Tm-doped optical fibres for fibre lasers in 2 um spectral range

Sponsor: Grant Agency of the Academy of Sciences

Principal investigator: Ivan Kašík, Ph.D.

Members:  Jan Aubrecht, Ph.D.; Pavel Honzátko, Ph.D.; Jan Mrázek, Ph.D.; Pavel Peterka, Ph.D.; Ondřej Podrazký, Ph.D.; Radan Slavík, Ph.D., DSc.

From: 2012-07-01

To: 2015-06-30

Recent development in the field of fibre lasers undoubtedly belongs to one of the most spectacular achievements of photonic science and research. New trends lead to a wide variety of systems with various key performance features ranging from high precision for metrology to ultrahigh power for cutting and welding with capabilities to provide watts or even kilowatts (!) of optical power. High energetic efficiency is the key for green and high power Tm-doped fibre lasers operating at around 2 μm, which is the main topic of this project, being well in line with the call. The key of our proposal is increasing Tm-doped fibre laser efficiency by homogenously embedding rare-earth (RE)-doped nano-particles into glassy matrices. This needs to address a substantial issue of nanoparticle’s thermal stability derived from their composition.

A general approach to the sol-gel preparation of RE –doped nanoparticles was elaborated. A significant progress in interpretation of relations between structure of materials in nano-scale and fluorescence properties (lifetime) of optical fibres doped with RE bound to these nanocrystals was achieved. A progress in analytical methods of chemical mapping and of numerical simulations of fibre lasers was achieved. Mechanisms of high-temperature processes of the proposed concept of optical fibre preparation were generalised.

Publications:

1. I. Kašík, O. Podrazký, J. Mrázek, J. Cajzl, J. Aubrecht, J. Proboštová, P. Peterka, P. Honzátko, A. Dhar: „Erbium and Al₂O₃ nanocrystals -doped silica optical fibres“, Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Technical Sciences 62, 2014, 641-646 (IF= 1.0, Q2) 
2. J. Mrázek, I. Kašík, L. Procházková, V. Čuba, J. Aubrecht, J. Cajzl, O. Podrazký, P. Peterka, M. Nikl: „Active optical fibres doped with ceramic nanocrystals“, Advances in Electrical and Electronic Engineering 12, 2014, 567-574. 
3. P. Peterka, P. Honzátko, I. Kašík, J. Cajzl, O. Podrazký: „Thulium-doped optical fibres and components for fibre lasers in 2 μm spectral range“, Proc. Wave and Quantum Aspects of Contemporary Optics (SPIE), 9441, 2014, p. 94410B1-94410B6. 
4. J. Cajzl, P. Peterka, P. Honzátko, J. Mrázek, O. Podrazký, F. Todorov, P. Gladkov, J. K. Sahu, M.Nunez-Velazquez, P. Nekvindová, I. Kašík:” Characterization of fluorescence lifetime of Tm-doped fibres with increased quantum conversion efficiency“, Proc. Photonics, Devices and Systems VI (SPIE), 9450, 2015, p. 945017-1 – 945017-8.
5. J. Mrázek, M. Nikl, I. Kašík, O. Podrazký, J. Aubrecht, A. Beitlerová: “Nanoparticle-doped radioluminescent silica optical fibres“, Proc. Optical Fibres and Their Applications (SPIE) 9228, 2014, p. 922805-1.