Design and fabrication of triangular inner cladding double-clad ytterbium doped fibre for high power lasers

To improve the performance of double clad high power fibre lasers, inner cladding design plays a significant role. A triangular inner cladding and silica structure second cladding with large air holes go acquire high inner cladding numerical aperture are designed. Single mode and high power output of the fibre lasers need the double clad Yb doped fibre with large core. A fibre with annular refractive index distribution core and low numerical aperture to acquire a large mode area fibre core is designed and fabricated. Furthermore co-doping with aluminium （A1） has been used to improve the solubility of ytterbium （Yb） into silicate network, and the core absorption coefficients of two Yb doped fibres are compared with different A1 concentration experimentally.

975 nm multimode semiconductor lasers with high-order Bragg diffraction gratings

The 975 nm multimode diode lasers with high-order surface Bragg diffraction gratings have been simulated and calcu-lated using the 2D finite difference time domain(FDTD)algorithm and the scattering matrix method(SMM).The periods and etch depth of the grating parameters have been optimized.A board area laser diode(BA-LD)with high-order diffraction grat-ings has been designed and fabricated.At output powers up to 10.5 W,the measured spectral width of full width at half maxi-mum(FWHM)is less than 0.5 nm.The results demonstrate that the designed high-order surface gratings can effectively nar-row the spectral width of multimode semiconductor lasers at high output power.

Simulation of High Power Er/Yb Codoped Fiber Linear Cavity Lasers

The performances of high power Er/Yb codoped fiber linear cavity lasers are investigated numerically. The numerical analysis is based on the iterative solution of rate equations for population density of the Er/Yb ions. The behaviors of co-pump and counter-pump methods are contrasted. Dependence of output power on input pump power, output reflectivity, operating wavelength and active fiber length is simulated, respectively. High conversion efficiency Er/Yb laser output is obtained in simulations and experiments.

High-power Pr^(3+):YLF continuous wave lasers at 691.7 nm,701.4 nm,705.0 nm,and 708.7 nm

Lasers from^(1)I_(6)to^(3)F_(4)transitions were first demonstrated in a Pr^(3+):YLF crystal by inserting a birefringent filter.Output powers up to 2.44 W,2.10 W,2.01 W,and 2.42 W were obtained at 691.7 nm,701.4 nm,705.0 nm,and 708.7 nm,respectively.Their slope efficiencies were 19.8%,16.5%,15.8%,and 19.4%,respectively.The M_(x)^(2)and M_(y)^(2)factors were measured to be 2.29and 2.03 at 691.7 nm,2.23 and 1.86 at 701.4 nm,2.31 and 2.08 at 705.0 nm,and 2.41 and 2.04 at 708.7 nm,with corresponding power fluctuations of less than 5.3%,5.6%,5.8%,and 2.9%.

High wall-plug efficiency 808-nm laser diodes with a power up to 30.1 W

A very highly efficient InGaAlAs/AlGaAs quantum-well structure was designed for 808 nm emission,and laser diode chips 390-μm-wide aperture and 2-mm-long cavity length were fabricated.Special pretreatment and passivation for the chip facets were performed to achieve improved reliability performance.The laser chips were p-side-down mounted on the AlN submount,and then tested at continuous wave(CW)operation with the heat-sink temperature setting to 25℃using a thermoelectric cooler(TEC).As high as 60.5%of the wall-plug efficiency(WPE)was achieved at the injection current of 11 A.The maximum output power of 30.1 W was obtained at 29.5 A when the TEC temperature was set to 12°C.Accelerated life-time test showed that the laser diodes had lifetimes of over 62111 h operating at rated power of 10 W.

Experimental study of weld position detection based on keyhole infrared image during high power fiber laser welding

Keyhole is one of the important phenomena in high-power laser welding process. By studying the keyhole characteristic and detecting the seam offset during high-power fiber laser welding, an infrared sensitive high-speed camera arranged off-axis orientation of laser beam was applied to capture the dynamic thermal images of a molten pool. The 304 austenitic stainless steel plate butt joint welding experiment with laser power 10 kW was carried out. Through analyzing the keyhole infrared image, the weld position was calculated. Least squares method was used to determine the actual weld position. Image filtering technique was used to process the keyhole image, and the keyhole centroid coordinate were calculated. Also, least squares method was used to fit the keyhole centroid curve equation and establish a nonlinear continuous model which described the deviation between keyhole centroid and weld seam. The heat accumulation effect affected by the infrared radiation was analyzed to determine whether the laser beam focus spot deviated from the desired welding seam. Experimental results showed that the keyhole centroid has related to the seam offset, and can reflect the welding quality.

