At Sandia we are creating a new generation of compact, efficient, laser sources based on optical fibers that promise to revolutionize the laser industry. Most existing laser systems are confined to the laboratory because they are large, heavy, fragile, and power consumptive. Sandia has created small-scale powerful fiber lasers that overcome these size limitations and are therefore suitable for field applications with many potential beneficial uses. These innovations are the result of our breakthrough advances in power scaling of fiber lasers.
What is a fiber laser?
A fiber laser is a laser whose gain medium is a doped fiber, although lasers whose cavity is made wholly of fibers have also been called fiber lasers. The gain media in a fiber laser is usually fiber doped with rare-earth ions, such as erbium (Er), neodymium (Nd), ytterbium (Yb), thulium (Tm), or praseodymium (Pr), which is doped into the core of the optical fiber, similar to those used to transmit telecommunications signals.
How do fiber lasers work?
Many modern solid-state lasers employ a rare-earth element doped into a crystalline host as the gain medium. In a fiber laser, the rare-earth dopant is incorporated into the core of an optical fiber. Both the pump and signal beams propagate along the length of the optical fiber. This arrangement offers numerous advantages, especially for practical applications, including remote sensing, ultra-sensitive detection of chemical and biological compounds, and secure communications.
What are the advantages of fiber lasers over other technologies?
Fiber lasers have distinct advantages over other standard laser technologies:
What has Sandia accomplished?
Sandia researchers have developed a number of enabling technologies for fiber lasers, including:
In addition to developing enabling technologies, we are also pursuing high-priority applications in national security and energy surety.