980-nm diode-pumped power-scalable continuous wave mid-IR (2.7 /spl mu/m) fiber laser

Summary form only given. We describe a relatively efficient power-scalable mid-IR (2.7 /spl mu/m) Er/sup 3+/:ZBLAN fiber laser pumped by readily available 980-nm laser diodes. The 10 mW cw power levels demonstrated here are significantly higher than those reported previously from any Er/sup 3+/:ZBLAN diode-pumped mid-IR fiber laser, presumably because the high erbium concentrations (10000 ppm) used enable rapid depletion of the lower laser level through crossrelaxation processes.