阅读说明：本技术 一种阵列光纤激光器 (Array fiber laser ) 是由 王小林 张汉伟 杨保来 史尘 奚小明 韩凯 王泽锋 周朴 许晓军 司磊 陈金宝 于 2019-10-22 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种阵列光纤激光器,包括依次连接的光纤耦合半导体激光器阵列、泵浦合束器阵列、高反射光纤光栅阵列、增益光纤阵列、低反射光纤光栅阵列和包层光滤除器阵列；高反射光纤光栅阵列、增益光纤阵列、低反射光纤光栅阵列和包层光滤除器阵列均固定在光纤器件面板的正面上；增益光纤阵列中的增益光纤呈“∽”形分布,且通过光纤槽固定；光纤槽设置在光纤器件面板的正面上；高反射光纤光栅阵列和低反射光纤光栅阵列分布在增益光纤阵列的左右两侧；光纤耦合半导体激光器阵列固定在光纤器件面板的背面上；泵浦合束器阵列固定在光纤器件面板的正面或背面上。本发明在提高激光器集成化程度下,保证了阵列光纤激光器的稳定性,且体积小和重量轻。(The invention discloses an array fiber laser, which comprises an optical fiber coupling semiconductor laser array, a pumping beam combiner array, a high-reflection optical fiber grating array, a gain optical fiber array, a low-reflection optical fiber grating array and a cladding light filter array which are connected in sequence; the high-reflection optical fiber grating array, the gain optical fiber array, the low-reflection optical fiber grating array and the cladding light filter array are all fixed on the front surface of the optical fiber device panel; the gain optical fibers in the gain optical fiber array are distributed in a horizontal-type shape and are fixed through the optical fiber grooves; the optical fiber groove is arranged on the front surface of the optical fiber device panel; the high-reflection optical fiber grating array and the low-reflection optical fiber grating array are distributed on the left side and the right side of the gain optical fiber array; the optical fiber coupling semiconductor laser array is fixed on the back of the optical fiber device panel; the pump beam combiner array is fixed on the front or the back of the optical fiber device panel. The invention ensures the stability of the array fiber laser under the condition of improving the integration degree of the laser, and has small volume and light weight.)

1. The array fiber laser is characterized by comprising a fiber coupling semiconductor laser array (1), a pumping beam combiner array (2), a high-reflection fiber grating array (3), a gain fiber array (4), a low-reflection fiber grating array (5) and a cladding light filter array (6) which are sequentially connected;

the high-reflection optical fiber grating array (3), the gain optical fiber array (4), the low-reflection optical fiber grating array (5) and the cladding light filter array (6) are all fixed on the front surface of the optical fiber device panel (7);

the gain optical fibers in the gain optical fiber array (4) are distributed in a S-shaped manner and are fixed through the optical fiber grooves; the fiber grooves are arranged on the front surface of the fiber device panel (7); the high-reflection optical fiber grating array (3) and the low-reflection optical fiber grating array (5) are distributed on the left side and the right side of the gain optical fiber array (4);

the optical fiber coupling semiconductor laser array (1) is fixed on the back of the optical fiber device panel (7); the pump beam combiner array (2) is fixed on the front or the back of the optical fiber device panel (7).

2. The arrayed fiber laser of claim 1, wherein the pump combiner array (2) and the cladding filter array are distributed on both upper and lower sides of the gain fiber array (4) when the pump combiner array (2) is fixed on the front face of the fiber device panel (7).

3. The arrayed fiber laser of claim 1, wherein each of the fiber-coupled semiconductor laser array (1), the pump combiner array (2), the high-reflection fiber grating array (3), the gain fiber array (4), the low-reflection fiber grating array (5), and the cladding light filter array (6) is arranged from outside to inside and then from inside to outside.

4. The arrayed fiber laser of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the number of the pump beam combiners, the high-reflection fiber gratings, the gain fibers, the low-reflection fiber gratings and the cladding light filters corresponding to the pump beam combiner array (2), the high-reflection fiber grating array (3), the gain fiber array (4), the low-reflection fiber grating array (5) and the cladding light filter array (6) is at least 2, and is the same.

