Mid-Infrared (2 µm) Fiber Lasers

This book presents a comprehensive overview of 2 µm fiber laser technology, focusing on rare-earth doped gain systems, pulsed laser generation, nonlinear optical behavior, high-power architectures, and practical applications. It is designed as a technical reference for understanding how mid-infrared fiber lasers are developed, optimized, and applied across scientific, medical, and industrial fields. A central theme of the book is the importance of the 2 µm spectral region. This wavelength range is attractive because it offers eye-safer operation, strong interaction with water and certain gas molecules, compatibility with atmospheric sensing, and potential for nonlinear frequency conversion into longer mid-infrared wavelengths. These properties make 2 µm fiber lasers useful for spectroscopy, sensing, surgery, materials processing, and emerging photonic technologies. The book gives significant attention to rare-earth doped fiber laser systems, especially those based on thulium, holmium, and thulium-holmium co-doped fibers. Another major focus is pulse generation at 2 µm, particularly through Q-switching and mode-locking.