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Highly Efficient 750 W Tapered Double-Clad Ytterbium Fiber Laser

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Highly Efficient 750 W Tapered Double-Clad Ytterbium Fiber Laser Tampereen teknillinen yliopisto. Julkaisu 1140 Tampere University of Technology. Publication 1140 Juho Kerttula Large-Mode-Volume Fiber Devices for High-Power and High-Energy Applications Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Science in Technology to be presented with due permission for public examination and criticism in Tietotalo Building, Auditorium TB109, at Tampere University of Technology, on the 14th of June 2013, at 12 noon. Tampereen teknillinen yliopisto - Tampere University of Technology Tampere 2013 ISBN 978-952-15-3085-2 (printed) ISBN 978-952-15-3093-7 (PDF) ISSN 1459-2045 Abstract This thesis explores a new type of gain medium for fiber lasers and amplifiers, active tapered double-clad fibers (TDCF), and describes their distinct properties, design, and applications. The TDCF technology is based on fabrication of axially non-uniform active optical fibers, with the aim to provide highly practical and cost-effective alternatives to the widely used fiber devices of today. While retaining all the flexibility associated to present-day double-clad fiber (DCF) instruments, these fibers offer the added benefits of low-brightness end pumping combined with high output brightness, a robust method for mode area scaling, and mitigation of certain deleterious optical effects. The TDCF technology was first established as a proof of concept during this dis- sertation work, followed by gradual power scaling to near-kW range in the continuous- wave (CW) regime, and to multi-mJ energies in pulsed operation. Given the preceding, practically nonexistent, high-power fiber laser (HPFL) research at the home university, this progress required substantial developments in thermal management, pumping tech- niques, and fiber design. The characteristics of the asymmetric and non-reciprocal active fiber waveguides were found to be very distinct from regular, cylindrical fibers. Their special features have been thoroughly studied within this work. The ytterbium-doped flared active DCFs studied in this dissertation work were ap- plied as gain fibers in several types of laser cavities, as amplifiers in master oscillator – power amplifier (MOPA) configurations, and as pump sources for nonlinear processes. The appended publications demonstrate all these applications, and the related TDCF characteristics are discussed in the thesis. Given the directly-applicable wavelength ver- satility provided by manifold rare-earth dopants, the established technological platform appears particularly feasible for realization of compact MOPA systems for mid-power materials processing at 1 µm, as well as light detection and ranging (LIDAR) and medi- cal applications at 1.5 µm. i Acknowledgements This research has mostly been carried out at the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) of Tampere University of Technology during 2008 – 2012. The work has been supported in part by the Graduate School in Electronics, Telecommunications and Automation, the Finnish Foundation for Technology Promotion, the Tampere University of Technology Support Foundation, the Ulla Tuominen Foundation, the Finnish Support Foundation for Economic and Technical Sciences, the Oskar Öflund Foundation, the HPY Research Foundation, and the Walter Ahlström Foundation. I gratefully acknowledge the head of UIO group Prof. Oleg Okhotnikov, the former director of ORC Prof. (emeritus) Markus Pessa, and the director of ORC Dr. Pekka Savolainen for their supervision, leadership, and management, respectively. I would like to thank my thesis pre-examiners, Dr. Andrei Fotiadi and Dr. Daniel Soh for their valuable insights. I am most indebted to my co-authors in Moscow, especially Prof. Yuri Chamorovskiy, Prof. Konstantin Golant, and Mr. Vasily Ustimchik for their expertise in various respects. My deepest gratitude goes to Dr. Valery Filippov for his fishing stories, tiger hunt- ing tips, and endlessly patient mentoring over the past few years. Big thanks to Prof. Mircea Guina for all the help especially during my early years at ORC. Needless to say, I would like to thank all the past and present co-workers at ORC for making the every- day existential crisis bearable from time to time. Special thanks to former and current fine fellows of the UIO group, particularly Antti H., Lasse, Tommi, Samuli, Esa, Jussi, Regina, Jari, Alexander, and Antti R. Good times. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, relatives, friends, my dear wife Milka, and the little Crawler for everything. Tampere, May 2013 Juho Kerttula ii Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Contents iii List of Publications v List of Abbreviations and Symbols vii Symbols, Greek Alphabet . ix Symbols, Other . ix 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Incentives . .4 1.2 Outline of the Thesis . .5 2 Theoretical Model of Tapered Double-Clad Fiber 7 2.1 Ray-Optic Modeling . .7 2.2 Rate-Equation Modeling . 