Investigation of the pulse energy limits of actively Q-switched polarization-maintaining Tm3+-doped fiber lasers

A diode-pumped actively Q-switched polarization-maintaining Tm3+-doped fiber laser is reported generating pulse energies of 630 mJ, minimum pulse widths of 42 ns, and a maximum peak power of 13.9 kW with linear polarized output and diffraction-limited beam quality at a wavelength of 2044 nm. The unpolarized fiber laser even reaches pulse energies of 800 mJ, pulse widths of 41 ns, and peak powers of 18.6 kW.