Incoherent beam combining using stimulated Brillouin scattering in multimode fibers

All-fiber 7 × 1 signal combiner for high power fiber lasers

We present an all-fiber 7×1 signal combiner for high power fiber lasers. Through theoretical analysis, the fabrication method is confirmed and the taper length of the fiber bundle is chosen to be 1 cm to ensure a high transmission efficiency of the combiner. Based on the theoretical results, an all-fiber 7×1 signal combiner with high transmission efficiency is fabricated. A capillary with low refractive index is fused around the bundle of signal fibers to make an additional cladding layer. Then the fiber bundle is tapered to match the core of the output fiber and then spliced with the output fiber. The combiner is tested with a 500 W fiber laser and a temperature increase of 13°C/kW without any active cooling is observed in the combiner. The power transmission efficiency is measured to be close to 99% for each input port and the beam quality M2 is around 10.

Analytical analysis of second-order Stokes wave in Brillouin ring fiber laser

This paper details a theoretical modeling of Brillouin ring fiber laser which incorporates the interaction between multiple Brillouin Stokes signals. The ring cavity was pumped at several Brillouin pump (BP) powers and the output was measured through an optical coupler with various coupling ratios. The first-order Brillouin Stokes signal was saturated with the presence of the second-order Stokes signal in the cavity as a result of energy transfer between them. The outcome of the study found that the optimum point for the first-order Stokes wave performance is at laser power reduction of 10%. Resultantly, at the optimum output coupling ratio of 90%, the BFL was able to produce 19.2 mW output power at BP power and Brillouin threshold power of 60 and 21.3 mW respectively. The findings also exhibited the feasibility of the theoretical models application to ring-type Brillouin fiber laser of various design parameters.

Phase analysis of stimulated Brillouin scattering in long, graded-index optical fiber

A continuous-wave beam was wavefront-split by a prism and propagated through separate paths before being coupled into a long, graded-index fiber. Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) was generated in the fiber and the phase of the reflection was compared to that of the pump using lateral shearing interferometers immediately after reflection and also after propagating back through the separate paths. To analyze the phase conjugating properties of SBS in the fiber, one of the paths included a pathlength oscillation. It was found that SBS from the long, graded-index fiber did not conjugate the phase of the pump. SBS formed a phase-locked beam immediately after reflection from the fiber, but did not lock the phases of the two beams after recombination as would be expected from a phase conjugate reflection.

Stimulated Brillouin scattering continuous wave phase conjugation in step-index fiber optics

Continuous wave (CW) stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) phase conjugation in step-index optical fibers was studied experimentally and modeled as a function of fiber length. A phase conjugate fidelity over 80% was measured from SBS in a 40 m fiber using a pinhole technique. Fidelity decreases with fiber length, and a fiber with a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.06 was found to generate good phase conjugation fidelity over longer lengths than a fiber with 0.13 NA. Modeling and experiment support previous work showing the maximum interaction length which yields a high fidelity phase conjugate beam is inversely proportional to the fiber NA(2), but find that fidelity remains high over much longer fiber lengths than previous models calculated. Conditions for SBS beam cleanup in step-index fibers are discussed.

Passive combination of multiple beams in an optical fiber via stimulated Brillouin scattering

We demonstrate passive combination of multiple beams in an optical fiber via stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). Four off-axis beams are combined in a long multimode optical fiber using a novel all-optical mount. The combined beam has the high spatial coherence properties of the LP(01) mode owing to the beam cleanup properties of SBS. The threshold for SBS when off-axis pumps are used is shown to be a factor of 13 times higher than for on-axis pump beams. We propose this method would improve the brightness of an array of fiber amplifiers.

Use of a continuous wave Raman fiber laser in graded-index multimode fiber for SRS beam combination

We report using a Raman fiber laser (RFL) based on a multimode graded-index fiber as a novel method for beam combination of two continuous wave pump beams. Due to stimulated Raman scattering, the RFL generates a Stokes beam which can be up to 300% brighter than the pump beams. Up to 5.8 W of Stokes power is generated with an optical conversion efficiency of 56%.

Phasing of a two-channel continuous-wave master oscillator-power amplifier by use of a fiber phase-conjugate mirror

Phasing of two-channel cw master-oscillator-power-amplifier beams by using a phase-conjugate mirror has been demonstrated for the first time to the best of our knowledge. Phasing was achieved with two fiber amplifiers in conjunction with a single-frequency Nd:YAG master oscillator by using a fiber phase-conjugate mirror in a double-pass geometry. The successful demonstration of phasing of two cw amplifier beams with a fiber phase-conjugate mirror greatly enhances the prospects for phasing of multiple laser amplifiers without complex servo-loop control systems.

Single-mode Raman fiber laser based on a multimode fiber

Single-mode operation of a Raman fiber laser based on a multimode fiber has been demonstrated for what is to our knowledge the first time. Single-mode operation was achieved through the beam cleanup effect of stimulated Raman scattering in multimode fibers. The Raman laser, consisting of a 50-microm-core multimode fiber and a multimode Nd:YAG laser pump, produced an output beam corresponding to the fundamental mode of the fiber.