Envisioning novel fully monolithic fiber-optical devices, this dissertation investigates four fiber optical devices both, active and passive, that contribute to the goal of further integrating and miniaturizing fiber optics. An all phosphate glass fiber laser was designed in an effort to reduce laser intensity noise by reducing cavity losses and low mechanical strength that arise from intra-cavity fusion splices between silica fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) and phosphate active fiber in state of the art phosphate single frequency fiber lasers. Novel phosphate glass based FBGs have been fabricated utilizing high intensity laser pulses at 193 nm and a phase-mask. Net reflectivities of up to 70 % and a bandwidth of 50 pm have been achieved in the FBGs. The laser design comprised two of the novel FBGs and a short section of Er³⁺Yb³⁺ phosphate fiber to form a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) laser. The performance of the new laser has been compared to a conventional phosphate fiber laser. Particular focus was put on the laser intensity noise due to its dependence on intra-cavity losses. Relative intensity noise (RIN) amplitudes of -80 dB/Hz have been measured for both lasers when operating at comparable output powers. For similar levels of absorbed pump power the relaxation oscillation frequencies (ROF) were shifted towards lower frequencies in the new laser. ExcessFBG scattering losses and mode-field miss-match between the active and passive fiber limited the output power of the new laser to 16 mW compared to 140 mW in the conventional laser. A monolithic all-phosphate glass fiber laser with up to 550 mW output power that is operating at a single longitudinal mode and exhibiting narrow linewidth is presented. The laser cavity has been formed by inscribing FBGs directly into heavily Er³⁺Yb³⁺ doped phosphate glass fiber using femtosecond laser pulses and a phase mask, completely eliminating the need for intra-cavity fusion splices. A linewidth of less than 60 kHz and relaxation oscillation peak amplitudes below -100 dB/Hz without active suppression of RIN have been measured. The compact form factor and higher output power combined with the low noise and narrow linewidth characteristic make this laser an ideal candidate for ranging, interferometry and sensing applications. Strong and robust Bragg gratings in optical fiber fabricated from highly photosensitive photo-thermo-refractive (PTR) glass are demonstrated. The fibers were drawn at 900 °C from a machined PTR-glass preform. A low power two beam interference pattern from a continuous wave (cw) He-Cd laser with a wavelength of 325 nm was used to write gratings into the fibers, achieving peak grating strengths of 20 dB and a spectral width of 45 pm. The gratings showed no sign of degradation when exposed to a high temperature environment of 425 °C for several hours. This is significantly higher when compared to standard Telecom FBGs which are rated for operation temperatures below 200 °C. A detailed study of novel mode-field adapters (MFA) based on multi-mode interference in graded index multi-mode fibers (GIMF) is presented. MFAs are often used in cases when low coupling losses between single mode fibers with very different mode-field diameters are needed. Here a new type of MFAs has been fabricated and characterized from a selection of commercially available single mode and graded index fibers. Compared to existing techniques the presented MFAs can be fabricated very quickly and are not limited to certain fiber types. Insertion losses of 0:5 dB over a spectral range of several hundred nm have been obtained with an ultra compact MFA with a length of 275 μm.

Chirped Bragg gratings (CBGs) recorded in photo-thermo-refractive (PTR) glass provide a very efficient and robust way to stretch and compress ultra-short laser pulses. These gratings offer the ability to stretch pulses from hundreds of femtoseconds, to the order of 1 ns and then recompress them. However, in order to achieve pulse stretching of this magnitude, 100 mm thick CBGs are needed. Using these CBGs to both stretch, and re-compress the pulse thus requires propagation through 200 mm of optical glass. This therefore demands perfect control of the glass homogeneity, as well as the holographic recording process of the CBG. In this thesis, we present a study of the CBG parameters that lead to distortions in the quality of diffracted beams. We first present the challenges associated with measuring the quality of these beams and we show that such measurements are not easily achieved using commercial systems that rely on the ISO standard M2 method. Thus, we introduce a new metric of beam quality, which we have coined S2 , that is a combination of both the M2 and power in the bucket metrics. Subsequently, we investigate the influence of the CBG parameters on the quality of diffracted beams. In particular, we examine the impact of small optical heterogeneities known as striae, as well as the impact of the optically and thermally induced distortions in the grating. We then use this data to improve the fabrication and characterization of 100 mm long CBGs. Finally, we characterize the performance of CBGs recorded in PTR for stretching and compression of femtosecond pulses using a custom autocorrelation system. We present data on high quality 100 mm long CBGs and an analysis on the correlation between beam quality and the final pulse duration after stretching and re-compressing the pulse.

