High-power Beam Delivery Research Articles

Influence of fabrication deviations on the polarization-maintaining behavior of inhibited-coupling guiding hollow-core fibers

Numerical simulations were conducted to analyze the influence of the design parameters of tubular inhibited-coupling guiding hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (IC-HCPCFs) on the bending-induced phase shift. The possibility to implement polarization-maintaining (PM) tubular IC-HCPCFs using a low-birefringence approach (with a modal birefringence parameter B<\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B<$$\\end{document}7×10-9\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$7\ imes {10}^{-9}$$\\end{document}) is discussed. Two different tubular IC-HCPCF designs with 7 and 8 glass capillaries are proposed for operation at a wavelength of 1030 nm. The numerical simulation predicts low guiding losses and a PM behavior sustaining a degree of linear polarization (DOLP) larger than 90% after 10 m of fiber with a bend radius larger than 0.2 m. This shows great potential for high-power beam delivery in an industrial environment. The influence that fabrication deviations have on the polarization-maintaining behavior was also investigated and indicates tight fabrication tolerances for both proposed fiber designs. Small deviations from the ideal symmetrical structure can lead to an enhancement of undesired modal birefringence. To ensure a DOLP larger than 90% at the exit of a 10 m-long fiber and for a bending radius > 0.2 m precise control of the drawing parameters during the fiber production is required, which is challenging but is considered to be technically feasible.

Multimode Optical Fiber Beam-By-Beam Cleanup

We introduce and experimentally demonstrate the concept of all-optical beam switching in graded-index multimode optical fibers. Nonlinear coupling between orthogonally polarized seed and signal beams permits to control the spatial beam quality at the fiber output. Remarkably, we show that even a few-mode control beam whose power is about ten times lower than that of the total beam may substantially enhance the quality of an intense, highly multimode signal beam. We propose a simple geometrical representation of the beam switching operation, whose validity is quantitatively confirmed by the experimental mode decomposition of the output beam. All-optical switching of multimode beams may find important applications in high-power beam delivery and fiber lasers.

Hollow-core photonic crystal fibers for Power-over-Fiber systems

Research achievements in hollow-core photonic crystal fibers technology allow ascertaining such fibers as outstanding platforms for delivering high-power laser beams. Indeed, the key property underlying the success of this family of optical fibers for high-power beam delivery is their capability of efficiently transmitting light through empty space with minimal interaction with the fiber microstructure. In this context, here we widen the framework of hollow-core fiber-based beam delivery applications by demonstrating their utilization as promising platforms for Power-over-Fiber systems. Thus, we report on the use of a tubular-lattice hollow-core fiber to deliver a watt-level continuous-wave laser beam onto a photovoltaic converter and activate a representative camera circuit. We believe that the experiments reported herein allow identifying hollow-core fibers as eligible candidates for next-generation Power-over-Fiber devices potentially able to lift the power restrictions of current solid-core fiber-based Power-over-Fiber systems.

Statistical mechanics of beam self-cleaning in GRIN multimode optical fibers.

Since its first demonstration in graded-index multimode fibers, spatial beam self-cleaning has attracted a growing research interest. It allows for the propagation of beams with a bell-shaped spatial profile, thus enabling the use of multimode fibers for several applications, from biomedical imaging to high-power beam delivery. So far, beam self-cleaning has been experimentally studied under several different experimental conditions. Whereas it has been theoretically described as the irreversible energy transfer from high-order modes towards the fundamental mode, in analogy with a beam condensation mechanism. Here, we provide a comprehensive theoretical description of beam self-cleaning, by means of a semi-classical statistical mechanics model of wave thermalization. This approach is confirmed by an extensive experimental characterization, based on a holographic mode decomposition technique, employing laser pulses with temporal durations ranging from femtoseconds up to nanoseconds. An excellent agreement between theory and experiments is found, which demonstrates that beam self-cleaning can be fully described in terms of the basic conservation laws of statistical mechanics.

Anti-resonant hollow-core fiber fusion spliced to laser gain fiber for high-power beam delivery.

