A method for producing a distributed feedback D fiber dye laser is presented. Existing fiber dye lasers are produced by placing a tapered single mode fiber into a dye solution. The evanescent field of a doubled YAG laser beam traveling in the fiber is used to pump the dye into fluorescence. Optical feedback and lasing action are achieved using external mirrors or a resonant fiber ring. In our scheme a segment of D fiber is etched to within a few microns of the fiber core. The etched fiber is placed in a solution of R6G dye. The etching is controlled using an in situ monitoring technique we have developed. An argon ion laser beam is focused into the fiber. Because of the small core size of the D fiber we use, there is sufficient energy in the evanescent field to cause the dye to be fluorescent. Diffraction gratings are produced generated by a holographic technique. We create diffraction gratings with periods of less than .3 (mu) using this technique. A miniature fiber dye laser could provide a compact source for short laser pulses for use in spectroscopy and communications.

Date Published: 13 January 1993
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 1751, Miniature and Micro-Optics: Fabrication and System Applications II, (13 January 1993); doi: 10.1117/12.138897

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1751:
Miniature and Micro-Optics: Fabrication and System Applications II
Chandrasekhar Roychoudhuri; Wilfrid B. Veldkamp, Editor(s)