YAG and sapphire single crystal fibers (SCF) have the potential to be good candidates for medical, dental, industrial, and military applications requiring robust, highly transmissive, passive delivery systems capable of handling 10s - 100s Watt power levels in the 2-5 micron spectral region. This work will present latest results of SCF grown by the Laser Heated Pedestal Growth (LHPG) technology developed at Phoenician Photonics and will address factors influencing their transmission and power handling performances in the Mid IR.
The need for high power, physically robust infrared laser systems that are capable of functioning in extreme environments has fueled the need to look for alternatives to the current state-of-the-art glass fiber sources. In particular, improvements to thermal management and a low stimulated Brillion scattering threshold are needed to increase the average output power of glass fiber systems. Rare earth (RE) doped single crystal fiber lasers have been proposed as a potential alternative with improved thermal management issues and a decreased SBS threshold. Recently, high-quality single crystal RE doped YAG fibers grown using laser heated pedestal growth (LHPG) have become commercially available [1]. LHPG has the potential to deliver flexible fiber sources that have the advantages of both single crystals and fibers, at a fraction of the cost of current bulk growth methods. Although LHPG single crystal fibers have demonstrated lasing, significant optimization of the fiber parameters must be done before they are suitable replacements for state-of-the-art laser fibers. In this study, the lasing properties of LHPG single crystal RE doped YAG fibers will be investigated to determine the efficiencies, loss mechanisms, and optimal doping levels for maximum output. The results will be discussed and possible design improvements will be proposed for future work.
[1] G. Maxwell et al., Proc. SPIE 8733, 1-8 2013.
Single crystal fibers are an intermediate between laser crystals and doped glass fibers. They have the advantages of both guiding laser light and matching the efficiencies found in bulk crystals, which is making them ideal candidates for high-power laser and fiber laser applications. This work focuses on the growth of a flexible fiber with a core of dopant (Er, Nd, Yb, etc…) that will exhibit good wave guiding properties. Direct growth or a combination of growth and cladding experiments are described. Scattering loss measurements at visible wavelengths along with dopant profile characterization are also presented. Laser characterization for these fibers is in progress.
Single crystal fibers are an intermediate between laser crystals and doped glass fibers. They can combine the
advantages of both by guiding laser light and matching the efficiencies found in bulk crystals, making them ideal
candidates for high-power laser and fiber laser applications. In particular, a very interesting feature of single crystal fiber
is that they can generate high power in the eye-safe range (Er:YAG) with a high efficiency, opening new possibilities for
portable directed energy weapons. This work focuses on the growth of a flexible fiber with a core of dopant (Er, Nd, Yb,
etc…) that will exhibit good waveguiding properties. Direct growth or a combination of growth and cladding
experiments are described. We have, to date, demonstrated the growth of a flexible foot long 45 microns doped YAG
fiber. Scattering loss measurements at visible wavelengths along with dopant profile characterization are also presented.
Laser characterization for these fibers is in progress.
Potassium lithium niobate (KLN), a nonlinear optical material with high nonlinearity and other desirable properties,
has the potential to improve the performance and reduce the cost of blue and UV lasers. KLN crystals have not entered
the commercial mainstream because it is impossible to grow them reproducibly by conventional techniques. We have
developed a proprietary process based on the laser heated pedestal growth (LHPG) technique that eliminates technical
barriers to manufacturing KLN crystals.
This paper describes the LHPG method of KLN crystal growth including improvements in crystal uniformity and
transparency, and our latest harmonic generation results in the UV.
Conference Committee Involvement (2)
Solid State Lasers XXXIV: Technology and Devices
26 January 2025 | San Francisco, California, United States
Solid State Lasers XXXIII: Technology and Devices
28 January 2024 | San Francisco, California, United States
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