Date of Award
5-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Electrical and Computer Engineering (Holcomb Dept. of)
Committee Chair/Advisor
Prof. Liang Dong
Committee Member
Prof. John Ballato
Committee Member
Prof. Lin Zhu
Abstract
Fiber lasers with high peak power, pulse energy and average power have numerous industrial applications. This project aimed to build a Master Oscillator Power Amplification fiber laser using commercial components and specialty fiber designed by Clemson University to exceed the power and energy targets of a previous Q-switched fiber laser design. The specialty fiber has a low numerical aperture of 0.028 and a unique geometric core design to minimize amplified spontaneous emission and reduce nonlinear effects in order to produce a high-peak power and high per pulse energy. The two stage, monolithic design targets 3.1 mJ per pulse, average power of 310 W, and peak power of 44 kW. Unfortunately, due to challenges we faced during the project, we were only able to build the first stage. The first stage had a pulse energy target of 12.5 µJ, an average power of 1.25 W, and a peak power of 175 W. Additionally, the design used polarization-maintaining fibers to maintain a polarization extinction ratio of ~20 dB. The completed first stage exceeded the design target with a pulse energy of 54.4 µJ, average power of 5.4 W, and a peak power of 3.7 kW with plenty room for optimizations. With the first stage completed, using only commercial components, the project is poised to meet and exceed the design targets for the second stage using the specialty fiber.
Recommended Citation
Mihalik, Mark, "A Study of a Monolithic Pulsed Fiber Laser With High-Peak and Average Power" (2023). All Theses. 4054.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/4054