Single-crystal fiber lasers for high-power applications (Conference Presentation)

Abstract

Single crystal fibers are currently being developed for high power single frequency lasers in 1-2 µm region. Crystal fibers offer several advantages over traditional glass fibers such as silica fiber due to their higher thermal conductivity and higher stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) thresholds, along with excellent environmental stability and higher doping concentrations. Yb3+ and Ho3+ doped single crystal YAG fibers with diameters down to 17 µm and lengths >1m long have been grown using our state-of-the-art Laser Heated Pedestal Growth system. Single and double cladded rare earth doped crystal fibers have been fabricated using glasses where optical and physical properties were precisely matched to the core single crystal fiber. We also show successful fabrication of all crystalline core/clad fibers where thermal and optical properties are superior over glass based fibers. Various fabrication methods, optical characterization and gain measurements on these clad fibers will be reported.