A novel approach for stripping cladding light from double clad fibers is demonstrated. This is achieved by index matching the cladding of the fiber with a glass capillary collapsed onto the fiber, allowing the cladding modes to expand in a larger volume of the capillary before they are dissipated through a high-index heat sink material into a metal package. We minimize the signal quality degradation by using a lower melting point capillary glass. We demonstrate a device with 100W cladding power removed with 99% (20dB) extinction. Continuous operation for an hour without any power degradation is demonstrated.

Date Published: 4 March 2015
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 9344, Fiber Lasers XII: Technology, Systems, and Applications, 93440F (4 March 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2079181

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9344:
Fiber Lasers XII: Technology, Systems, and Applications
L. Brandon Shaw, Editor(s)