Fuseless side-pump combiner for efficient fluoride-based double-clad fiber pumping

We report a novel technique for side-pumping fluoride-based double-clad fibers, allowing a record coupling efficiency of 93% and a maximum power handling near 100 W at 981 nm. Our simple technique is based on wrapping a silica taper around a fluoride fiber and, therefore, does not require any comple...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics letters 2020-10, Vol.45 (20), p.5828-5831
Main Authors: Magnan-Saucier, Sébastien, Duval, Simon, Matte-Breton, Charles, Aydin, Yiğit Ozan, Fortin, Vincent, LaRochelle, Sophie, Bernier, Martin, Vallée, Réal
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cooling
Erbium
Fiber lasers
Fibers
Fluorides
Infrared lasers
Maximum power
Pumping
Silicon dioxide
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We report a novel technique for side-pumping fluoride-based double-clad fibers, allowing a record coupling efficiency of 93% and a maximum power handling near 100 W at 981 nm. Our simple technique is based on wrapping a silica taper around a fluoride fiber and, therefore, does not require any complex fusion between these two dissimilar fibers. Under passive cooling, pump combiners made of undoped and erbium-doped fluoride fibers were successfully operated during several hours at respective incident powers of 91 and 44 W. Heat management issues and active cooling strategies are also discussed. This innovative combiner is a keystone towards the development of compact and robust high-power mid-infrared fiber lasers and amplifiers.
ISSN:0146-9592
1539-4794
DOI:10.1364/OL.409174