Characteristics of a fiber-optic Raman laser

The characteristics of the glass optical fiber continuous wave Raman laser, in particular its frequency spectrum and the temporal behavior of its output were experimentally studied at discrete wavelengths over 3-nm bandwidth. The output of the laser contained damped transients which were attributed to strong pump-depletion effects in the fiber. Previously observed fiber degradation under intense optical pumping was shown to be less severe when selected sections of optical fiber are used in the device, and the Raman laser may thus prove to be a source of tunable coherent radiation.