• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.865-872
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• 2017

For more than 10 years, the laser process has been studied for dismantling work; however, relatively few research works have addressed the effect of high-power fiber laser cutting for thick sections. Since in the nuclear sector, a significant quantity of thick material is required to be cut, this study aims to improve the reliability of laser cutting for such work and indicates guidelines to optimize the cutting procedure, in particular, nozzle combinations (standoff distance and focus position), to minimize waste material. The results obtained show the performance levels that can be reached with 10 kW fiber lasers, using which it is possible to obtain narrower kerfs than those found in published results obtained with other lasers. Nonetheless, fiber lasers appear to show the same effects as those of $CO_2$ and ND:YAG lasers. Thus, the main factor that affects the kerf width is the focal position, which means that minimum laser spot diameters are advised for smaller kerf widths.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.1 no.5
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• pp.525-528
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• 2017

High-energy, high-power, quasi-continuous wave (QCW) operation of double-clad Yb fiber lasers incorporating an incoherent signal combiner is reported. We constructed four efficient, high-power Yb fiber lasers, each of which produced rectangular pulses at 1080 nm with a pulse energy greater than 15 J, and a pulse duration of 10 ms at a repetition rate of 10 Hz, corresponding to an average power of over 150 W and a peak power of over 1.5 kW for ~200 W of incident pump power at 915 nm. These laser outputs were combined by a homemade incoherent fiber signal combiner with low loss, yielding a maximum peak power of ~6.0 kW in a beam with $M^2{\approx}12.5$. The detailed laser characteristics and prospects for further power scaling in QCW operation are discussed.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.521-549
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• 2022

Fiber lasers have made remarkable progress over the past three decades, and they now serve far-reaching applications and have even become indispensable in many technology sectors. As there is an insatiable appetite for improved performance, whether relating to enhanced spatio-temporal stability, spectral and noise characteristics, or ever-higher power and brightness, thermal management in these systems becomes increasingly critical. Active convective cooling, such as through flowing water, while highly effective, has its own set of drawbacks and limitations. To overcome them, other synergistic approaches are being adopted that mitigate the sources of heating at their roots, including the quantum defect, concentration quenching, and impurity absorption. Here, these optical methods for thermal management are briefly reviewed and discussed. Their main philosophy is to carefully select both the lasing and pumping wavelengths to moderate, and sometimes reverse, the amount of heat that is generated inside the laser gain medium. First, the sources of heating in fiber lasers are discussed and placed in the context of modern fiber fabrication methods. Next, common methods to measure the temperature of active fibers during laser operation are outlined. Approaches to reduce the quantum defect, including tandem-pumped and short-wavelength lasers, are then reviewed. Finally, newer approaches that annihilate phonons and actually cool the fiber laser below ambient, including radiation-balanced and excitation-balanced fiber lasers, are examined. These solutions, and others yet undetermined, especially the latter, may prove to be a driving force behind a next generation of ultra-high-power and/or ultra-stable laser systems.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.117-129
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• 2013

We briefly review the recent progress in passively mode-locked fiber lasers (PMLFLs) based on semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) and discuss the detailed characterization of a SESAM-based, passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser operating in the 1.5-${\mu}m$ spectral range for various configurations. A simple and compact design of the laser cavity enables the PMLFL to generate either femtosecond or wavelength-tunable picosecond pulses with high stability as the intra-cavity filtering method is altered. All the cavities investigated in our experiments present self-starting, continuous-wave mode-locking with no Q-switching instabilities. The excellent stability of the source eventually enables the wavelength-tunable PMLFL to be used as a master oscillator for a power-amplifier source based on a large-core EDF, generating picosecond pulses of >10-kW peak power and >100-nJ pulse energy.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.209-214
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• 2021

High-power continuous-wave operation of a Yb-doped double-clad fiber laser at 1018 nm, pumped by high-power diode lasers at 976 nm, is reported. Based on numerical calculation of the gain and laser signal power along the length of the Yb fiber, it is found that robust operation at 1018 nm can be achieved for a high Yb³⁺-ion excitation density greater than 11.5%, accompanied by high suppression of the feedback from the fiber's end facet. The Yb fiber laser constructed in house yields 626 W of continuous-wave output at 1018 nm for 729 W of incident pump power, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 86.6%. The prospect for power scaling is considered.

