Laser system and method
First Claim
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1. An apparatus comprising:
- a first multi-waveguide ribbon device that includes;
a first plurality of substantially parallel rare-earth-doped amplifying waveguides including a first waveguide and a second waveguide, wherein each one of the first plurality of waveguides has a length within the first multi-waveguide ribbon device, and wherein each one of the first plurality of waveguides produces a respective output beam, anda first pump cladding in contact with the first plurality of waveguides in order to provide pump light into the first plurality of waveguides over the length of each one of the first plurality of waveguides; and
a first diffraction grating device, wherein the output beams of the first plurality of waveguides are combined into a single beam using the first diffraction grating device.
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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 multiple-modes and mode hopping that result from the use of large-diameter waveguides, and these are addressed. 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. Some embodiments obtain a single beam by combining beams from a plurality of laser waveguides, each having a different wavelength; for example, by using one or more diffraction gratings.
127 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a first multi-waveguide ribbon device that includes; a first plurality of substantially parallel rare-earth-doped amplifying waveguides including a first waveguide and a second waveguide, wherein each one of the first plurality of waveguides has a length within the first multi-waveguide ribbon device, and wherein each one of the first plurality of waveguides produces a respective output beam, and a first pump cladding in contact with the first plurality of waveguides in order to provide pump light into the first plurality of waveguides over the length of each one of the first plurality of waveguides; and a first diffraction grating device, wherein the output beams of the first plurality of waveguides are combined into a single beam using the first diffraction grating device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method comprising:
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providing a first multi-waveguide ribbon device that includes a first plurality of substantially parallel rare-earth-doped amplifying waveguides each having a length, and a pump cladding in contact with the first plurality of waveguides; optically pumping the first plurality of waveguides over the lengths of the first plurality of waveguides; generating a plurality of intermediate signal beams from the optically pumped first plurality of waveguides; and combining the plurality of intermediate signal beams into a single output beam. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus comprising:
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a first plurality of parallel waveguides disposed in a first solid-state substrate; means for optically pumping the first plurality of waveguides over the lengths of the first plurality of waveguides; means for generating a plurality of intermediate signal beams, each having a unique wavelength relative to other wavelengths of the plurality of intermediate signal beams, from the optically pumped first plurality of waveguides; and means for combining the plurality of unique-wavelength intermediate signal beams into a single output beam.
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Specification