A novel Nd3+-doped fiber fabricated by curable nanocomposites for 916 nm laser

In this work, a novel Nd3+-doped silica fiber preform was fabricated by the UV-curable nanocomposite technology combined with the solution doping method. The preform sample had a great homogeneity with a doping concentration of 1.14 wt% Nd3+ ions and 2.51 wt% Al3+ ions. The obtained Nd3+-doped core glass provided a relatively large emission cross section (∼0.84 pm2) and a long lifetime (373 μs) of 916 emission. On this basis, by using an 808 nm laser diode as the pump source, lasing at 916 nm was achieved from a 4 cm long fabricated Nd3+-doped silica fiber, with the corresponding slope efficiency of ∼13.6 %. Notably, only 2 cm-short created fiber alone was enabled for 916 nm lasing generation. Our results indicated that the created Nd3+ doped fiber by the novel approach has unique advantages and potential for compact short-cavity 0.9 μm laser applications.