Corning Incorporated

Nufern

Other

The University of Southampton

Pirelli Cavi E Sistemi S.p.a.

Bryce Neilson Samson

David Neil Payne

George Halsey Beall

Matthew John Dejneka

Richard Ian Laming

Donnell Thaddeus Walton

John D Minelly

Daniel William Hewak

Nicholas J Traynor

Nicholas Francis Borrelli

Bruce Gardiner Aitken

Adam James Ellison

Liang Dong

Linda Ruth Pinckney

Ji Wang

Kanishka Tankala

Alexandre Michel Mayolet

Animesh Jha

Upendra H Manyam

Jaroslaw Abramczyk

Jean-Philippe J De Sandro

Elizabeth Regala Taylor

Mira Naftaly

Kanxian Wei

William Simon Brocklesby

The present invention relates generally to optical waveguides, and more particularly to optical fibers suitable for use with high optical energies, and to devices using them. One aspect of the invention is an optical fiber having a cross-sectional profile comprising a base glass material; a first ring of first low refractive index glass features disposed in the base glass material; and a second ring of second low refractive index glass features disposed in the base glass material outside of and substantially concentric with the first ring, wherein the optical fiber has a loss of less than about 0.7 dB/m for the fundamental mode and a loss greater than about 10 dB/m for all other modes in a coiled configuration having a coil diameter in the range of about 20 cm to about 200 cm.

All glass leakage channel fibers and devices using them

Optical apparatus () for providing light having a selected linear polarization having a polarization ratio, the apparatus () comprising a length of optical fiber () comprising a rare earth for providing light having a first wavelength responsive to receiving pump light having a second wavelength that is different than said first wavelength, wherein if the length of optical fiber () were placed in a first position between the length of fiber () is substantially linearly oriented () the fiber () could propagate at the first wavelength a fundamental mode and a plurality of higher order modes and the apparatus () could provide light having a first polarization ratio for the selected linear polarization and an Mparameter, and wherein the length of fiber () is positioned in a second position that increases the bend loss of the fiber relative to the first position such that, responsive to the increased bend loss, the apparatus () can provide light having a reduced Mparameter as well as a second polarization ratio for the selected polarization that is increased relative to the first polarization ratio, the increase being at least 6 dB greater than the first polarization ratio, and wherein when the length of fiber () is in the second position the apparatus () can provide a slope efficiency that is at least 50% of the ratio of the second wavelength to the first wavelength.

Method and apparatus for providing light having a selected polarization with an optical fiber

Optical waveguides are fabricated in glass-ceramic materials utilizing an ion-exchange process to pattern the waveguide at a temperature below the ceramming temperature of the glass-ceramic material. The optical waveguides may include optically-active dopants dispersed preferably within the crystallite phase of the glass-ceramic material.

Optical waveguides formed in glass-ceramic materials and method for making same

A method for creating refractive index changes in a substrate is provided by irradiating the substrate with infrared (IR) or visible light radiation. Ultra-violet (UV) radiation is generated in the substrate responsive to the IR or visible light radiation such that the change in the refractive index of the substrate is generated responsive to the UV radiation. Preferably, the substrate comprises a glass doped with rare earth ions.

Creating refractive index changes in glass by up-conversion of rare earth ions

An apparatus and method for thermally tuning an optical amplifier comprises an optical waveguide doped with a fluorescent material, a thermal device for either heating or cooling the optical waveguide, and a pump light for exciting the fluorescent material. The apparatus shapes, shifts, and/or flattens the gain curves of the doped optical amplifier. Thulium doped fiber is cooled to shift the gain curve into the C-band. Erbium doped fiber is heated to flatten the gain curve in the C-band and is cooled to shift the gain curve above the L-band. The apparatus similarly shapes the gain curves of other fluorescent materials. The thermal device comprises three types of optical cooling devices. The apparatus is a component in communications systems, lasers, medical lasers and the like. The method comprises either heating or cooling optical waveguides doped with fluorescent materials to achieve the desired shaping, shifting, and flattening of the gain curves.

Apparatus and method for thermally tuning an optical amplifier

Disclosed is a substantially transparent glass-ceramic ceramic, and a method for making a glass-ceramic, exhibiting an aluminogallate spinel crystal phase and having a glass-ceramic composition that lies within the SiO &mdash;Ga O &mdash;Al O &mdash;K O&mdash;Na O&mdash; system and particularly consisting essentially, in weight percent on an oxide basis, of 25-55% SiO , 9-50% Ga O , 7-33% Al O , 0-20% K O, 0-15% Na O, 0-6 Li O and 5-30% K O&plus;Na O, the glass ceramic microstructure containing a crystal phase comprising at least 5%, by weight, of aluminogallate spinel crystals. Another aspect disclosed is optical element selected from the group consisting of an optical fiber, a gain or laser medium, and an amplifier component, a saturable absorber, with the element comprising a transparent glass-ceramic of the same composition and containing a crystallinity of at least about 5% by weight of aluminogallate spinel crystals.

