Compact tunable high power picosecond source based on Yb-doped fiber amplification of gain switch laser diode

A compact tunable high power picosecond source based on Yb-doped fiber amplification of gain switch laser diode is demonstrated. A multi-stage single mode Yb-doped fiber preamplifier was combined with a single mode double-clad Yb-doped fiber main amplifier to construct the amplification system, which is seeded by a gain switch laser diode. By optimizing preamplifier???s parameters to compensate the seed spectrum gain, a "flat top" broadband spectrum is obtained to realize wavelength tunable output with a self-made tunable filter. The tunable pulses were further amplified to 3.5 W average power 90 ps pulses at 1 MHz repetition rate, and the center wavelength was tunable in the ranges from 1053 nm to 1073 nm with excellent beam quality.