5. The arrayed fiber laser of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein a sealed space is provided in the fiber device panel (7); the optical fiber device panel (7) is also provided with an input interface (8) and an output interface (9);

in the working process of the array fiber laser, cooling liquid is injected into the sealed space from the input interface (8) and then is discharged out of the sealed space from the output interface (9).

6. The arrayed fiber laser of claim 5, wherein the cooling fluid is deionized water or an anti-freezing fluid.

7. The arrayed fiber laser of any of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a laser signal combiner (10); the laser signal combiner (10) is arranged on the front surface of the optical fiber device panel (7);

and the output optical fiber of the cladding light filter array (6) is connected with the input optical fiber of the laser signal beam combiner (10).

8. The arrayed fiber laser of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the fiber groove is a "U" -shaped fiber groove;

the diameter of the bottom of the U-shaped optical fiber groove is 0.1-1 mm larger than that of the coating layer of the gain optical fiber.

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of fiber lasers, and relates to a column fiber laser.

Background

The method has wide application to single-mode fiber laser and multi-mode fiber laser in the fields of industrial processing, scientific research and the like. One application is to use multiple single mode, medium power fiber lasers simultaneously, and the other is to use one high power, multimode fiber laser. For example, in the scientific research field, a plurality of short-wavelength optical fiber lasers with medium and low power need to be used for pumping optical fiber lasers with wavelengths, so as to obtain laser output with higher power; in the industrial field, multiple medium and low power optical fiber lasers need to be combined into one beam and are used in the fields of metal welding and cladding and the like. In these applications, a common requirement is the need for multiple output, medium-low power fiber lasers. For the first kind of application, a plurality of medium-low power optical fiber lasers are generally purchased at present, and the laser output independently by each laser is applied to a design system; for the second application, multiple independent fiber lasers are currently generally used for power combining. In the two application occasions, because each fiber laser is an independent module, the integration level is not high, and the problems of large system volume, heavy weight, high cost and the like exist; in the case of the second type of multi-mode beam combination, the laser output fiber is required to be welded together by different modules, which may cause stress damage.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide an array fiber laser which ensures the stability of the array fiber laser under the condition of improving the integration degree of the laser, and has small volume and light weight.

In order to achieve the purpose, the invention adopts the following technical scheme:

an array fiber laser comprises a fiber coupling semiconductor laser array 1, a pumping beam combiner array 2, a high-reflection fiber grating array 3, a gain fiber array 4, a low-reflection fiber grating array 5 and a cladding light filter array 6 which are connected in sequence;

the high-reflection fiber grating array 3, the gain fiber array 4, the low-reflection fiber grating array 5 and the cladding light filter array 6 are all fixed on the front surface of the fiber device panel 7;

the gain optical fibers in the gain optical fiber array 4 are distributed in a horizontal-type shape and are fixed through the optical fiber grooves; the optical fiber grooves are arranged on the front surface of the optical fiber device panel 7; the high-reflection fiber grating array 3 and the low-reflection fiber grating array 5 are distributed on the left side and the right side of the gain fiber array 4;

the optical fiber coupling semiconductor laser array 1 is fixed on the back of the optical fiber device panel 7; the pump beam combiner array 2 is fixed on the front or back of the fiber device panel 7.

Further, when the pump beam combiner array 2 is fixed on the front surface of the optical fiber device panel 7, the pump beam combiner array 2 and the cladding light filter array are distributed on the upper and lower sides of the gain optical fiber array 4.

Furthermore, each array of the fiber coupled semiconductor laser array 1, the pump beam combiner array 2, the high reflection fiber grating array 3, the gain fiber array 4, the low reflection fiber grating array 5 and the cladding light filter array 6 is arranged from outside to inside and then from inside to outside.

Further, the number of the pump beam combiner, the high reflection fiber grating, the gain fiber, the low reflection fiber grating and the cladding light filter corresponding to the pump beam combiner array 2, the high reflection fiber grating array 3, the gain fiber array 4, the low reflection fiber grating array 5 and the cladding light filter array 6 is at least 2, and the number is the same.

