Direct inscription of Bragg gratings into coated fluoride fibers for widely tunable and robust mid-infrared lasers

We report the development of a widely tunable all-fiber mid-infrared laser system based on a mechanically robust fiber Bragg grating (FBG) which was inscribed through the polymer coating of a Ho³⁺-Pr³⁺ co-doped double clad ZBLAN fluoride fiber by focusing femtosecond laser pulses into the core of the fiber without the use of a phase mask. By applying mechanical tension and compression to the FBG while pumping the fiber with an 1150 nm laser diode, a continuous wave (CW) all-fiber laser with a tuning range of 37 nm, centered at 2870 nm, was demonstrated with up to 0.29 W output power. These results pave the way for the realization of compact and robust mid-infrared fiber laser systems for real-world applications in spectroscopy and medicine.