Dual wavelength (3 /spl mu/m and 2 /spl mu/m) CW cascade oscillation of a holmium-doped double-clad fiber laser

A fiber laser configuration provides a high-quality laser beam at high pump-power and it generates and transports the infrared laser power in the same medium, making it very attractive for medical applications. This paper describes a demonstration of dual wavelength (3 /spl mu/m and 2 /spl mu/m) CW cascade oscillation of an 890 nm-Ti:Sapphire laser pumped Ho/sup 3+/ doped fluorozirconate (ZBLAN) double-clad fiber laser. The double-clad fiber structure is employed for homogeneous pumping along the long laser medium and its large aperture at the fiber end allows a high power multi-mode laser diode to be used as a pump source for increasing the output power in the future.