Thermal effects in narrow linewidth single and two tone fiber lasers.

Significant effects from heating occur in both single and two tone fiber amplifiers. Single tone 1064 nm amplifiers have highest efficiency when the external environment surrounding the gain fiber is cold while 1064 nm two tone amplifiers co-seeded with broadband 1040 nm have maximum efficiency when the gain fiber is hot. It is shown experimentally that changes in the temperature of the core of the gain fiber have dramatic effects on the 1064 nm/1040 nm power distribution in the output of two tone amplifiers. This has been attributed to temperature dependence of the absorption and emission cross-sections at the wavelengths of interest.