Further, a sealed space is arranged in the fiber optic device panel 7; the optical fiber device panel 7 is also provided with an input interface 8 and an output interface 9;

in the working process of the array fiber laser, cooling liquid is injected into the sealed space from the input interface 8 and then is discharged out of the sealed space from the output interface 9.

Further, the cooling liquid is deionized water or antifreeze.

Further, the array fiber laser further comprises a laser signal combiner 10; the laser signal combiner 10 is arranged on the front surface of the optical fiber device panel 7;

the output optical fiber of the cladding light filter array 6 is connected with the input optical fiber of the laser signal beam combiner 10.

Further, the optical fiber groove is a U-shaped optical fiber groove;

the diameter of the bottom of the U-shaped optical fiber groove is 0.1-1 mm larger than that of the coating layer of the gain optical fiber.

The beneficial effects of the invention are described as follows:

1. the invention realizes the integration of a plurality of lasers through the S-shaped arrangement of the gain optical fiber and the array arrangement of other optical fiber devices, thereby not only greatly improving the integration level of the lasers, but also greatly reducing the volume and the weight of the lasers.

2. The array formed by the input and output optical fibers of the optical fiber device is distributed from outside to inside and from inside to outside by means of the S-shaped arrangement of the gain optical fibers, so that the optical fibers in each laser and the optical fibers among a plurality of lasers are not overlapped with each other, the influence of the fault of one laser on other lasers is avoided, and the stability of the laser array is improved.

3. The optical fiber coupling semiconductor laser array and the pumping beam combiner array are arranged on the same plane, so that the number of optical fibers and the number of optical fiber connection points of the plane where the gain optical fibers are arranged can be greatly reduced, the process difficulty of actual fusion splicing operation and optical fiber layout is reduced, and the production efficiency is improved.

4. The cladding light filter array output optical fiber is connected with the laser signal beam combiner input optical fiber, so that multiple paths of laser can be combined into one beam through the laser signal beam combiner to be output, the multimode laser output with higher power can be realized on a single structure module, and the size and the weight of the multimode laser with power through a plurality of modules in the prior art are greatly reduced.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an array fiber laser structure according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a front view of an array fiber laser structure according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of an array fiber laser configuration according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a connection relationship of a laser beam combiner according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a front view of an array fiber laser structure according to yet another embodiment;

fig. 6 is a rear view of an array fiber laser structure according to yet another embodiment;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a connection relationship of a laser signal combiner according to yet another embodiment.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description of specific embodiments of the present invention is made with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples.

The present embodiment provides an array fiber laser, and the structure of the array fiber laser refers to fig. 1, 2 and 3, and the array fiber laser includes an array fiber laser including a fiber coupling semiconductor laser array 1, a pump beam combiner array 2, a high reflection fiber grating array 3, a gain fiber array 4, a low reflection fiber grating array 5 and a cladding filter array 6, which are fixed on a fiber device panel 7 and sequentially connected. In this embodiment, the number of the pump beam combiner, the high-reflection fiber grating, the gain fiber, the low-reflection fiber grating and the cladding light filter corresponding to the pump beam combiner array 2, the high-reflection fiber grating array 3, the gain fiber array 4, the low-reflection fiber grating array 5 and the cladding light filter array 6 is at least 2, and the number of the pump beam combiner, the high-reflection fiber grating, the gain fiber, the low-reflection fiber grating and the cladding light filter corresponding to the low-reflection fiber grating array and the cladding light filter array is the same, and the input/output fiber of each array device.

