Sponsor: Czech Science Foundation
Principal Investigator: Ondřej Podrazký Ph.D.
Members of the team: Martin Grábner, Ph.D.
Project nr.: 22-17604S
From: 2022-01-01
To: 2024-12-31
Fiber laser power has rapidly increased in last two decades and the breakthroughs in many fields are associated with an existence of high-power fiber lasers operating in the infrared spectral range around 2.9 μm. However, the traditional glass optical fibers no longer meet the demanding requirements on high-power together with transparency in infrared. Proposed transparent ceramics fibers represents a novel promising alternative. The project is focused on the preparation and characterization of rare-earth-doped transparent ceramics optical fibers emitting around 2.9 μm. Active optical fibers will be prepared by laser sintering. The structural, chemical, optical, and waveguiding properties of the fibers will be studied and we will evaluate their relationships. We will elaborate a theoretical model of energy transfer and light amplification in the fibers and the validity of the model will be verified by experimental measurements. We will evaluate the potential exploitation of prepared fibers as active media for high-power fiber lasers operating around 2.9 μm.