Mode-locked and tunable fiber laser at the 3.5  µm band using frequency-shifted feedback

We report on a mid-infrared mode-locked fiber laser that uses an acousto-optic tunable filter to achieve frequency-shifted feedback pulse generation with frequency tuning over a 215 nm range. The laser operates on the 3.5 µm transition in erbium-doped zirconium fluoride-based fiber and utilizes the dual-wavelength pumping scheme. Stable, self-starting mode locking with a minimum pulse duration of 53 ps was measured using a two-photon absorption autocorrelator. The longest wavelength demonstrated was 3612 nm, and the maximum average powers achieved were 50 and 167 mW in fundamental and multi-pulse mode-locking regimes, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the longest wavelength rare-earth-doped mode-locked fiber laser demonstrated. The broad tunability promises potential uses for environmental sensing applications.