The gain fiber 4 of the present embodiment is a rare-earth ion-doped gain fiber, which is used for laser generation and transmission; the cross section structure of the optical fiber is selected from one of the optical fiber cross section structures of double-cladding or triple-cladding structures; when the cross section structure is a double-cladding structure, the diameter of the fiber core is between 5 and 100 micrometers; the diameter of the inner cladding or the diameter of the circumcircle of the inner cladding is between 100 and 1000 microns; the diameter of the outer cladding is 250-2000 microns. The gain fibers in the gain fiber array 4 of this embodiment are distributed in a "-" shape and fixed by fiber grooves. The fiber grooves are provided on the front face 7-a of the fiber optic device panel 7 for holding and positioning the gain fibers to ensure that adjacent gain fibers do not overlap. The optical fiber groove of this embodiment is "U" shape optical fiber groove, and the diameter of the bottom in this U-shaped optical fiber groove is 0.1 ~ 1mm bigger than the coating diameter of gain fiber. Gain fiber is fixed in the bottom in "U" type groove, because gain fiber is circular, and the diameter of the bottom in U-shaped fiber groove is 0.1 ~ 1mm bigger than gain fiber's coat diameter for gain fiber can put "U" type groove in, and effectively laminate and realize high-efficient cooling with "U" type groove. And arranging gain optical fibers with a certain length by taking the two long sides as starting points at the periphery of the S-shaped structure according to actual needs. The input and output of the gain fiber array 4 are respectively positioned on the peripheral extension lines of the two long sides, and the high-reflection fiber grating array 3 and the low-reflection fiber grating array 5 are fixed on the front 7-A of the fiber device panel 7 and are distributed on the left side and the right side of the gain fiber array 4, namely the short sides of the S-shaped periphery.

The fiber coupled semiconductor laser array 1 of the present embodiment is an excitation source for generating upper-level particles by the gain fiber 4, and the number of the excitation sources is determined according to the actual needs of the laser; the single optical fiber coupling semiconductor laser is a semiconductor laser with each waveband matched with the absorption peak of the gain optical fiber, and the semiconductor laser with each waveband comprises a combination of one or more of 808 nm, 915 nm, 940 nm, 976 nm and 1550 nm. The fiber-coupled semiconductor laser array 1 is typically mounted on the back 7-B of the fiber optic device panel 7.

Each pump beam combiner in the pump beam combiner array 2 of the embodiment has a plurality of pump injection arms and a pump output arm; each pump arm of the pump beam combiner is connected with at most one optical fiber coupling semiconductor laser input optical fiber. The pump combiner array 2 may be disposed on the front or back of the fiber optic device panel 7.

When the pumping beam combiner array 2 is fixed on the front 7-a of the fiber device panel 7, the pumping beam combiner array 2 and the cladding light filter array 6 are distributed on the upper and lower sides of the gain fiber array 4, that is, the pumping beam combiner array 2 and the cladding light filter array 6 are arranged on the long side of the "—" shaped periphery, referring to fig. 1, 2 and 3, the output fiber of the fiber coupled semiconductor laser array 1 bypasses the side edge of the fiber device panel 7 from the back 7-B of the fiber device panel 7, reaches the front 7-a of the fiber device panel 7, and is connected with the pumping arm input arm of the pumping beam combiner array 2.

When the optical fiber coupling semiconductor laser array is fixed on the back 7-B of the optical fiber device panel 7, referring to fig. 5 and 6, the output optical fiber of the optical fiber coupling semiconductor laser array 1 is connected with the input arm of the pump beam combiner array 2, and the output arm of the pump beam combiner array 2 is connected with the high-reflection optical fiber grating array 3 from the back 7-B of the optical fiber device panel 7, bypasses the side edge of the optical fiber device panel 7, reaches the front 7-a of the optical fiber device panel 7. The optical fiber coupling semiconductor laser array and the pumping beam combiner array are arranged on the same plane, high-power output can be obtained, the number of optical fibers and the number of optical fiber connection points of the plane where the gain optical fibers are located are greatly reduced, the process difficulty of actual fusion splicing operation and optical fiber layout is reduced, and the production efficiency is improved.

