US Patent 8077748 Hybrid waveguide laser with a fiber gain medium

A laser includes a gain stage and a pump stage. The gain stage includes a fiber link that terminates at a pair of ends and includes a doped fiber. The pump stage includes a glass volume, the glass volume having a pair of fiber interface ports at which the pair of ends of the fiber link are disposed, respectively, for attachment of the gain stage and the pump stage in a ring laser assembly. The pump stage includes a plurality of intrinsic waveguides defined in the glass volume and disposed along in-bulk propagation paths within the glass volume for light travel through the ring laser assembly.