Nlight, Incorporated

Teemu Kokki

Ryan Hawke

Shaun Hampton

Chris Luetjen

Dahv A V Kliner

Roger L Farrow

Christopher Luetjen

Juan Carlos Lugo

Some embodiments may include a fiber laser including two or more input fibers and an output fiber to deliver a beam to a workpiece, the fiber laser comprising. The fiber laser may include a combiner having ends and a length, wherein the combiner is arranged to release, from its length, a portion of back-reflected light received from the output fiber at an output end of the ends from the combiner, the combiner including: a capillary tube to enclose part of the two or more input fibers at an input end of the ends of the combiner, the capillary tube having ends and a length located between the ends of the capillary tube; and a cladding light stripper (CLS) defined by part of the length of the capillary tube, wherein the CLS provides the release of the portion of the back-reflected light. Other embodiments may be disclosed and/or claimed.

Capillary tube to strip back-reflected light

Spliced multi-clad optical fibers with a cladding light stripper (CLS) encapsulating the splice. The splice may facilitate conversion between two optical fibers having different architectures, such as different core and/or cladding dimensions. The CLS may comprise a first length of fiber on a first side of the splice, and a second length of fiber on a second side of the splice, encapsulating the splice within the lengths of the CLS. The splice may abut one or more of the lengths of the CLS, or may be separated from one or more lengths of the CLS by an intermediate length of a first and/or second fiber joined by the splice.

Optical fiber splice encapsulated by a cladding light stripper

Multi-clad optical fiber cladding light stripper (CLS) comprising an inner cladding with one or more recessed surface regions to remove light propagating within the inner cladding. A CLS may comprise such recessed surface regions along two or more azimuthal angles about the fiber axis, for example to improve stripping efficiency. One or more dimensions, or spatial distribution, of the recessed surface regions may be randomized, for example to improve stripping uniformity across a multiplicity of modes propagating within a cladding. Adjacent recessed surface regions may abut, for example, end-to-end, as segments of a recess that occupies a majority, or even an entirety, of the length of a fiber surrounded by a heat sink. One or more dimensions, or angular position, of individual ones of the abutted recessed surface regions may vary, according to a regular or irregular pattern.

Optical fiber cladding light stripper

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Vancouver, WA, United States of America

Teemu Kokki