Description

Hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HCPCF) technology has proved to be an outstanding technology enabler and differentiator in high power and high energy ultra-short pulse (USP) laser beam delivery and in its applications fields like surgery, ophthalmology and micromachining to mention a few. This is illustrated in the industry-grade USP laser beam delivery modules coined beam delivery system (BDS) developed by GLOphotonics. However, these BDS modules exhibit polarization fluctuations during bending or torsion, limiting their use in sectors such as material patterning that require strict polarization control while the fiber is moving. We have developed, for the first time to our knowledge, a BDS module for high-energy USP lasers that maintains constant polarization, regardless of motion applied to the fiber cable. This BDS features a specifically designed inhibited-coupling HCPCF (IC-HCPCF) mounted on an injection head and an output head. A beam from a 1030 nm wavelength USP laser, emitting 900 fs wide and maximum of 133 µJ energy pulses, is coupled to a 5 m long IC-HCPCF BDS. The laser output demonstrates a 92% transmission rate and a linearly polarized beam with a polarization extinction ratio (PER) of 34dB. While bending, twisting, and shaking the fiber cable, output power, beam quality, and polarization were simultaneously recorded, showing less than 3% power fluctuation and less than 1% polarization extinction ratio fluctuation. This development significantly expands the application potential of BDS, including areas where high-energy USP lasers and stringent polarization control are essential.

Contributing Authors

  • Benoit Beaudou
    GLOphotonics
  • Ando Randriamahefa
    GLOphotonics
  • Alexandre Gorse
    GLOphotonics
  • Devang Naik
    GLOphotonics
  • Kostiantyn Vasko
    GLOphotonics
  • Fetah Benabid
    GLOphotonics
Benoit Beaudou
GLOphotonics
Track: Laser Materials Microprocessing
Session: Beam Delivery and Fiber Lasers in Micro-Processing
Day of Week: Tuesday
Date/Time:
Location: Los Feliz

Keywords

  • High Power Lasers
  • Hollow-Core Fiber
  • Laser Beam Delivery
  • Low Loss Fiber
  • Polarization