基于CO_2激光的双包层光纤端帽熔接实验研究

Experimental research of end-cap splicing technique for double-clad fibers based on CO_2 laser

光纤端帽可以有效避免高峰值功率下脉冲双包层光纤激光器的光纤端面损伤。为了实现大直径双包层光纤端帽的低成本制作,设计并搭建了基于CO2激光的光纤端帽熔接实验系统,研究了光纤端帽的熔接方法和工艺,利用熔接好端帽的双包层掺镱光纤进行了高功率脉冲光纤激光放大器的实验,验证了光纤端帽的实际使用效果。实验结果表明,本装置可以实现高质量、低成本的双包层光纤端帽熔接。采用此方法熔接的光纤端帽可以显著提高光纤的损伤阈值,同时基本不影响激光输出效率以及光束质量。

End-cap is effective for avoiding the fiber facet damage of pulsed double-clad fiber lasers under high peak power. In order to achieve end-cap assembling of large diameter double-clad fibers with low cost, a fiber end-cap splicing system based on a CO2 laser was designed and built. The method and process of fiber end-cap assembling was studied. The quality of the end-cap was evaluated by testing a high-peak-power pulsed fiber laser, which was assembled with end-caps using our method. The experimental results show that high-quality low-cost splicing of end-caps on double-clad fibers can be achieved by our splicing system. The end-cap spliced by our method can evidently increase the damage threshold of the fiber. Meanwhile, the influence of the end-cap on the efficiency and beam quality of the laser output is not obvious.