115 W, 10 GHz, femtosecond pulses from a very-large-mode-area Er-doped fiber amplifier

We demonstrate high average power, high peak power amplification of 10 GHz, picosecond and femtosecond pulses in a Very-Large-Mode Area (VLMA), Er-doped fiber with an effective area of ~1050 μm 2 . A high power, singlemode Raman fiber laser with up to 183 W of power at 1480 nm served as a pump source. 130 femtosecond pulses with an average power of 115 W, peak power of 88 kW, and M 2 of 1.18 were achieved. Simulations that take into account pair-induced quenching give excellent agreement with measurements.