Multiple core fiber laser and optical amplifier
First Claim
1. An optical fiber comprising:
- multiple nonconcentric core regions embedded within a common inner cladding,said core regions sufficiently spaced apart to allow independent operation of said core regions with minimal light interaction,all of said core regions doped with one or more active ionic species andall of said core regions when excited by pump light producing optical gain via stimulated emission of optical radiation propagating within each of said core regions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fiber laser or amplifier in which the optical fiber gain medium has two or more nonconcentric core regions, each of which is capable of gain or lasing when optically pumped. The fiber may be single clad or double clad, with multiple core regions embedded within a common cladding region or within separate cladding regions. The core regions may be arranged in a linear, closely spaced hexagonal, rectangular matrix or some other configuration and positioned symmetrically or noncentrosymmetrically, centered or off-center within the core region or regions. The spacing between neighboring core regions may be far enough apart to minimize optical interaction between cores for independent light amplifying or laser action or be close enough for phase-locked operation of the multiple cores to occur. The cores may be doped with the same or different active ionic species, of which one or more could be upconverting ions. If several dopants are present, the multiple pump wavelengths could be provided simultaneously or one could be selected for simultaneous multiple wavelength amplification or lasing or selected single wavelength amplification or lasing. The multi-core output can be imaged by a lens or collimated by a lens array then focused to a spot.
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Citations
57 Claims
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1. An optical fiber comprising:
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multiple nonconcentric core regions embedded within a common inner cladding, said core regions sufficiently spaced apart to allow independent operation of said core regions with minimal light interaction, all of said core regions doped with one or more active ionic species and all of said core regions when excited by pump light producing optical gain via stimulated emission of optical radiation propagating within each of said core regions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An optical fiber comprising:
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at least two nonconcentric core regions embedded within lower refractive index material and doped with an ionic species that produces optical gain via stimulated emission when excited by pump light, means for optically pumping said core regions, means for coupling external optical radiation received from outside of the optical fiber into at least one of said core regions, said at least one core region amplifying said received optical radiation coupled thereto and propagating therein, and means for suppressing reflective feedback of said amplified optical radiation in said at least one core region. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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8. An optical fiber comprising,
multiple nonconcentric core regions embedded within lower refractive index cladding material, all of said core regions doped with one or more active ionic species and all of said core regions being capable, when excited by pump light, of producing optical gain via stimulated emission of optical radiation propagating within each of said core regions, said different ones of said multiple core regions being doped with at least two different active ionic species.
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9. An optical fiber comprising,
multiple nonconcentric core regions embedded within lower refractive index cladding material, all of said core regions doped with one or more active ionic species and all of said core regions being capable, when excited by pump light, of producing optical gain via stimulated emission of optical radiation propagating within each of said core regions, at least one core region supporting multiple spatial modes of propagation of optical radiation therein.
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10. An optical fiber comprising,
multiple nonconcentric core regions embedded within lower refractive index cladding material, all of said core regions doped with one or more active ionic species and all of said core regions being capable, when excited by pump light, of producing optical gain via stimulated emission of optical radiation propagating within each of said core regions, neighboring core regions producing optical gain of optical radiation propagating therein being located close enough to each other to permit evanescent coupling of said optical radiation between said neighboring core regions to establish phase locking of said optical radiation, and reflection means for providing reflective feedback of said optical radiation propagating within each of said core regions to establish resonant laser cavities for all of said core regions.
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11. An optical fiber comprising,
multiple nonconcentric core regions embedded within lower refractive index cladding material, at least two of said core regions doped with one or more active ionic species capable, when excited by pump light, of producing optical gain via stimulated emission wherein said cladding material forms a double cladding structure with an inner cladding surrounding each core region and an outer cladding of lower refractive index than the cladding material forming said inner cladding, said outer cladding embedding said inner cladding material.
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12. A fiber gain medium comprising:
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an optical fiber having multiple nonconcentric core regions each doped with an active ionic species, all of said core regions being capable, when excited by pump light, of providing optical amplification of light propagating within each of said core regions, each core region being embedded within a lower refractive index cladding region of said optical fiber, at least one of said core regions forming a laser cavity and evanescently coupled to at least one adjacent core region to provide high flux pumping thereto, said at least one adjacent core region comprising an optical amplifier having an injected light signal amplified by said evanescently coupled high flux pumping, and means for providing and coupling pump light into said optical fiber. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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23. A fiber gain medium comprising,
an optical fiber having multiple nonconcentric core regions each doped with an active ionic species, all of said core regions being capable, when excited by pump light, of providing optical amplification of light propagating within each of said core regions, each said core region being embedded within a lower refractive index cladding region of said optical fiber, at least one core region supporting multiple spatial modes of light propagation therein, and means for providing and coupling pump light into said optical fiber.
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24. A fiber gain medium comprising,
an optical fiber having multiple nonconcentric core regions each doped with an active ionic species, all of said core regions having elliptical cross-sections and all of said core regions being capable, when excited by pump light, of providing optical amplification of light propagating within each of said core regions, each said core region being embedded within a lower refractive index cladding region of said optical fiber, and means for providing and coupling pump light into said optical fiber.
