We report a new method to prepare active silica fiber preform at low temperature, not exceeding 1300℃ through the whole process. We prefabricated glass parts with nano-porous structure by UV cure equipment and debinded, the average pore diameter is about 46 nm. To prepare the active fiber preform, several different concentrations of Yb³⁺ ions were impregnated with solution doping method and further sintering under flowed O₂. After several hours vitrification, the Yb³⁺- doped silica fiber preform with 0.05 wt%, 0.1 wt% and 0.2 wt% doping concentration were produced, and the size of the final fiber preform is φ3×39 mm. Then the fiber owning an Yb³⁺ concentration of 0.1 wt% was drawn by rod-in-tube, the measurements show that Yb³⁺ ions are homogeneous, central wavelength is 1030 nm, the 3 dB linewidth is about 38 nm, fluorescent lifetime is 1 ms, the fiber has absorption from Yb³⁺ 7 dB/m at 976 nm. To best of our knowledge, it is first time that active fiber preform is produced by this approach.

Date Published: 12 March 2020
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 11437, 2019 International Conference on Optical Instruments and Technology: Advanced Laser Technology and Applications, 114370J (12 March 2020); doi: 10.1117/12.2548808

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 11437:
2019 International Conference on Optical Instruments and Technology: Advanced Laser Technology and Applications
Zhiyi Wei; Chunqing Gao; Pu Wang; Franz X, Kärtner; Stefan A. Weber, Editor(s)