an amplifier to generate amplified pulses of light in response to the seed pulses from the seed laser, where the amplified pulses include at least some of the seed pulses amplified by the one or more Holmium-doped gain media pumped by the one or more pump lasers. The amplifier may include one or more Holmium-doped gain media and one or more pump lasers providing continuous-wave pump light within an absorption spectrum of the one or more Holmium-doped gain media.

A multi-stage thulium-doped (Tm-doped) fiber amplifiers (TDFA) is based on the use of single-clad Tm-doped optical fiber and includes a wavelength conditioning element to compensate for the nonuniform spectral response of the initial stage(s) prior to providing power boosting in the output stage. The wavelength conditioning element, which may comprise a gain shaping filter, exhibits a wavelength-dependent response that flattens the gain profile and output power distribution of the amplified signal prior to reaching the output stage of the multi-stage TDFA. The inclusion of the wavelength conditioning element allows the operating bandwidth of the amplifier to be extended so as to encompass a large portion of the eye-safe 2 μm wavelength region.

In various embodiments, one or more optical elements are utilized to alter the numerical aperture of a radiation beam received from an optical fiber in order to accommodate the properties of a downstream collimator within a laser delivery head.

A planar waveguide amplifier includes a planar waveguide including a flat plate-like core; a first cladding provided on a first principal face of the core; and a second cladding provided on a second principal face of the core, and signal light and pumping light travel into the planar waveguide so that the signal light and the pumping light propagate inside the core in such a manner that optical paths of the signal light and the pumping light overlap each other, and in a zig-zag manner, and the core is an amplification medium containing a rare-earth element serving as an active ion of a three-level system, and absorbs the signal light on the basis of a reduction in intensity of the pumping light.

Disclosed herein is an all-fiber, easy to use, wavelength tunable, ultrafast laser based on soliton self-frequency-shifting in an Er-doped polarization-maintaining very large mode area (PM VLMA) fiber. The ultrafast laser system may include an all polarization-maintaining (PM) fiber mode-locked seed laser with a pre-amplifier; a Raman laser including a cascaded Raman resonator and an ytterbium (Yb) fiber laser cavity; an amplifier core-pumped by the Raman laser, the amplifier including an erbium (Er) doped polarization maintaining very large mode area (PM Er VLMA) optical fiber and a passive PM VLMA fiber following the PM Er VLMA, the passive PM VLMA for supporting a spectral shift to a longer wavelength.