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25. A fiber gain medium comprising,
an optical fiber having multiple nonconcentric core regions each doped with an active ionic species, all of said core regions having rectangular cross-sections and all of said core regions being capable, when excited by pump light, of providing optical amplification of light propagating within each of said core regions, each said core region being embedded within a lower refractive index cladding region of said optical fiber, and means for providing and coupling pump light into said optical fiber.
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26. A fiber gain medium comprising,
an optical fiber having multiple nonconcentric core regions each doped with an active ionic species, all of said core regions being capable, when excited by pump light, of providing optical amplification of light propagating within each of said core regions, each said core region being embedded within a lower refractive index cladding region of said optical fiber and each said cladding region having a circular cross-section, and means for providing and coupling pump light into said optical fiber.
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27. A fiber gain medium comprising,
an optical fiber having multiple nonconcentric core regions each doped with an active ionic species, all of said core regions being capable, when excited by pump light, of providing optical amplification of light propagating within each of said core regions, each said core region being embedded within a lower refractive index cladding region of said optical fiber and each said cladding region having an elliptical cross-section, and means for providing and coupling pump light into said optical fiber.
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28. A fiber gain medium comprising,
an optical fiber having multiple nonconcentric core regions each doped with an active ionic species, all of said core regions being capable, when excited by pump light, of providing optical amplification of light propagating within each of said core regions, each said core region being embedded within a lower refractive index cladding region of said optical fiber, all of said core regions being embedded within the same cladding region, said cladding region embedding said multiple core regions being embedded within an outer cladding of said fiber, and means for providing and coupling pump light into said optical fiber.
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33. A fiber gain medium comprising,
an optical fiber having multiple nonconcentric core regions each doped with an active ionic species capable, when excited by pump light, of undergoing optical amplification, each said core region being embedded within a lower refractive index cladding region of said optical fiber, and wherein each core region is embedded within a separate cladding region, each cladding region embedding a core region being, in turn, embedded within an outer cladding of said fiber, and means for providing and coupling pump light into said optical fiber.
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36. A fiber gain medium comprising,
an optical fiber having multiple nonconcentric core regions each doped with an active ionic species, said multiple core regions being arranged in a closely spaced hexagonal configuration and all of said core regions being capable, when excited by pump light, of providing optical amplification of light propagating within each of said core regions, each said core region being embedded within a lower refractive index cladding region of said optical fiber, and means for providing and coupling pump light into said optical fiber.
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37. A fiber gain medium comprising,
an optical fiber having multiple nonconcentric core regions each doped with an active ionic species capable, when excited by pump light, of undergoing optical amplification, each said core region being embedded within a lower refractive index cladding region of said optical fiber, and wherein at least two of said core regions are doped with different active ionic species, and means for providing and coupling pump light into said optical fiber.
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44. A fiber gain medium comprising,
an optical fiber having multiple nonconcentric core regions each doped with an active ionic species, all of said core regions being capable, when excited by pump light, of providing optical amplification of light propagating within each of said core regions, each said core region being embedded within a lower refractive index cladding region of said optical fiber, means for providing and coupling pump light into said optical fiber, means for coupling light received from an optical signal source outside of said optical fiber into at least one of said core regions, said at least one core region amplifying said received light coupled thereto and propagating therein, and means for suppressing reflective feedback of said amplified light.
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47. A monolithically integrated fiber laser array, comprising:
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a single optical fiber medium with multiple nonconcentric core regions incorporated therein, all of said core regions doped with an active lasing ionic species to form a light emitting laser element in an array of such laser elements, reflection means associated with said optical fiber medium for defining a laser cavity within all of said core regions of said fiber medium, said core regions in said fiber medium sufficiently close that light propagating within said core regions interacts with adjacent core regions forming a phase-locked array of said laser elements, and optical pump means for exciting said active lasing ionic species in all of said core regions to lasing action. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A monolithically integrated fiber laser array, comprising,
a single optical fiber medium with multiple nonconcentric core regions incorporated therein, all of said core regions doped with an active lasing ionic species to form a light emitting laser element in an array of such laser elements, said fiber medium comprising a double clad optical fiber, reflection means associated with said optical fiber medium for defining a laser cavity within all of said core regions of said fiber medium, and optical pump means for exciting said active lasing ionic species in all of said core regions to lasing action.
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54. A monolithically integrated fiber laser array comprising
a single optical fiber medium with multiple nonconcentric core regions incorporated therein, each core region doped with an active lasing ionic species to form a light emitting laser element in an array of such laser elements, different sets of core regions being separately embedded within different cladding regions of said fiber medium, reflection means associated with said optical fiber medium for defining a laser cavity within each core region of said fiber medium, and optical pump means for exciting said active lasing ionic species in said core regions to lasing action, said optical pump means separately pumping each different cladding region, whereby each set of core regions is independently excitable to lasing action.
Specification