The gain degradation behavior of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA) in a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) configuration was characterized using the fibers irradiated with varying irradiation dosages from our in-house Co60-ray source. The results indicate that power degradation and photo-anneal recovery processes simultaneously exist for erbium-doped fibers with relatively low concentrations of the co-dopants cerium and germanium added. For fibers with relatively high concentrations of germanium and comparable levels of cerium co-dopants, highly effective radiation hard behavior is exhibited, which is attributed to germanium alone. A fiber optimized for efficiency also provides a radiation-hard EDFA where after a 100-kRad (1000 Gy) exposure, the degradation in signal gain was 5 dB at a MOPA pump power of 315 mW.
Lasers built on crystalline fibers are capable of producing significantly higher power output per fiber compared to their glass counterparts. This paper explores the barriers for the adoption and implementation of crystal fibers in high-power laser systems and recent advances in crystal fiber fabrication and testing. An overview and update of the crystal fiber work at NRL will be presented.
We have studied the effect of radiation-induced degradation (RIGD) and recovery of the output optical power for erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) in a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) setup before and after radiation exposure using a 60Co gamma-ray source. Our preliminary results indicate that the fibers that are not optimized have a complete degradation of gain after exposure to a 10 kRad (100 Gy) dose, where all input signal power is absorbed. We present our efforts where we have improved the degradation to values where the fibers have a significant reduction in gain degradation after exposure. Results of our efforts for further improvement will be discussed.
Sulfur is an earth abundant element that can be combined with organic crosslinking molecules to synthesize polymers through a process called inverse vulcanization. The resulting polymer materials can be fabricated to possess advantageous optical properties, including high refractive index and optical transparency in the infrared (IR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Despite their potential use in various optical platforms, implementing these sulfur-rich polymers into practical applications is a non-trivial endeavor. The work presented details efforts in developing these materials into optical polymer preforms and optical polymer fibers for use as waveguides in the IR.
The behavior of erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA) in a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) configuration was characterized using a 60Co γ-ray source. The results indicate that power degradation and photo-anneal recovery processes simultaneously exist for erbium doped fibers with relatively low concentrations of the co-dopants cerium and germanium added. For fibers with relatively high concentrations of germanium and comparable levels of cerium co-dopants highly effective radiation hard behavior is exhibited. A fiber optimized for efficiency also provides a radiation hard EDFA where after a 100 kRad (1000 Gy) exposure, the degradation in signal gain was only 5 dB at a MOPA pump power of 315 mW.
The behavior of erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA) in a master oscillator power amplifier configuration was characterized, for the first time, in-situ using a Co60 γ-ray source. The results indicate that power degradation and photo-anneal recovery processes simultaneously exist. A fiber optimized for efficiency also provides a radiation harder EDFA with reduced power degradation after a 10 kRad (100 Gy) exposure.
Rare-earth-doped fibers with single-crystal cores have the potential for 10x higher TMI threshold than their glass counterparts and are a promising candidate for use as gain media in high-power laser systems. Their utility has been limited by parasitic optical losses and difficulty in fabrication. This paper explores methods to reduce the losses in these fibers in the core, in the cladding and at the core-cladding interface and an overview of the work done at NRL in this area.
The bending loss is a critical parameter for packaging, representing a limiting parameter in the minimization of fiber-based devices. For applications in the mid-infrared spectral band, chalcogenide glass optical fibers are one of the few alternatives for high-power beam delivery. We present experimental results for the bending loss of a sulfide-based multimode chalcogenide fiber for a broad range of infrared wavelengths as well demonstrating >5.8 W power handling for a 6.25-mm radius bend.
We present successful results obtained for thermal/ vibration testing of ruggedized, IR-transmitting chalcogenide glass fiber cables using a government facility with state-of-the-art equipment capable of MIL-SPEC environmental testing. We will also present results of a direct imprinting process to create novel “moth eye” patterned surfaces on the IR fiber cable ends that significantly reduces endface reflection losses from 17% to less than 3%. The cables with these imprinted “moth eye” ends transmit much higher IR laser power without damage than was obtained for previous cables with traditional AR coatings.
We present successful results of high mid-IR laser power transmission as well as MIL-SPEC environmental testing
(thermal cycling and vibration testing) of ruggedized, IR-transmitting chalcogenide glass fiber cables. The cables tested
included chalcogenide fiber cables with endfaces imprinted with anti-reflective “moth eye” surfaces, whereby the
reflection loss is reduced from about 17% per end to less than 3%. The cables with these moth eye surfaces also show
excellent laser damage resistance.