Transparent gallate glass-ceramics

A Tm-doped germanate glass composition comprises GeO having a concentration of at least 20 mole percent, Tm O having a concentration of about 0.001 mole percent to about 2 mole percent, and Ga O , having a concentration of about 2 mole percent to about 40 mole percent. The composition can further include an alkaline earth metal compound selected from the group consisting of MgO, CaO, SrO, BaO, BaF , MgF , CaF , SrF , BaCl , MgCl , CaCl , SrCl , BaBr , MgBr , CaBr , SrBr , and combinations thereof, and having a non-zero concentration of less than about 40 mole percent. The composition can further include an alkali metal compound selected from the group consisting of Li O, Na O, K O, Rb O, Cs O, Li F , Na F , K F , Rb F , Cs F , Li Cl , Na Cl , K Cl , Rb Cl , Cs Cl , Li Br , Na Br , K Br , Rb Br , Cs Br and combinations thereof, and having a non-zero concentration of less than about 20 mole percent. The emission bandwidth of the composition in the 1450 nm to 1530 nm range can be varied on the basis of one or more composition ratios. A Tm-doped germanate optical amplifier can amplify optical signals in the S-band region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Thulium-doped germanate glass composition and device for optical amplification

An optical transmission system is provided comprising a thulium doped optical fiber, a light emitting pump device optically coupled to the thulium doped fiber, and a Raman amplifier fiber optically coupled to the thulium doped optical fiber. The light emitting pump device in combination with the thulium doped fiber generates a first amplification pump wavelength and the Raman amplifier receives the first amplification pump wavelength. The first pump wavelength amplifies an optical signal in the Raman amplifier, the Raman amplifier operating at a signal wavelength in the range of about 1530 nm to about 1625 nm.

Thulium doped fiber pump for pumping Raman amplifiers

An optical amplifier comprises a trivalent thulium-doped optical fiber; a first pump light emitting device optically coupled to the fiber for generating a primary pump source at a first wavelength, and a second pump light emitting device optically coupled to the fiber for generating a secondary pump source at a second wavelength. In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the amplifier also includes a third (auxiliary) pump light emitting device optically coupled to the fiber for generating a third pump source at a third wavelength. Each of the amplification signals comprise at least one pre-selected wavelength. The first amplification signal has a wavelength pre-selected to provide a reduced noise figure for the amplifier. The second amplification signal has a wavelength pre-selected to increase the optical efficiency of the amplifier. The third amplification signal can have a wavelength pre-selected to populate the F energy level of the fiber, and to minimize depletion of the H ground state.

Thulium doped fiber amplifier pumping scheme

The dual wavelength pumping scheme controls the relative population of the termination state vis-a-vis the metastable state. Praseodymium doped chalcogenide glass and a variety of thulium doped glasses are described as examples. The relative pump powers or wavelengths may be adjusted to control the gain spectrum of the amplifier, making the amplifier useful in a variety of different optical systems including wavelength division multiplexed systems.

Broadhead dual wavelength pumped fiber amplifier

Neodymium-doped fluoroaluminate optical glass has a composition:,to,mol % AlF,, where R is selected from the group consisting of Ca, Mg, Sr and Ba; 5 to 25 mol % MF, where M is selected from the group consisting of Na, Li, K and Rb; and 0.001 to 10 mol % dopant.

Optical glass, optical waveguide amplifier and optical waveguide laser

An optical fibre amplifier, laser or superluminescent source, consisting of a chalcogenide glass matrix hosting trivalent rare earth ions and which is doped with oxide in the form of a metallic oxide. The device utilizes the properties of the added oxide to improve the fabrication and efficiency of optical waveguide sources, in particular for applications around 1.3 &mgr;m. Specifically, the oxide broadens the wavelength range for pump absorption, broadens the wavelength range for light emission, increases the device efficiency through a change in lifetime of certain laser levels and modifies properties of the glass to prevent crystallization during fiber fabrication. The device exploits the intentional addition of oxide to improve amplifier, laser, glass and fiber properties.

Growing community of inventors

Horseheads, NY, United States of America

Bryce Neilson Samson