Fabrication of Tm-Doped Fibers for High Power and 121W Output All-Fiber Tm-Doped Fiber Laser

We fabricate the Tm-doped double cladding silica fiber by using the vapor-solution hybrid-doping method, then build up an all-fiber Tin-doped fiber laser which can provide the output power of up to 121 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 51% and an optical-optical efficiency of 48%. By using the domestic Tin-doped fiber, it is the first time a hundred-watt level output at 1915nm has been achieved, to the best of our knowledge. The thermal effect of Tm-doped fiber laser is also analyzed.

Role of Thermal Stresses in Degradation of High Power Laser Diodes

Catastrophic degradation of high power laser diodes is due to the generation of extended defects inside the active parts of the laser structure during the laser operation.The mechanism driving the degradation is strongly related to the existence of localized thermal stresses generated during the laser operation.These thermal stresses can overcome the yield strength of the materials forming the active part of the laser diode.Different factors contribute to reduce the laser power threshold for degradation.Among them the thermal transport across the laser structure constitutes a critical issue for the reliability of the device.

Review of high-power pulsed systems at the Institute of High Current Electronics

In this paper,we give a review of some most powerful pulsed systems developed at the Institute of High Current Electronics(HCEI),Siberian Branch,Russian Academy of Sciences,and describe latest achievements of the teams dealing with these installations.Besides the presented high-power systems,HCEI performs numerous investigations using much less powerful generators.For instance,last year much attention was paying to the research and development of the intense low-energy(<200 kV)high-current electron and ion beam and plasma sources,and their application in the technology[1-3].

Efficient loading of ultracold sodium atoms in an optical dipole trap from a high power fiber laser

We report on a research of the loading of ultracold sodium atoms in an optical dipole trap,generated by two beams from a high power fiber laser.The effects of optical trap light power on atomic number,temperature and phase space density are experimentally investigated.A simple theory is proposed and it is in good accordance with the experimental results of the loaded atomic numbers.In a general estimation,an optimal value for each beam with a power of 9 W from the fiber laser is achieved.Our results provide a further understanding of the loading process of optical dipole trap and laid the foundation for generation of a sodium Bose–Einstein condensation with an optical dipole trap.

Numerical simulation of the molten pool character in high power fiber laser welding

A mathematical model was developed to describe moving laser welding by using the rotary Gauss body heat source model, and the effect of recoil pressure was taken into account. The formation of the long and narrow pool in high power fiber laser welding can be explained by the mathematical model （laser power： 10 kW, welding speed： 4 -20 m/min）. Numerical simulation was conducted by PHOENICS software. The results show that at high welding velocity the plasma accelerated the velocity of liquid metal around the keyhole which is the main reason for the formation of the long and narrow molten pool in high power laser welding.

Development of Surface Grating Distributed Feedback Quantum Cascade Laser for High Output Power and Low Threshold Current Density

We report on the room-temperature cascade laser （QCL） at λ -4.7μm. cw operation of a surface grating Both grating design and material distributed feedback （DFB） quantum optimization are used to decrease the threshold current density and to increase the output power. For a high-reflectivity-coated 13-μm-wide and 4- mm-long laser, high wall-plug efficiency of 6% is obtained at 20℃ from a single facet producing over I W of ew output power. The threshold current density of DFB QCL is as low as 1.13kA/cm^2 at 10℃ and 1.34kA/cm2 at 30℃ in cw mode. Stable single-mode emission with a side-mode suppression ratio of about 30 dB is observed in tile working temperature range of 20-50℃.

Research on quantum well intermixing of 680 nm AlGaInP/GaInP semiconductor lasers induced by composited Si-Si_(3)N_(4) dielectric layer

The optical catastrophic damage that usually occurs at the cavity surface of semiconductor lasers has become the main bottleneck affecting the improvement of laser output power and long-term reliability.To improve the output power of 680 nm AlGaInP/GaInP quantum well red semiconductor lasers,Si-Si_(3)N_(4)composited dielectric layers are used to induce its quantum wells to be intermixed at the cavity surface to make a non-absorption window.Si with a thickness of 100 nm and Si_(3)N_(4)with a thickness of 100 nm were grown on the surface of the epitaxial wafer by magnetron sputtering and PECVD as diffusion source and driving source,respectively.Compared with traditional Si impurity induced quantum well intermixing,this paper realizes the blue shift of 54.8 nm in the nonabsorbent window region at a lower annealing temperature of 600 ℃ and annealing time of 10 min.Under this annealing condition,the wavelength of the gain luminescence region basically does not shift to short wavelength,and the surface morphology of the whole epitaxial wafer remains fine after annealing.The application of this process condition can reduce the difficulty of production and save cost,which provides an effective method for upcoming fabrication.

