Fiber amplifier system for suppression of modal instabilities and method
US9214781B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 21, 2013 |
| Grant date | Dec 15, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 24, 2033 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01S2301/03
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Apparatus and method for suppressing modal instabilities (MI) in fiber-amplifier systems. In some embodiments, thermal effects drive the MI process, and in some such embodiments, the present invention provides a plurality of options for mitigating these thermal effects. In some embodiments, the present invention provides a hybrid fiber with a smaller core in the initial length where the thermal loads are highest, followed by a larger-core fiber. In some embodiments the length of the smaller-core section is chosen to keep the core heat-per-unit-length of the second section below a critical value for the onset of MI. In some embodiments, the hybrid fiber of the present invention avoids modal instabilities while yielding almost the same performance as compared to conventional fibers with regard to minimizing fiber nonlinearities such as Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS). In some embodiments, the hybrid fiber outputs a signal beam with at least 1 kW of power.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.