• Transactions of the Society of Information Storage Systems
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.53-59
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• 2011

We have developed a compact and high-power mode-locked fiber laser for multilayered optical memory. Fiber lasers have the potential to be compact and stable light sources that can replace bulk solid-state lasers. To generate high-power pulses, we used stretched-pulse mode locking. The average power and pulse width of the output pulse from the fiber laser that we developed were 109 mW and 2.1 ps, respectively. The dispersion of the output pulse was compensated with an external single-mode fiber of 2.5 m length. The pulse was compressed from 2.1 ps to 93 fs by dispersion compensation. The fiber laser we have developed is possible to use as a light source of multilayered optical memory. We also present a fiber confocal microscope as an alignment-free readout system of multilayered optical memories. The fiber confocal microscope does not require fine pinhole position alignment because the fiber core is used as the point light source and the pinhole, and both of which are always located at the conjugated point. The configuration reduces the required accuracy of pinhole position alignment. With these techniques we can present an all-fiber recording and readout system for multilayered memories.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.135-140
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• 2017

In this paper, we report measured results for an all-fiber $7{\times}1$ pump combiner based on an optical fiber chip for high-power fiber lasers. An optical-fiber chip was fabricated by etching a fiber, having core and cladding diameters of 20 and $400{\mu}m$, in the longitudinal direction. To both ends of the etched chip, we spliced input and output fibers. First, we tied together seven optical fibers, having core and cladding diameters of 105 and $125{\mu}m$ respectively, in a cylindrical bundle and spliced them to the $375-{\mu}m$ end of the optical-fiber chip. Then, we attached an output DCF with core and cladding diameters of 25 and $250{\mu}m$ to the $250-{\mu}m$ end of the optical-fiber chip. Finally, the fabricated $7{\times}1$ pump combiner showed an average optical coupling efficiency of about 90.2% per port. This chip-based pump combiner may replace conventional pump combiners by massive production of fiber chips.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2016

Over the past two decades, fiber-based lasers have made remarkable progress, now having reached power levels exceeding kilowatts and drawing a huge amount of attention from academy and industry as a replacement technology for bulk lasers. In this paper we review the significant factors that have led to the progress of fiber lasers, such as gain-fiber regimes based on ytterbium-doped silica, optical pumping schemes through the combination of laser diodes and double-clad fiber geometries, and tandem schemes for minimizing quantum defects. Furthermore, we discuss various power-limitation issues that are expected to incur with respect to the ultimate power scaling of fiber lasers, such as efficiency degradation, thermal hazard, and system-instability growth in fiber lasers, and various relevant methods to alleviate the aforementioned issues. This discussion includes fiber nonlinear effects, fiber damage, and modal-instability issues, which become more significant as the power level is scaled up. In addition, we also review beam-combining techniques, which are currently receiving a lot of attention as an alternative solution to the power-scaling limitation of high-power fiber lasers. In particular, we focus more on the discussion of the schematics of a spectral beam-combining system and their individual requirements. Finally, we discuss prospects for the future development of fiber laser technologies, for them to leap forward from where they are now, and to continue to advance in terms of their power scalability.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.33-36
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• 2009

Laser ablation with femtosecond lasers is highly promising for microfabrication of materials. Also, the high peak power of femtosecond lasers could induce a multiphoton absorption to ablate transparent materials. Similar results have also been were obtained in the case of optical fibers. In this paper, we present our experimental results of femtosecond laser microstructuring of optical fiber and its applications to microelectronic components and fiber optic devices. Finally, we directly produced micro holes with femtosecond laser pulses in a single step by moving an optical fiber in a preprogrammed structure. When water was introduced into a hole drilled from the bottom surface of the optical fiber, the effects of blocking and redeposition of ablated material were greatly reduced and the aspect ratio of the depth of the hole was increased. We have presented circular and rectangular-shaped holes in optical fiber.

• Proceedings of the Optical Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.312-313
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• 2009