Rare-earth doped chalcogenide glass fibre laser

Abstract

We report on the first laser action in a rare-earth doped chalcogenide glass fibre. Laser action at 1080nm was obtained in a 22mm long gallium lanthanum sulphide glass fibre with a neodymium doped core, fabricated by the rod-in-tube technique. The laser was pumped continuous wave with a Ti:sapphire laser at 815nm and showed a self-pulsing behaviour.