本文对光纤激光器的现状、发展和应用进行了综述。光纤激光器从掺杂稀土元素发展到掺杂过渡族金属元素;掺杂方法从单纯化学气相沉积(Chemical VaporDeposition,CVD)发展到气相、液相、溶胶-凝胶(sol-gel)和改进的化学沉积(MCVD)等;光纤结构从单包层、双包层到今天的多芯双包层光子晶体光纤;激光功率已经到几十千瓦,光子晶体光纤激光器的功率也已超过1.5 kW。目前,它们广泛应用于造船、航天、机械、电器、汽车、化工等多个领域。新光纤技术的成功,必将推动多种产业的快速发展。
The current status,development and applications of optical fiber lasers are reviewed in this article.The optical fiber lasers have developed rapidly in recent years:fromrare-earth ions to transitionmetal ions for the doping ions;fromsingle chemical vapor deposition(CVD) to vapor,liquid,sol-gel and modified chemical vapor deposition for the manufacture method;from the single or double cladding to multicore and double cladding photonic crystal fiber for the fiber structure.The output laser power of conventional optical fiber laser is up to scores of kilowatt,and the output laser power of photonic crystal fiber laser has been over 1.5 kW already.The optical fiber lasers have been widely used in shipbuilding,aerospace,machinery,electric appliances, automobile,chemical engineering etc.The improvements of optical fiber techniquewill surely impact and promote the development of many industries extensively and rapidly.