Dual-wavelength fibre lasers based on structured-core active fibres

<p> Highly effective light sources, namely fibre lasers, represent one of mainstreams of today's optoelectronics. The laser emission wavelength depends on used rare-earth ion, on a glass matrix and on a structure (at macro/micro/nano scale) of the used material. When erbium and ytterbium ions are randomly distributed together in a silica glass matrix and pumped at absorption band of ytterbium, laser emission only at 1550 nm is obtained thanks to energy transfer from ytterbium to erbium ions. However, when erbium and ytterbium ions are specifically structured in micro or nano scale within the fibre core, controlled dual-wavelength laser operation at around 1550 nm and simultaneously at around 1040 nm  can be obtained. This paper deals with such original per formance of Er/Yb fibre laser. The approach of struc tured-core active optical fibres can be potentially applied  to construction of lasers with simultaneous operation at  multiple wavelengths.</p>