26 nJ picosecond solitons from thulium-doped single-mode master oscillator power fiber amplifier.

We report on an all single-mode master oscillator power fiber amplifier delivering high energy picosecond solitons at 1960 nm. The Bragg stabilized and self-starting oscillator delivers 62 pJ transform-limited pulses at 11.2 MHz pulse repetition frequency. Solitons are amplified in a core-pumped single-mode heavily thulium-doped fiber up to 26 nJ. The average and peak power are 291 mW and 7.4 kW, respectively. Pulses remain transform limited without significant self-phase-modulation distortion. We discuss the limitations of picosecond pulse amplification in a core-pumped single-mode fiber amplifier.