Powerful 2 μm Silica Fiber Sources: A Review of Recent Progress and Prospects

A review on the progress of powerful 2 μm silica fiber sources in past decades is presented. We review the state-of-the-art records and representative achievements of 2 μm high-average-power continuous- wave, pulsed fiber lasers and amplifiers, and powerful superfluorescent sources. Challenges which limit the further power scaling of 2 μm silica fiber sources are discussed, including pumping brightness limitation, thermal problem and nonlinear effects. Potential and promising roadmaps to go beyond these limitations, like tandem pumping and beam combining, are discussed. Prospects of powerful 2 μm silica fiber sources are also presented in the end of paper.

Scaling diode-pumped, high energy picosecond lasers to kilowatt average powers

Recent results in the development of diode-driven high energy, high repetition rate, picosecond lasers, including the demonstration of a cryogenic Yb:YAG active mirror amplifier that produces 1.5 J pulses at 500 Hz repetition rate(0.75 kW average power) are reviewed. These pulses are compressed resulting in the generation of ~5 ps duration,1 J pulses with 0.5 kW average power. A full characterization of this high power cryogenic amplifier, including atwavelength interferometry of the active region under >1 kW average power pump conditions, is presented. An initial demonstration of operation at 1 kW average power(1 J, 1 k Hz) is reported.

1.06 μm high-power InGaAs/GaAsP quantum well lasers

The high power and low internal loss 1.06 μm InGaAs/GaAsP quantum well lasers with asymmetric waveguide structure were designed and fabricated. For a 4000 μm cavity length and 100 μm stripe width device,the maximum output power and conversion efficiency of the device are 7.13 W and 56.4%, respectively. The cavity length dependence of the threshold current density and conversion efficiency have been investigated theoretically and experimentally; the laser diode with 4000 μm cavity length shows better characteristics than that with 3000 and 4500 μm cavity length： the threshold current density is 132.5 A/cm^2, the slope efficiency of 1.00 W/A and the junction temperature of 15.62 K were achieved.

A Comparative Study of Epi-up and Epi-Down Bonding of High Power 980 nm Single-Mode Semiconductor Lasers

Epi-up and epi-down bonding of high power 980nm lasers have been studied in terms of bonding process, thermal behavior, optical performances, thermal stress effects and long-term laser reliability. We demonstrated that epi-down bonding can offer lower thermal resistance and improved optical performances without significantly degrading the long-term laser reliability.

High power AlGaInP laser diodes with zinc-diffused window mirror structure

The technology of zinc-diffusion to improve catastrophic optical damage (COD) threshold of compressively strained GaInP/AlGaInP quantum well laser diodes has been introduced. After zinc-diffusion, about 20 μm-long region at each facet of laser diode has been formed to serve as the window of the lasing light. As a result, the COD threshold has been significantly improved due to the enlargement of bandgap by the zinc-diffusion induced quantum well intermixing, compared with that of the conventional non-window structure. 40-mW continuous wave output power with the fundamental transverse mode has been realized under room temperature for the 3.5μm-wide ridge waveguide diode. The operation current is 84 mA and the slope efficiency is 0.74 W/A at 40 mW. The lasing wavelength is 656 nm.

An evaluation of sustainability and societal impact of high-power laser and fusion technologies:a case for a new European research infrastructure

Fusion energy research is delivering impressive new results emerging from different infrastructures and industrial devices evolving rapidly from ideas to proof-of-principle demonstration and aiming at the conceptual design of reactors for the production of electricity.A major milestone has recently been announced in laser fusion by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and is giving new thrust to laser-fusion energy research worldwide.Here we discuss how these circumstances strongly suggest the need for a European intermediate-energy facility dedicated to the physics and technology of laser-fusion ignition,the physics of fusion materials and advanced technologies for high-repetitionrate,high-average-power broadband lasers.We believe that the participation of the broader scientific community and the increased engagement of industry,in partnership with research and academic institutions,make most timely the construction of this infrastructure of extreme scientific attractiveness.

Fiber fuse behavior in kW-level continuous-wave double-clad field laser

In this study, original experimental data for fiber fuse in kW-level continuous-wave （CW） high power double-clad fiber （DCF） laser are reported. The propagating velocity of the fuse is 9.68 m/s in a 3.1-kW Yb-doped DCF laser. Three other cases in Yb-doped DCF are also observed. We think that the ignition of fiber fuse is caused by thermal mechanism, and the formation of bullet-shaped tracks is attributed to the optical discharge and temperature gradient. The inducements of initial fuse and formation of bullet-shaped voids are analyzed. This investigation of fiber fuse helps better understand the fiber fuse behavior, in order to avoid the catastrophic destruction caused by fiber fuse in high power fiber laser.