Short pulse high power fiber laser systems

We review the rapid recent progress in the development of short pulse high-power fiber laser and amplifier devices. Use of cladding pump technology now provides a route to compact and efficient laser and amplifier systems with high beam quality and high output powers. A new Yb-fiber CPA system incorporating a CFBG stretcher with both 2nd and 3rd order dispersion is presented for high pulse energy applications. In addition, a simplified Yb-fiber parabolic amplifier system is also shown to be suitable for producing higher average powers, here up to 25 W.