Direct generation of a 635 nm red random laser based on praseodymium (Pr)-doped ZBLAN fiber

Opt Lett. 2024 May 1;49(9):2497-2500. doi: 10.1364/OL.519425.

Abstract

Visible random fiber lasers have garnered significant attention due to their unique emission properties and potential applications in various fields. We first, to the best of our knowledge, demonstrated a compact all-fiber structure, red wavelength, and random fiber laser (RFL) based on a double-clad Pr-doped ZBLAN fiber. The simple half-open cavity consists of a high-reflectivity fiber pigtail mirror and the Pr-doped ZBLAN fiber. The Pr-doped ZBLAN fiber not only served as a gain medium but also offered random backward scattering. We investigated the effects of different lengths on output power and slope efficiency of the RFL. For 21 m Pr-doped fiber, the RFL emitted a maximum output power of 208.50 mW with a slope efficiency of 11.09%. For 15 m Pr-doped fiber, the maximum power decreased to 120.18 mW with the slope efficiency of 7.27%. We are also numerically simulating the output power versus the pump power at different fiber lengths based on power steady-state light propagation equations. This novel RFL has the potential for broad applications in fields such as display technology, spectroscopy, biomedical imaging, and optical sensing due to its unique properties and simple all-fiber structure.