Combined method for the fabrication of high-power cladding light stripper using a buffered oxide etchant

Abstract

Cladding light strippers (CLSs) are vital and one of the critical components for high-power fiber laser applications. In this study, we show the first studies of the formation mechanisms and optimum conditions of a CLS device using a buffered oxide etchant by a combined method of stain (wet) etching and vapor-phase etching. This highpower CLS was shown to result in a stripping performance of ∼17.2 dB at the launched power of 333 W (pump limited). The thermal imaging demonstrates that the maximum temperature reached when operating the device at maximum launched power was ∼75°C. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) results show that the combined method yields crystal-like structures with the height in microscales, whereas other conventional methods give only nanoscale roughness. The method also preserves the diameter of the CLS device close to the bare fiber with about 10 μm tapering leads to a high surface area to strip unwanted light, which is good for heat dissipation. The combined method possesses the outcome of two methods, including both the crystal-like structures and nanosized hillocks, resulting in high-power stripping performance and robustness.

Functional Fibers and Functional Fiber-Based Components for High-Power Lasers

“…By employing the chemical etching together with the polymers recoating technique [181], Poozesh et al reported a CPS with the hundred-watt stripping ability. Since then, targeted 100-watt stripping for CPS has achieved great progress [151,[176][177][178][179][180][181][182][183][184]. The traditional CPS generally removes the cladding light in a short length of fiber, which may result in high local temperature under a cladding light power of 1 kW, thus disrupting the stable operation of the laser source.…”