Multi-stage optical amplifier having photonic-crystal waveguides for generation of high-power pulsed radiation and associated method
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- an optical amplifier having a segmented fiber that includes a first amplifying segment having a rare-earth-doped photonic-crystal core and a second amplifying segment having a rare-earth-doped photonic-crystal core, wherein the first segment amplifies to a higher power than the second segment and is non-contiguous with the second segment;
a master-oscillator subsystem operable to obtain a seed laser signal light and to optically couple the seed laser signal light into the second segment, anda first optical-connector subassembly operatively coupled between the second segment and the first segment.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus use a photonic-crystal fiber having a very large core while maintaining a single transverse mode. In some fiber lasers and amplifiers having large cores problems exist related to energy being generated at multiple-modes (i.e., polygamy), and of mode hopping (i.e., promiscuity) due to limited control of energy levels and fluctuations. The problems of multiple-modes and mode hopping result from the use of large-diameter waveguides, and are addressed by the invention. This is especially true in lasers using large amounts of energy (i.e., lasers in the one-megawatt or more range). By using multiple small waveguides in parallel, large amounts of energy can be passed through a laser, but with better control such that the aforementioned problems can be reduced. An additional advantage is that the polarization of the light can be maintained better than by using a single fiber core.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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an optical amplifier having a segmented fiber that includes a first amplifying segment having a rare-earth-doped photonic-crystal core and a second amplifying segment having a rare-earth-doped photonic-crystal core, wherein the first segment amplifies to a higher power than the second segment and is non-contiguous with the second segment; a master-oscillator subsystem operable to obtain a seed laser signal light and to optically couple the seed laser signal light into the second segment, and a first optical-connector subassembly operatively coupled between the second segment and the first segment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus comprising:
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an optical amplifier having a segmented fiber that includes a first amplifying segment having a rare-earth-doped photonic-crystal core and a second amplifying segment having a rare-earth-doped photonic-crystal core, wherein the first segment amplifies to a higher power than the second segment and is non-contiguous with the second segment; a master-oscillator subsystem operable to obtain a seed laser signal light and to optically couple the seed laser signal light into the second segment, and a first optical-connector subassembly operatively coupled between the second segment and the first segment, wherein the first optical-connector subassembly includes; an enclosure having a substrate;
an optical band-pass filter attached to the substrate;a dichroic mirror/beamsplitter, attached to the substrate, that directs pump light into the second segment in a counter-propagating direction relative to signal light, and directs signal light from the second segment to the first segment through the optical band-pass filter; and at least one lens attached to the substrate;
wherein at least one of the filter, the mirror/beamsplitter and the lens is soldered to the enclosure to form a unitized assembly.
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13. An apparatus comprising:
an optical amplifier that includes; first photonic-crystal means for amplifying optical signal pulses to obtain high-power optical signal pulses, second photonic-crystal means for amplifying optical signal pulses to obtain intermediate-power optical signal pulses, wherein the second means is non-contiguous with the first means, and means for optically coupling the intermediate-power optical signal pulses to the first amplifying means from the second amplifying means; and means for generating optical seed signal pulses and for coupling the optical seed signal pulses into the second amplifying means. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A method comprising:
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providing an optical amplifier having a segmented photonic-crystal fiber that includes a higher-power first amplifying segment having a rare-earth-doped photonic-crystal core and a lower-power second amplifying segment having a rare-earth-doped photonic-crystal core; obtaining a seed laser signal; optically coupling the seed laser signal into the core of the second amplifying segment; amplifying the seed laser signal in the second amplifying segment to obtain intermediate-power signal light; operatively coupling the intermediate-power signal light to the first amplifying segment from the second amplifying segment; and amplifying the intermediate-power signal light in the first amplifying segment to obtain higher-power signal light. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification