All-fiber wavelength-tunable Tm/Ho-codoped laser between 1727 nm and 2030 nm

Lasers in the eye-safe 2 μm spectral region are attracting significant interest due to a variety of applications such as atmospheric lidar sensing and medical treatment, which require laser sources matching the absorption lines of various molecules in the 2 μm wavelength region. We demonstrate an all-fiber Tm/Ho-codoped laser operating in the 2 μm wavelength region with a wide wavelength tuning range of more than 300 nm. The Tm/Ho-codoped fiber laser (THFL) was built in a ring cavity configuration with a fiberized grating-based tunable filter to select the operating wavelength. The tunable wavelength range of the THFL was from 1727 nm to 2030 nm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the widest tuning range that has been reported for an all-fiber rare-earth-doped laser to date. Efficient short wavelength operation was also achieved. The output power of the THFL was further scaled up from 1810 nm to 2010 nm by using a stage of Tm/Ho-codoped fiber amplifier (THFA), which exhibited the maximum slope efficiency of 42.6% with output power of 408 mW at 1910 nm.