Yu. K. Chamorovskii

Double clad tapered fiber for high power applications.

We report a novel type of active fiber - tapered double clad fiber suitable for pumping by low brightness sources with large beam parameter product of 50/300 mm x mrad. Ytterbium double clad all-silica fiber (core/1(st) clad/2(nd) clad diameters 27/834/890 mum, NA(core)=0.11, NA(clad)=0.21), tapered down by a factor 4.8 for a length of 10.5 m was drawn from a preform fabricated by plasma chemical technologies. At a moderate Yb-ion concentration and 1:31 core/cladding ratio, the tapered double clad fiber demonstrates 0.9 dB/m pump absorption at 976 nm and excellent lasing slope efficiency. An ytterbium fiber laser with 84 W of output power and 92% slope efficiency, a 74 W superfluorescent source with 85% slope efficiency and amplifiers operating both in CW and pulsed regimes have been realized. All devices demonstrated robust single mode operation with a beam quality factor of M(2)=1.07.

Studying the properties of double-clad active cone optic fibers

A simplified model based on the weakly guiding waveguide approximation is proposed for estimating the effects occuring during propagation of radiation in a double-clad active cone optic fiber. This model is used for computer simulation, whose results agree with obtained experimental data. Practical recommendations on optimizing the shape of the cone fiber and the aperture of the pumping source for enhancement of the pump absorption efficiency are given.

Simulation of radiation generation in an active double-clad optical tapered fiber

A model of radiation generation process in active tapered double-clad optical fibers based on rate equations in the adiabatic approximation is developed. The generation process in active tapered fibers with different geometric profiles and mirrors at both ends alloyed with ytterbium is numerically simulated. The advantages of tapered fibers over cylindrical fibers are demonstrated; these advantages include low power density, high output power, higher power slope efficiency, and smaller length required for achieving similar output power.

Effect of metal coating on the optical losses in heated optical fibers

The effect of heating in air on the optical losses in metal-coated fibers has been studied. Two fibers were drawn from the same silica preform and coated by different metals (copper and aluminum). Dependences of a change in the optical losses on the temperature were measured in a 20–400°C range at a 50°C step. The optical losses of metal-coated fibers heated to temperatures below 300°C change mostly due to the microbending contribution. At temperatures above 300°C, the main contribution to increasing optical losses is due to the absorption on OH groups. It is established for the first time that the contribution to optical losses due to the OH groups is much more pronounced in Al-coated fibers than in Cu-coated ones. In addition, the Al-coated fibers exhibit growth in the optical losses above 300°C due the absorption on molecular hydrogen.

Optical fiber with distributed Bragg-type reflector

Optical fiber (OF) with a relatively high level of the backward signal at a certain wavelength is developed and studied. An increase in the backward signal is reached due to the recording of multiple weak fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) in the course of fiber pulling. A scheme that is simpler than the direct FBG recording through a phase mask is proposed and implemented. Fibers with FBG recorded with different ratios of the region with recorded gratings to the total length of OF are fabricated. An increase in the level of the backward signal relative to the level of the Rayleigh scattering by more than 30 dB is reached. Results of experimental study of the proposed OFs and examples of practical application are presented.

Absorption Loss at High Temperatures in Aluminum- and Copper-coated Optical Fibers

Thermally induced variations in the optical loss of optical fibers with metal (copper and aluminum) coatings are studied. It is demonstrated that an increase in the loss related to the OH groups depends on the medium in which the annealing takes place (an increase in the loss related to the OH groups in argon is greater than the increase in air) and on the dopant (an increase in the loss in the core doped with GeO2 + P2O5 is greater than the increase in GeO2).

Radiation resistant optical fiber with a high birefringence

A radiation resistant optical fiber with a high birefringence is fabricated on the basis of nitrogen-doped silica glass using the PANDA technology and studied. The loss in this fiber for an absorbed @[gamma]-radiation dose of 2–10 kGy does not exceed 5–10 dB/km, which is an order of magnitude lower than that of standard telecommunication fibers with a germanium silicate core.

Depolarization of broadband radiation in optical fibers with the twisted structure of birefringence

The depolarization of broadband linearly polarized radiation that propagates in optical fibers with the twisted structure of birefringence is investigated. The basic relationships for calculating the degree of radiation polarization at the fiber output at arbitrary fiber lengths and arbitrary azimuths of the input linear polarization are obtained. The depolarization length (on the order of several meters) at which the degree of polarization decreases from unity to a certain residual level is found. It is shown that the depolarization length depends on the width of the spectrum of a radiation source, the magnitude of the fiber’s built-in linear birefringence, and the twist pitch. For long fibers (of a length exceeding 50 m), the residual degree of polarization depends on the azimuth of the input linear polarization.

The photosensitivity of ytterbium-doped optical fibers with aluminophosphosilicate glass cores

The phenomenon of photoinduced refractive index change in active optical fibers with Al2O3/P2O5/Yb2O3/SiO2 core composition has been observed under the action of UV laser radiation with 193-nm wavelength. It is established that hydrogen treatment of active fibers plays a key role in ensuring a radical (about two orders of magnitude) increase in their photosensitivity. It is shown that intrafiber Bragg gratings with reflection coefficients above 99% can be formed, which are promising mirror reflectors for fiber laser cavities.

Simulation of the properties of microstructured optical fibers

A new method for calculating the radiation loss and chromatic dispersion of leaky modes propagating in microstructured (holey) optical fibers (MOFs) with circular air-filled channels is proposed and implemented numerically. It is shown that the results are in good agreement with both the known numerical data and with the experimental data obtained for two types of fabricated MOFs that contain, respectively, 30 and 60 channels.