Corning Incorporated

John D Minelly

Luis Alberto Zenteno

Matthew John Dejneka

Adam James Ellison

Dmitri Vladislavovich Kuksenkov

Carlton Maurice Truesdale

Donnell Thaddeus Walton

Bryce Neilson Samson

Nicholas J Traynor

Michael John Yadlowsky

Ji Wang

Jeffrey Todd Kohli

Jackson P Trentelman

Gang Qi

Michael Thomas Murtagh

Monica K Davis

Douglas Edmon Goforth

Adam Jg Ellison

An optically active fiber ( ) is disclosed for making a fiber laser ( ) or an amplifier ( ). This double-clad structured active fiber ( ) has a core ( ), doped with an optically excitable ion having a three-level transition. The core ( ) has a core refractive index and a core cross-sectional area. An inner cladding ( ) surrounds the core ( ). The inner cladding ( ) has an inner cladding refractive index less than the core refractive index, an inner cladding cross-sectional area between 2 and 25 times greater than that of the core cross-sectional area, and an aspect ratio greater than 1.5:1. An outer cladding ( ) surrounds the inner cladding ( ) and has an outer cladding refractive index less than the inner cladding refractive index.

Cladding-pumped 3-level fiber laser/amplifier

An optically active waveguide laser ( ) includes a multimode portion ( ) for carrying more than one spatial mode at a predetermined wavelength chosen from a bandwidth including a pump wavelength ( ) and the lasing wavelength ( ). The multimode portion ( ) has a first refractive index. A cladding portion ( ) is proximate the multimode portion ( ). A multimode grating ( , or ) is written on at least one section ( ) of the multimode portion for reflecting the predetermined wavelength.

Multimode fiber laser gratings

Phosphorus-silicate fibers suitable for extended band amplification

A semiconductor laser having an external cavity including a single-mode optical fiber. A Bragg grating is written onto the fiber which defines the end of the optical cavity, selects the lasing wavelength, and discriminates against the lasing of higher-order transverse modes in the multi-mode gain region. In one embodiment, the semiconductor laser includes an optically active vertical-cavity semiconductor stack similar to a vertical-cavity surface emitting laser. The stack is optically pumped either from the front or the back over a relatively large area such a multi-mode beam is output. Optics couple the multi-mode beam to the single-mode input of the fiber. A partially transmissive mirror of reflectivity between 25 and 40% may be placed on the output surface of the semiconductor stack to form a coupled-cavity laser. A plurality of laser diodes can be angularly positioned around the area of the semiconductor stack being pumped to increase the total pump power. In a second embodiment, the semiconductor laser includes a broad-area diode laser/amplifier. Anamorphic optics couple the asymmetric output of the optical diode to the single-mode fiber. In a third embodiment, a laser diode pumps a solid-state rod composed of an optically active material such as YAG. One end of the rod is coated with a mirror, and the other end is optically coupled to the single-mode fiber having the Bragg grating written thereon. The invention can be advantageously used to optically pump an erbium-doped fiber amplifier.

Semiconductor or solid-state laser having an external fiber cavity

The disclosed invention includes an amplifier fiber and methods of making the amplifier fiber. One embodiment of the inventive fiber includes a glass core and a glass cladding layer surrounding the glass core. The cladding glass layer has a refractive index which is less than a refractive index of the glass core. The fiber also includes a glass overclad layer surrounding the cladding layer. The overclad layer has a refractive index which is greater than the refractive index of the cladding layer. In another embodiment of the inventive fiber, the overclad layer is doped with an absorber. The absorber strips a mode of light propagating in the cladding from the cladding layer.

Optical fiber with absorbing overclad glass layer

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

An L-band optical amplifier has a rare earth doped gain medium including a filter distributed over a finite physical portion of the gain medium. The filter is distributed over between about 25% to substantially the entire length of the gain medium. The distributed filter substantially eliminates out-of-band light emission (C-band ASE, 1520 nm-1565 nm) and thus improves the performance of L-band amplification (1565 nm-1620 nm). Examples of distributed filters include discrete type filters such as long period gratings, or continuous type filters such as rare earth doped, twin core fibers, non-adiabatically tapered fibers and coaxial resonant ring fibers.

L band amplifier with distributed filtering

A tapered fiber laser having a multi-mode section, a single-mode section, and either a tapered section or fundamental mode matching junction therebetween. The multi-mode section has a large core to directly receive pump light from a broad stripe laser or diode bar, and a length preferably longer than the absorption length of the pump light (so optical amplification occurs predominantly in the multi-mode section). Doping levels can be increased to reduce the multi-mode length. The taper angle is sufficiently small to produce adiabatic compression of the fundamental mode from the multi-mode to single-mode sections, and acts as a cutoff filter favoring lasing of the fundamental mode within the multi-mode section. Alternately, the step junction may have a mode field diameter matched to the lowest-order mode, with laser light output via the single-mode section. The invention can be applied to waveguides (particularly those having an aspect ratio corresponding to a broad stripe laser source), doped with ytterbium or neodymium ions, and is particularly advantageous as a pump source for an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA).

Growing community of inventors

Painted Post, NY, United States of America

John D Minelly