Fabrication and Application of Single Crystal Fiber: Review and Prospective

Abstract

The state of the art of single crystal fiber (SCF) fabrication has evolved and improved over the last five decades. Nowadays, edge‐defined film‐feed growth, micro‐pulling down, and laser heated pedestal growth are three major techniques for the fabrication of SCF. Solid state crystal growth and temperature gradient technology are also very active recently making small size SCF. These optical fiber growth techniques are powerful material research tools employed globally for both scientific inquiry and practical applications. This article introduces the development of SCF growth techniques, with particular emphasis on recent practical applications including temperature sensing, radiation environment sensing, fiber laser and power delivery, chemical and medical application, imaging application, and piezoelectric application. In all cases, the application‐oriented point of view provides the reader with an up‐to‐date panorama of the vast possibilities offered by SCF. In the end, perspectives on the trends and future development of single crystal fibers are discussed.

Twisted Light in a Single‐Crystal Fiber: Toward Undistorted Femtosecond Vortex Amplification

“…[25] In this work, we show that a single-crystal fiber (SCF) amplifier is a good solution for the above described challenges, which is capable of providing straightforward power scaling while maintaining spatial and temporal properties of a broadband femtosecond optical vortex. The term SCF refers to an intermediate architecture between bulk crystals and optical fibers, [42][43][44] where the fiber-like geometry combined with the crystalline nature exhibiting high thermal conductivity facilitate the management of the thermal load. [42] More importantly, the pump light is waveguided in the SCF to provide an azimuthally uniform gain distribution for the structured light within a long region, whereas the seed laser beam optics designed for free-space propagation can retain the spatial light structure without mode coupling or per-turbations.…”

Broadband BiOCl Nonlinear Saturable Absorber for Watt‐Level Passively Q‐Switched Yb:LuAG Single Crystal Fiber Laser

“…Single crystal fiber (SCF), combining the advantages of bulk crystal and glass fiber, has the characteristics of high thermal conductivity, superior laser damage threshold, high laser conversion efficiency, low thermal expansion coefficient, and good heat dissipation, making it an excellent gain medium for high power all-solid-state laser. [19][20][21][22][23] The various studies on Yb:LuAG bulk crystal lasers demonstrate that Yb:LuAG single crystal is a promising candidate for high-power lasers. [24][25][26] In our previous work, continuous wave (CW) laser output of up to 4.7 W was achieved by Yb:LuAG SCF, [27] however, there is little report on Yb:LuAG SCF pulsed laser.…”

Single Crystal Growth of 4‐Aminobenzophenone (ABP) by Solution and Seeded Czochralski Pulling Techniques for Second Harmonic Generation Applications

“…[1][2][3] For wavelength expansion and frequency generation, single crystals, grooves, thin films, and optical fibers are used. [4][5][6] One of the nonlinear optical effects known as second harmonic generation (SHG), in which photons with same frequency effectively combined to generate coherent radiation of red, green, blue and UV lasers with twice the frequency in DOI: 10.1002/crat.202200103 the wavelength range from ultraviolet (≈200 nm) to near IR (≈800 to 2000 nm). Specifically, SHG is only possible in single crystals lacking center of symmetry.…”

“…Specifically, SHG is only possible in single crystals lacking center of symmetry. [6][7][8] Hence, the growth of noncentrosymmeteric single crystals with discrete units of molecules assembled continues to be a primary interest for the SHG and it is highly essential for device fabrication to various applications. [7][8][9] Organic crystals possess a high degree of optical nonlinearity, high electronic susceptibility, fast response time, and high damage resistance which makes them effective for photonic applications.…”