We present the selective excitation of the fundamental mode in an anti-resonant hollow-core fiber (ARHCF) fusion-spliced with a commercial large mode area (LMA) fiber. By designing and fabricating a single-ring ARHCF that is mode-matched to a LMA fiber and by splicing the two using a CO2 laser-based splicer, we achieve a coupling efficiency of 91.2% into the fundamental mode. We also demonstrate an all-fiber integration of an ARHCF with a commercial ytterbium-doped fiber in a laser cavity for beam delivery application. Coupling of the single-mode laser output beam into the fundamental mode of the ARHCF is demonstrated with 90.4% efficiency (<0.45dB loss) for up to 50 W continuous wave beam in a stable and alignment-free all-fiber laser setup.

Applying tiling and pattern theory in the design of hollow-core photonic crystal fibers for multi-wavelength beam guidance

We apply tiling and pattern theory in the design of hollow-core photonic crystal fibers for guiding light in multiple spectral bandgaps. By combining two different glass apexes in a single [36;32.4.3.4] 2-uniform tiling, transmission regions with fundamental, second and third harmonic wavelengths are supported. This cladding design may also be an excellent candidate for high power beam delivery of Er/Yb, Nd:YAG and Ti:Sapphire laser sources.

Bend loss in multimode chalcogenide fiber at infrared wavelengths

The bending loss is a critical parameter for packaging, representing a limiting parameter in the minimization of fiber-based devices. For applications in the mid-infrared spectral band, chalcogenide glass optical fibers are one of the few alternatives for high-power beam delivery. We present experimental results for the bending loss of a sulfide-based multimode chalcogenide fiber for a broad range of infrared wavelengths as well demonstrating >5.8 W power handling for a 6.25-mm radius bend.

Infrared Fiber $N \times 1$ Multimode Combiner

Fiber-based multimode combiners allow for wavelength and power scaling of laser sources while maintaining a common emission aperture and divergence. For applications in the mid-infrared spectral band, chalcogenide glass optical fibers are one of the few alternatives with high-power beam delivery. We demonstrated a 7 × 1 multimode fiber combiner based on a sulfide-based multimode chalcogenide fiber with 76% per-port transmission. Wavelength combining and power scaling in the mid-infrared are demonstrated through the fiber combiner.

Realistic Design of Large-Hollow-Core Photonic Band-Gap Fibers With Suppressed Higher Order Modes and Surface Modes

This paper theoretically describes effective suppression of higher order modes (HOMs) in realistic large-hollow-core photonic band-gap fibers (PBGFs) and utilizes the use of this class of waveguides for low-loss data-transmission applications and high-power beam delivery systems. The proposed design strategy is based on the resonant-coupling mechanism of central air-core modes with defected outer core modes. By incorporating six 7-unit-cell air cores in the cladding of the PBGF with sixfold symmetry, it is possible by resonantly coupling the light corresponding to the HOMs in a central 19-unit-cell core into the outer 7-unit-cell core, thus significantly increasing the leakage losses of the HOMs in comparison to those of fundamental mode. We consider a realistic PBGF structure with hexagonal airholes having rounded corners and derive a surface-mode-free condition of a silica-ring thickness surrounding the hollow core for both 7-unit-cell and 19-unit-cell cores. Verification regarding the propagation properties of the proposed design is ensured with a PBGF analysis based on a finite element modal solver. Numerical results show that the leakage losses of the HOMs can be enhanced in a level of at least three orders of magnitude over 200-nm wavelength range in comparison to those of the fundamental mode, while in addition, we show that the incorporation of a realistic air core with optimized silica-ring thickness can eliminate surface modes and achieve strong confinement into the central core and very low eta-factor for the fundamental mode.

Influence of Mode Dispersion on Critical Power of Stimulated Brillouin Scattering in Multimode Optical Fibers

In high-power applications of multimode optical fibers, such as high-power beam delivery and optical phase conjugation, the estimation of the critical power of stimulated Brillouin scattering is important. Nevertheless, no estimations to date have taken account of the mode dispersion effect. Based on our experimental results, we show that the critical power in a multimode fiber depends on the numerical aperture (NA) of the fiber, i.e., mode dispersion. The critical power increases as the fiber NA increases.