Arsenic sulfide (As-S) and arsenic selenide (As-Se) glass optical fibers typically possess extrinsic absorption bands in the infrared wavelength region associated with residual hydrogen and oxygen related impurities, despite using purified precursors. We report a purification process based on the addition of 0.1 wt%tellurium tetrachloride (TeCl4) to the glass. During melting, the chlorine from TeCl4 reacts with the hydrogen impurities to produce volatile products (e.g. HCl) that can be removed by subsequent dynamic distillation. The processing conditions have been modified accordingly to give low H-S (1.5 dB/m) and low H-Se (0.2 dB/m) impurity content.
Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has been developing high brightness mid-wave IR emitting fibers for HWIL testing. These fibers, based upon rare-earth doped chalcogenide glass, emit from 3.5 - 5 m and are capable of simulating very high temperatures in this band. To date, temperatures of 2400 K have been simulated. The fiber sources operate at room temperature, are environmentally tolerant, and can be formed into fiber bundles with high fill factors and low pixel to pixel cross- talk for IR scene generation. In this paper, we will present the spectral output, temporal response, temperature simulation and output uniformity of the mid-wave IR emitting fibers. The potential for long-wave IR emitting fiber sources will also be presented.
The change in the absorption loss relative to room temperature of the IR-transmitting sulfur-based (As-S-Se) and tellurium-based (Ge-As-Se-Te) glass fibers in the temperature range of-110°C? T? 110°C was investigated. For the sulfur-based (As-S-Se) glass fibers, the change in loss relative to room temperature was slightly affected by temperature in the wavelength region of 1-5 ?m. For ? ? 6 ?m, the change in loss was mainly due to multiphonon absorption. For the tellurium-based (Ge-As-Se-Te) glass fibers, the attenuation increased significantly at T 40°C. This is mainly attributed to thermally activated free carriers associated with the semi-metallic character ofthe Te atom. For ? ? 4.2 ?m, the loss due to electronic and free carrier absorption was strongly affected by temperature. In the wavelength region of 5 - 11 ?m, the loss was mainly due to free carrier absorption. Beyond ?? 1 1 ?m, multiphonon absorption dominated the loss spectrum at T ? 60°C while free carrier absorption contributed mainly to the total loss at T 80°C.
We report the first technology demonstration of the use of an IR fiber cable in an IRCM system for missile jamming. The IR fiber cable contains sulphide glass fibers which possess low loss, high strength and high threshold to laser damage. The fiber cable was used to transmit the output from a laser operating in the 2 - 5 micrometers atmospheric window to a Jam Head located remote from the laser. The demonstration was successful and fiber cable performed remarkably well and without damage.
Chalcogenide glass fibers based on sulphide, selenide, telluride and their rare earth doped compositions are being actively pursued at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) as well as world-wide. Great strides have been made in reducing optical losses using improved chemical purification techniques, but further improvements are needed in both purification and fiberization technology to attain the theoretical optical losses. Despite this, current singlemode and multimode chalcogenide glass fibers are enabling numerous applications. Some of these applications include laser power delivery, chemical sensing, scanning near field microscopy/spectroscopy, and fiber IR sources/lasers and amplifiers.
We have fabricated long lengths of low loss sulphide and telluride glass fibers for the 1 - 6 and 3 - 12 micrometers regions, respectively. Minimum losses for core/clad fibers are approximately 0.6 and 0.7 dB/m, respectively, while core-only fibers have exhibited losses of about 0.1 dB/m. The measurements have been performed on long lengths, typically 7 - 50 meters. Fiber strengths are reasonable for many short length applications, but improved processing will lead to stronger fibers for long length applications. These fibers are candidates for chemical sensors and for IR laser power delivery.
We have fabricated stable chalcogenide glasses containing up to 35 at. % tellurium and these glasses do not exhibit crystallization upon reheating up to the fiber draw temperature. The physical properties such as Tg, packing density, and Vickers Hardness decreases while the mass density and CTE increase with Te content and these are attributed to the weaker delocalized metallic-bonding character introduced with Te. We have drawn unclad fibers with a minimum attenuation of 0.11 dB/m at 6.6 micrometers which represents the lowest loss reported for a chalcogenide glass containing high levels of Te. Preliminary core/clad fibers have been drawn with a minimum loss of 0.7 dB/m at 6.6 micrometers . Improvements in glass quality and processing will lead to lower losses. We also present data demonstrating the use of unclad fibers for evanescent sensing of numerous organic and inorganic liquids and their mixtures in the 3-12 micrometers region.
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