Orientador: Marcelo Nalin / Resumo: Sistemas foto-termo-refrativos obtidos a partir de alumino-silicatos dopados com Ce4+, Ag+, Sb3+ e Sn2+ tem sido amplamente estudado nestas últimas década por Glebov e Nikonorov devido a crescente necessidade de desenvolvimento de novos dispositivos que atuem em sistemas ópticos e fotônicos. Estes sistemas produzidos atualmente apresentam índice de refração ~ 1,5 o que limita a observação de efeitos não lineares e transparência na região de baixa energia restrita ao infravermelho próximo. Além disso, como os sistemas atualmente conhecidos são multicomponentes, a compreensão do mecanismo por trás da foto-termo sensibilidade ainda não está completamente elucidada. Neste contexto, a síntese de novas composições de sistemas vítreos, com mecanismos mais simples, com índice de refração mais elevado e transparência na região do infravermelho médio se mostram interessantes pois ampliam as possibilidades de aplicações nas áreas acima citadas. Neste trabalho foram sintetizados e caracterizados vidros foto-termo-refrativos contendo óxidos e oxifluoretos de metais pesados com índice de refração > 2 e transparência desde a região do UV-Vis até o infravermelho médio (~ 7µm). As sínteses foram feitas combinando diferentes óxidos e fluoretos, tais como, Ga2O3, GeO2, PbO, Bi2O3, LaF3 e NaF e utilizando a técnica de fusão seguida de choque térmico, com posterior tratamento térmico controlado. As propriedades térmicas dos novos materiais foram estudadas por calorimetria diferencial de varredura... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Photo-thermo-refractive systems obtained from Alumino-silicates doped with Ce4+, Ag+, Sb3+ and Sn2+ has been extensively studied in recent decades by Glebov and Nikonorov due to the growing need for new devices that act in optical and photonic systems. These systems present refractive index ~ 1.5, which limits the observation of nonlinear effects and as well as the transparency in the region of low energy restricted to near infrared. In addition, as the currently known systems are multi-component, the understanding of the mechanism behind the photo-thermo sensitivity is is complex and not completely elucidated yet. In this context, the synthesis of new vitreous compositions with simplest mechanisms, with higher refraction index and transparency extended up to middle infrared region are interesting because they broaden the possibilities of applications in the areas mentioned above. In this work, we synthesized and characterized photo-thermo-refractive glass containing heavy metals oxides and oxifluorides components with refractive index higher than 2 and transparency window from UV-Vis to the medium infrared (~ 7 µm). The syntheses were made by combining different oxides and fluorides, such as, Ga2O3, GeO2, PbO, Bi2O3, LaF3 and NaF and using the melt-quenching technique with subsequent controlled heat treatment. The thermal properties of the new materials were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The structural properties were evaluated by Raman spectroscopy and... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Beam combining techniques have become an important tool in the design of high-power high-brightness laser systems. Spectral beam combining (SBC) is an incoherent combining technique that does not require phase control of sources, allowing for a stable and robust system. Using SBC, beams from an array of lasers with each element operated at a different wavelength are combined into a single near-diffraction-limited beam with the same aperture using dispersive optical elements. SBC by means of volume Bragg gratings (VBGs) utilizes unique spectral response of VBGs: diffraction efficiency is close to unity when the Bragg condition is satisfied and is close to zero at multiple points corresponding to particular wavelength offsets from Bragg condition. High-efficiency VBGs can be recorded in UV-sensitive photo-thermo-refractive (PTR) glass. Narrow-band reflecting VBGs allow multi-channel SBC with high spectral density of channels. In this dissertation, experimental results of SBC with high spectral density of combined channels in two spectral regions of interest (1064 and 1550 nm) are reported. The behavior of narrow-band VBGs under high-power laser radiation is investigated. A laser system with kW-level output power and near-diffraction-limited divergence of spectrally-combined output beam is demonstrated. The system combines five randomly-polarized Yb-doped fiber lasers with 0.5 nm spectral separation in central wavelengths using narrow-band reflecting VBGs with absolute efficiency of combining > 90%. A novel design of a multi-channel high-power SBC system is suggested. In this approach, a common-cavity is created for all channels such that wavelengths of the sources are passively controlled by the combination of a common output coupler and intra-cavity VBGs which also act as combining elements. Laser wavelengths are automatically selected to match resonant wavelengths of respective VBGs. We report successful demonstration of a passively-controlled SBC system consisting of two amplifiers in a common cavity configuration. A compact and rugged monolithic SBC module based on multiplexed VBGs is introduced. Experimental results of a four-channel implementation of such module are discussed. Modular design of high-power laser systems is suggested with multiple modules arranged in a series. We show that with basic combining parameters achieved up to date, laser systems with 10 kW output power can be constructed using this arrangement. Further scaling to 100 kW power level is discussed.

En utilisant la combinaison spectrale de faisceaux, des faisceaux provenant de plusieurs lasers opérant à des longueurs d'onde différentes sont combinés en un seul faisceau avec une divergence proche de la limite de diffraction. Cette thèse présente des résultats expérimentaux de combinaison spectrale de faisceaux avec une grande densité spectrale dans deux régions spectrales d'intérêt (1064 et 1550 nm). Un système laser avec une puissance de sortie de l'ordre du kW et une divergence du faisceau combiné proche de la limite de diffraction est démontré. Le système combine cinq fibres lasers dopées Ytterbium polarisées de façon aléatoire avec une séparation spectrale de 0.5 nm en utilisant des réseaux de Bragg volumiques réfléchissants présentant une largeur spectrale étroite et une efficacité de combinaison absolue supérieure à 90%. La projection d'un tel système pour des puissances de sortie de l'ordre de 100 kW est discutée. / Using spectral beam combining (SBC), beams from an array of lasers with each element operated at a different wavelength are combined into a single near-diffraction-limited beam with the same aperture using dispersive optical elements. In this thesis, experimental results of SBC with high spectral density of combined channels in two spectral regions of interest (1064 and 1550 nm) are reported. A laser system with kW-level output power and near-diffraction-limited divergence of spectrally-combined output beam is demonstrated. The system combines five randomly-polarized Yb-doped fiber lasers with 0.5 nm spectral separation in central wavelengths with absolute efficiency of combining > 90% using narrow-band reflecting volume Bragg gratings recorded in photo-thermo-refractive glass. Scaling of such systems to 100 kW power level is discussed.