Bragg gratings written in ZBLAN fibers and all-fiber laser applications

This paper reports on the first fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs) written in non-photosensitized ZBLAN fibers using fs laser pulses. Index modulations almost two orders of magnitude larger than those previously reported in a fluoride fiber (10
^-3
vs 10
^-5
) were achieved providing grating reflectivity greater than 99%. Preliminary results of an all-fiber Tm
³⁺
-doped ZBLAN laser pumped at 1070 nm and operating at 1480 nm based on a FBG as an input coupler is presented.