Lockheed Martin Corporation

Aculight Corporation

Christopher D Brooks

Fabio Di Teodoro

Charles A Lemaire

Matthias P Savage-Leuchs

Robert W Royse

Tracy W Vatter

Anping Liu

Eric C Honea

Roy D Mead

Charles E Hamilton

Thomas H Loftus

Andrew J W Brown

A ring laser includes a large-core rare-earth-doped fiber ring-connected with a free-space path having an electro-optic switch, output coupler, and intracavity band-pass filter to enforce lasing operation in narrow wavelength range. In some cavity-dumped modes, the laser is configured in a similar manner, except that an output coupler is omitted since the optical power is extracted from the laser cavity by the electro-optic switch itself. The same laser can be configured to operate in Q-switched and/or cavity-dumping modes as well as in hybrid modes (e.g., partial Q-switch, followed by cavity dumping, or even CW). In some embodiments, the laser can be used as, or inject laser light into, a regenerative solid-state amplifier, or a Raman laser, or can be also used to generate visible, ultra-violet, mid-infrared, and far-infrared (THz) radiation via nonlinear wavelength conversion processes. The various embodiments can use a power oscillator or seed-plus-amplifier MOPA configuration.

System and method for high-power, pulsed ring fiber oscillator

A method and apparatus use a photonic-crystal fiber having a very large core while maintaining a single transverse mode. In some fiber lasers and amplifiers having large cores problems exist related to multiple-modes and mode hopping that result from the use of large-diameter waveguides, and these are addressed. By using multiple small waveguides in parallel, large amounts of energy can be passed through a laser, but with better control such that the aforementioned problems can be reduced. Some embodiments obtain a single beam by combining beams from a plurality of laser waveguides, each having a different wavelength; for example, by using one or more diffraction gratings.

Laser system and method

A method and apparatus use a photonic-crystal fiber having a very large core while maintaining a single transverse mode. In some fiber lasers and amplifiers having large cores problems exist related to energy being generated at multiple-modes (i.e., polygamy), and of mode hopping (i.e., promiscuity) due to limited control of energy levels and fluctuations. The problems of multiple-modes and mode hopping result from the use of large-diameter waveguides, and are addressed by the invention. This is especially true in lasers using large amounts of energy (i.e., lasers in the one-megawatt or more range). By using multiple small waveguides in parallel, large amounts of energy can be passed through a laser, but with better control such that the aforementioned problems can be reduced. An additional advantage is that the polarization of the light can be maintained better than by using a single fiber core.

Endcaps for hollow-core optical fibers and method

Method and apparatus for high-power, pulsed ring fiber oscillator

Spectral beam combination of laser beams

Monolithic pump block for optical amplifiers and associated method

High-power, pulsed ring fiber oscillator and method

A method and apparatus use a photonic-crystal fiber having a very large core while maintaining a single transverse mode. In some embodiments, the method and apparatus includes a photonic-crystal fiber or rod (PCF or PCR) optical device having a beam-expanding endcap formed, e.g., by collapsing or otherwise sealing holes of the PCF or PCR. In some fiber lasers and amplifiers having large cores problems exist related to energy being generated at multiple-modes (i.e., polygamy), and of mode hopping (i.e., promiscuity) due to limited control of energy levels and fluctuations. The problems of multiple-modes and mode hopping result from the use of large-diameter waveguides, and are addressed by the invention. This is especially true in lasers using large amounts of energy (i.e., lasers in the one-megawatt or more range).

Photonic-crystal-rod optical amplifier with sealed-hole endcap and associated method

Fiber-or rod-based optical source featuring a large-core, rare-earth-doped photonic-crystal device for generation of narrow-bandwidth high-power pulsed radiation and associated method

Multi-stage optical amplifier having photonic-crystal-rod waveguides and non-photonic-crystal optical fiber interconnects and associated method

Method and apparatus for ultra-violet-wavelength laser-induced fluorescence (UV-LIF) using optical output from a photonic-crystal rod

Multi-stage optical amplifier having photonic-crystal waveguides for generation of high-power pulsed radiation and associated method

Chirped-pulse amplifier using photonic-crystal-rod (PCR) waveguides and associated method

Multi-segment photonic-crystal-rod waveguides for amplification of high-power pulsed optical radiation and associated method

Monolithic or ribbon-like multi-core photonic-crystal fibers and associated method

Growing community of inventors

Kenmore, WA, United States of America

Christopher D Brooks