10 2.3 Mode Coupling . 14 2.4 Geometric Limitations . 17 3 Experimental Study of Tapered Double-Clad Fiber 21 3.1 Pump Conversion Efficiency . 22 3.2 Mode Coupling . 23 3.3 Fundamental Mode Evolution . 26 iii 4 Continuous-Wave Fiber Lasers and Amplifiers 28 4.1 Diode Pumping . 28 4.1.1 Pump Source Brightness . 29 4.1.2 Pumping Methods . 30 4.2 Power Scaling Considerations . 32 4.2.1 Thermal and Material Limitations . 33 4.2.2 Fiber Nonlinearities . 35 4.2.3 Other Limitations . 37 4.2.4 Auxiliary Scaling Methods . 38 4.3 Practical High-Power Devices . 40 5 Pulsed Fiber Lasers and Amplifiers 46 5.1 Pulse Generation Methods . 46 5.2 Pulse Energy and Peak Power Scaling . 48 5.2.1 Fiber Damage . 49 5.2.2 Fiber Nonlinearities . 50 5.2.3 Amplified Spontaneous Emission . 51 5.2.4 Master Oscillator — Power Amplifier . 52 5.3 Applications . 53 5.3.1 Supercontinuum Generation . 54 6 Conclusions 56 References 58 iv List of Publications This work is a compendium and contains some unpublished material; however, the thesis is largely based on the following appended publications that will be referred to in the text as [P1–P9]. [P1] V. Filippov, Y. Chamorovskii, J. Kerttula, K. Golant, M. Pessa, and O. G. Okhot- nikov, ”Double clad tapered fiber for high power applications”, Optics Express, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 1929–1944, 2008. [P2] J. Kerttula, V. Filippov, Y. Chamorovskii, V. Ustimchik, K. Golant, and O. G. Okhotnikov, ”Principles and Performance of Tapered Fiber Lasers: from Uni- form to Flared Geometry”, Applied Optics, vol. 51, no. 29, pp. 7025–7038, 2012. [P3] J. Kerttula, V. Filippov, Y. Chamorovskii, V. Ustimchik, and O. G. Okhotnikov, ”Mode Evolution in Long Tapered Fibers with High Tapering Ratio”, Optics Express, vol. 20, no. 23, pp. 25461-25470, 2012. [P4] V. Filippov, Y. Chamorovskii, J. Kerttula, A. Kholodkov, and O. G. Okhotnikov, ”Single-mode 212 W tapered fiber laser pumped by a low-brightness source”, Optics Letters, vol. 33, no. 13, pp. 1416–1418, 2008. [P5] V. Filippov, Y. Chamorovskii, J. Kerttula, A. Kholodkov, and O. G. Okhotnikov, ”600 W power scalable single transverse mode tapered double-clad fiber laser”, Optics Express, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 1203–1214, 2009. v [P6] V. Filippov, Y. Chamorovskii, J. Kerttula, A. Kholodkov, and O. G. Okhotnikov, ”Highly efficient 750 W tapered double-clad ytterbium fiber laser”, Optics Ex- press, vol. 18, no. 12, pp. 12499–12512, 2010. [P7] J. Kerttula, V. Filippov, Y. Chamorovskii, V. Ustimchik, K. Golant, and O. G. Okhotnikov, ”Tapered fiber amplifier with high gain and output power”, Laser Physics, vol. 22, no. 11, pp. 1734-1738, 2012. [P8] J. Kerttula, V. Filippov, Y. Chamorovskii, K. Golant, and O. G. Okhotnikov, ”Actively Q-switched 1.6-mJ tapered double-clad ytterbium-doped fiber laser”, Optics Express, vol. 18, no. 18, pp. 18543–18549, 2010. [P9] J. Kerttula, V. Filippov, Y. Chamorovskii, K. Golant, and O. G. Okhotnikov, ”250 µJ Broadband Supercontinuum Generated Using a Q-switched Tapered Fiber Laser”, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 380–382, 2011. Author’s contribution The work presented in this dissertation is a result of teamwork. The author had a major role in experimental work on all publications, and in preparation of the manuscript in publications [P2–P3, P7–P9]. However, the author benefited substantially from the work of all co-authors, particularly for fiber fabrication in all publications. vi List of Abbreviations and Symbols AOM Acousto-optic modulator AR Anti-reflection ASE Amplified spontaneous emission BPP Beam parameter product CCC Chirally-coupled core CPA Chirped pulse amplification CMS Cladding mode stripper COD Catastrophic optical damage CVD Chemical vapor deposition CW Continuous-wave DCF Double-clad fiber DFB Distributed feedback DPSSL Diode-pumped solid state laser EDFA Erbium-doped fiber amplifier EOM Electro-optic modulator FBG Fiber Bragg grating FWM Four-wave mixing HOM High-order mode HPFL High-power fiber laser HR High-reflection LCF Leakage-channel fiber LIDAR Light detection and ranging vii LMA Large mode area LR Low-reflection MCF Multicore fiber MFD Mode field diameter MM Multi-mode MOPA Master oscillator – power amplifier NA Numerical aperture ORC Optoelectronics research centre PCE Pump Conversion Efficiency PCF Photonic crystal fiber RE Rare-earth SBS Stimulated Brillouin scattering SC Supercontinuum SM Single-mode SMF Single-mode fiber SPCVD Surface-plasma chemical vapor deposition SPM Self-phase modulation SRS Stimulated Raman scattering SSL Solid-state laser SSP Sustained self-pulsing TDCF Tapered double-clad fiber TIR Total internal reflection TW Traveling-wave XPM Cross-phase modulation viii Symbols, Greek Alphabet a Propagation angle ap Pump loss coefficient as Signal loss coefficient e Mode field function g
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