Gas-Discharge He-Xe Fiber Laser

A helium-xenon gas-discharge fiber laser based on hollow-core fiber is demonstrated for the first time. Being pumped by a pulsed microwave radiation at 2.45 GHz in a slot antenna configuration, the laser operates at 2.03 μm in a quasi-continuous-wave mode with output power of ∼2 mW. The laser performance depends strongly on the pressure of the gas mixture and on the mole fraction of the Xe atoms. The results obtained open up new opportunities in developing a new type of lasers that can potentially generate in a wide spectral range from ultraviolet to mid-infrared and combine advantages of both gas-discharge and fiber lasers.