Influence of Bragg reflection of chirped tilted fiber Bragg grating on Raman suppression in high-power tandem pumping fiber amplifiers.

ABSTRACT

The key remaining technological challenge to the realization of further power scaling for high-power fiber laser systems is overcoming the stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) effect. In past years, chirped and tilted fiber Bragg gratings (CTFBGs) have been demonstrated to be a simple and effective way to suppress SRS in high-power fiber amplifiers. However, the weak reflection at the Bragg wavelength could be strongly amplified, which not only limits the power and efficiency but also degrades the beam quality. We report here, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, the influence of the residual Bragg reflection of CTFBGs on SRS suppression in high-power fiber laser systems. Two groups of CTFBGs with different Bragg reflection wavelengths are fabricated and used for the comparison experiments. Test results show that the CTFBGs of longer Bragg wavelengths have a better suppression effect, in particular, at a higher power level. By further moving the Bragg wavelength of a CTFBG out of the Raman gain spectral range, a better suppression effect and a promotion in laser efficiency could be achieved, which is very useful for further power scaling.