High-power tunable mid-infrared fiber gas laser source by acetylene-filled hollow-core fibers

High-power tunable pulsed and CW mid-infrared fiber gas laser sources in acetylene-filled hollow-core fibers, to the best of our knowledge, are demonstrated for the first time. By precisely tuning the wavelength of the pump source, an amplified tunable 1.5 μm diode laser, to match different absorption lines of acetylene, the laser output is step-tunable in the range of 3.09~3.21 μm with a maximum pulse average power of ~0.3 W (~0.6 μJ pulse energy) and a maximum CW power of ~0.77 W, making this system the first watt-level tunable fiber gas laser operating at mid-infrared range. The output spectral and power characteristics are systemically studied, and the explanations about the change of the ratio of the P over R branch emission lines with the pump power and the gas pressure are given, which is useful for the investigations of mid-infrared fiber gas lasers.