Overview21st centuryHistoryLaser amplifiersSemiconductor optical amplifierRaman amplifierOptical parametric amplifierImplementations
In the 21st century high power fiber lasers were adopted as an industrial material processing tool, and were expanding into other markets including the medical and scientific markets. One key enhancement enabling penetration into the scientific market was improvement in high finesse fiber amplifiers, which became able to deliver single frequency linewidths (<5 kHz) together with excellent beam quality and stable linearly polarized output. Systems meeting these specifications steadily progressed from a few