Power Scaling of Single-Frequency Hybrid Brillouin/Ytterbium Fiber Lasers

A coupled-wave rate-equation model, including multiple-order stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), is used to study power scaling of hybrid Brillouin/ytterbium fiber lasers. To validate the model, a single-frequency, Brillouin/ytterbium fiber laser was built with a laser output of 40 mW and an optical signal-to-noise ratio greater than 50 dB. The numerical model simulation agrees with the measurements in both fully and partially injection locked regimes. To scale up the laser's output power, a dual-clad architecture is proposed. In this new configuration, the active Yb-doped fiber provides the nonlinear SBS gain as well as the gain resulting from the excited Yb ions. Numerical modeling including three Stokes orders shows that over 5 W of single-frequency laser output can be achieved with a side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) of greater than 80 dB. Beyond this power, multi-order SBS affects the laser efficiency and SMSR.