Date of Award

5-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Physics and Astronomy

Committee Chair/Advisor

Apparao Rao

Committee Member

Sumanta Tewari

Committee Member

Bradley Meyer

Abstract

Optical fiber laser systems offer advantages such as high optical gain, efficient cooling, and the production of high-quality optical beams. Fiber lasers are characterized by their unique core-cladding structure, providing optical benefits and mechanical properties that impact their performance. Interests in materials such as yttrium aluminum garnets (YAG) and lutetium oxide (Lu2O3 also lutetia) as laser mediums are due to their high average power capabilities, but thermal management remains a challenge. This thesis discusses the choice of ytterbium (Yb3+) as a dopant in YAG and lutetia, exploring its electronic structure and relevance to thermal properties. The thesis focuses on the development and implementation of optical fiber bend tests and thermal conductivity measurement techniques on reference materials. Mechanical properties can be evaluated using two-, three-, and four-point bend tests; however, a four-point bend model is introduced to investigate the mechanical effects of cladding. The parallel thermal conductance and optothermal Raman techniques are explored and tested with reference samples in order to use them to measure the thermal conductivity of optical fiber systems in future work.

Author ORCID Identifier

0009-0000-4300-7868

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