Mid-infrared performance of single mode chalcogenide fibers

Justin Cook; Alex Sincore; Felix Tan; Ahmed El Halawany; Anthony Riggins; Lawrence Shah; Ayman F. Abouraddy; Martin C. Richardson; Kenneth L. Schepler

doi:10.1117/12.2290127

20 February 2018 Mid-infrared performance of single mode chalcogenide fibers

Justin Cook, Alex Sincore, Felix Tan, Ahmed El Halawany, Anthony Riggins, Lawrence Shah, Ayman F. Abouraddy, Martin C. Richardson, Kenneth L. Schepler

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10513, Components and Packaging for Laser Systems IV; 105131H (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2290127
Event: SPIE LASE, 2018, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Due to the intrinsic absorption edge in silica near 2.4 μm, more exotic materials are required to transmit laser power in the IR such as fluoride or chalcogenide glasses (ChGs). In particular, ChG fibers offer broad IR transmission with low losses < 1 dB/m. Here, we report on the performance of in-house drawn multi-material chalcogenide fibers at four different infrared wavelengths: 2053 nm, 2520 nm and 4550 nm. Polymer clad ChG fibers were drawn with 12.3 μm and 25 μm core diameters. Testing at 2053 nm was accomplished using a > 15 W, CW Tm:fiber laser. Power handling up to 10.2 W with single mode beam quality has been demonstrated, limited only by the available Tm:fiber output power. Anti-reflective coatings were successfully deposited on the ChG fiber facets, allowing up to 90.6% transmission with 12.2 MW/cm² intensity on the facet. Single mode guidance at 4550 nm was also demonstrated using a quantum cascade laser (QCL). A custom optical system was constructed to efficiently couple the 0.8 NA QCL radiation into the 0.2 NA ChG fiber, allowing for a maximum of 78% overlap between the QCL radiation and fundamental mode of the fiber. With an AR-coated, 25 μm core diameter fiber, >50 mW transmission was demonstrated with > 87% transmission. Finally, we present results on fiber coupling from a free space Cr:ZnSe resonator at 2520 nm.

Citation Download Citation

Justin Cook, Alex Sincore, Felix Tan, Ahmed El Halawany, Anthony Riggins, Lawrence Shah, Ayman F. Abouraddy, Martin C. Richardson, and Kenneth L. Schepler "Mid-infrared performance of single mode chalcogenide fibers", Proc. SPIE 10513, Components and Packaging for Laser Systems IV, 105131H (20 February 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2290127

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