Investigation of photodarkening in tandem-pumped Yb-doped fibers.

Investigation of photodarkening (PD) in Yb-doped fibers tandem-pumped at 1018 nm is reported. For a homemade Yb-doped aluminosilicate double-clad fiber (YADF), the transmitted power of a 633 nm probe beam is reduced by 2.4% over 2 hours for the tandem pumping configuration at 1018 nm, which is significantly smaller than 33.3% for a laser diode (LD) pumping at 976 nm. A tandem-pumped Yb fiber amplifier also shows a much smaller decrease in the amplified output power over time than a LD-pumped Yb fiber amplifier. Based on fluorescence spectra of the YADF, we can not only associate PD of the YADF to intrinsic oxygen deficiency centers or Tm3+ impurities but also confirm the impact of the excited Yb3+ ion density on PD. The benefits of the tandem pumping in a high-power Yb fiber laser system will be discussed.