Advancing athermal silica fiber lasers to watt-level power and beyond

Chun Wei Chen, Enkeleda Balliu, Bailey Meehan, Thomas W. Hawkins, John Ballato, Peter D. Dragic, Tommy Boilard, Martin Bernier, Michel J.F. Digonnet

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Waste heat in fiber lasers poses major challenges in frequency, power, and pointing stabilities, as well as beam quality and power scaling. Using anti-Stokes-fluorescence cooling, we developed a radiation-balanced Yb-doped silica fiber amplifier with a novel aluminophosphosilicate core-glass composition that delivers 575 mW with no net internal heat generation by amplifying a 0.9-mW seed at 1064 nm (28.0 dB of gain). With a lower seed power (0.4 mW), a radiation-balanced gain of 31.5 dB was achieved. We discuss the strategies and recent progress in silicate-glass engineering that enabled this breakthrough performance in a small-core fiber at atmospheric pressure, as well as the potential for power-scaling radiation-balanced fiber lasers to the 100-watt level through advanced fiber designs. Our findings point to a promising path for stable high-power operation free from thermal limitations.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationPhotonic Heat Engines
Subtitle of host publicationScience and Applications VII
EditorsDenis V. Seletskiy, Masaru K. Kuno, Peter J. Pauzauskie
PublisherSPIE
ISBN (Electronic)9781510685062
DOIs
StatePublished - 2025
EventPhotonic Heat Engines: Science and Applications VII 2025 - San Francisco, United States
Duration: Jan 29 2025Jan 30 2025

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume13379
ISSN (Print)0277-786X
ISSN (Electronic)1996-756X

Conference

ConferencePhotonic Heat Engines: Science and Applications VII 2025
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Francisco
Period1/29/251/30/25

Keywords

  • Fiber laser
  • anti-Stokes fluorescence
  • laser cooling
  • rear earth
  • silica fiber
  • silicate glass
  • single-frequency amplifier
  • thermal management

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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