POLARIZING AND POLARIZATION MAINTAINING LEAKAGE CHANNEL FIBERS

摘要

This disclosure relates to polarizing optical fibers and polarization maintaining optical fibers, including active and/or passive implementations. An embodiment includes a polarizing (PZ) optical fiber that includes stress applying parts (SAPs) disposed in a first cladding region, the SAPs comprising a material with a thermal expansion coefficient, αSAP. A core region is at least partially surrounded by cladding features and the SAPs. The core includes glass with a thermal expansion coefficient, αcore. The arrangement of the SAPs satisfies: Rsc=dSAP/Dsc, where Dsc is the SAP center to core center distance, and dSAP is the average SAP diameter, and dα=|αSAP−αcore|, and where Rsc and dα may be sufficiently large to induce stress birefringence into the core and to provide for polarized output. Active fibers in which a portion of the fiber is doped may be implemented for application in fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers, and/or optical pulse compressors.

主权项

1. A polarizing (PZ) optical fiber, comprising:
a first cladding region comprising a first cladding material having a first index of refraction, n1; cladding features disposed in said first cladding region, said cladding features comprising a second cladding material having a second index of refraction, n2, wherein n2 is less than n1; stress applying parts (SAPs) disposed in said first cladding region, said SAPs comprising a material with a thermal expansion coefficient, αSAP; and a core region at least partially surrounded by said cladding features and said SAPs, said core region comprising a glass with a thermal expansion coefficient, αcore; wherein arrangement of said SAPs satisfies the relations: Rsc=dSAPDsc, where Dsc is the distance of the SAP center to the center of the core center region, and dSAP is the average SAP diameter, and dα=|αSAP−αcore|, wherein Rsc and dα are sufficiently large to induce stress birefringence into said core region and to provide for a polarized output from said fiber.