In order to ensure that optical fibers in each device array in the array optical fiber laser and optical fibers between each device array are not overlapped with each other, the influence of the fault of one laser on other lasers is avoided, and the stability of the laser array is improved. In this embodiment, the fiber-coupled semiconductor laser array 1, the pump beam combiner array 2, the high-reflection fiber grating array 3, the gain fiber array 4, the low-reflection fiber grating array 5, and the cladding light filter array 6 are arranged in a manner from outside to inside and then from inside to outside, namely, the output optical fiber of the optical fiber coupling semiconductor laser array 1 is connected with the pump input arm of the pump beam combiner array 2, the output optical fiber of the pump beam combiner array 2 is connected with the input optical fiber of the high-reflection optical fiber grating array 3, the output optical fiber of the high-reflection optical fiber grating array 3 is connected with one long-edge extending end of the S-shaped gain optical fiber array 4, the input optical fiber of the low-reflection optical fiber grating array 5 is connected with the other long-edge extending end of the S-shaped gain optical fiber array 4, and the input optical fiber of the cladding light filter array 6 is connected with the output optical fiber of the low-reflection optical fiber grating array 5. The pumping beam combiner array 2, the high-reflection fiber grating array 3, the gain fiber array 4, the low-reflection fiber grating array 5 and the cladding light filter array 6 are sequentially connected according to the direction of fiber laser, and the cladding light filter array 6 filters residual pumping light and high-order modes and outputs laser with high beam quality.

The optical fiber device panel 7 of the present embodiment is provided with a sealed space therein; the fiber optic device panel 7 is further provided with an input interface 8 and an output interface 9, for example, the input interface and the output interface can be arranged on a side surface 7-C of the fiber optic device panel 7, refer to fig. 1 to 7. In the working process of the array fiber laser, cooling liquid is injected into the sealed space from the input interface 8 and then is discharged out of the sealed space from the output interface 9, so that heat generated by the fiber device panel 7 and all fiber devices arranged on the fiber device panel 7 is taken away. The cooling liquid in this embodiment may be a heat-conducting flowing medium such as deionized water and antifreeze.

The array fiber laser of the embodiment further includes a laser signal combiner 10, the laser signal combiner 10 is fixed on the front face 7-a of the fiber device panel 7, the output fiber of the cladding light filter array 6 is connected with the input fiber of the laser signal combiner 10, referring to fig. 4 and 7, by combining multiple paths of laser into one beam through the laser signal combiner, a multimode laser with higher power is output, compact high-power multimode laser output is realized, and multimode laser output with higher power can be realized on a single structural module, and the volume and weight of the multimode laser with power through multiple modules in the prior art are greatly reduced.

The input and output fibers of all array devices of the fiber coupled semiconductor laser array 1, the pump beam combiner array 2, the high reflection fiber grating array 3, the low reflection fiber grating array 5, the cladding light filter array 6, and the like of this embodiment are energy transmission fibers. The diameter of the output optical fiber of the optical fiber coupling semiconductor laser is not larger than that of the corresponding optical fiber of the input arm of the pumping beam combiner, so that all the pumping light output by the optical fiber coupling semiconductor laser can be coupled into the pumping beam combiner; the diameter of the fiber core of the output optical fiber of the pump beam combiner is not more than that of the fiber core of the input optical fiber of the corresponding high-reflection optical fiber grating, so that the pump light output by the pump beam combiner can be completely coupled into the high-reflection optical fiber grating; the diameter of the output fiber core of the high-reflection fiber grating is not larger than that of the input fiber core of the corresponding gain fiber, so that the laser reflected by the high-reflection fiber grating can completely return to the gain fiber; the diameter of the fiber core of the gain fiber output fiber is not more than that of the corresponding low-reflection fiber grating input fiber, so that the laser emitted by the gain fiber can be completely coupled into the low-reflection fiber grating; the diameter of the fiber core of the output fiber of the low-reflection fiber grating is not larger than that of the fiber core of the input fiber of the corresponding cladding light filter, so that the laser output by the fiber grating can be completely coupled into the cladding light filter.

The high-reflection fiber grating of the embodiment is a high-reflection device of a laser resonant cavity, the reflectivity of the high-reflection fiber grating is more than 90%, and the reflection center wavelength is matched with the low-reflection fiber grating 5 and used for enabling most of signal laser to be reflected in the resonant cavity. The reflectivity of the low-reflection fiber grating 5 is in the range of 4% -50%, the diameter of the fiber core is matched with the diameter of the signal energy transmission fiber, and the low-reflection and output end of the laser resonant cavity is used for outputting most of laser inside the resonant cavity after part of signal is reflected.

In the embodiment, the integration of a plurality of lasers is realized through the S-shaped arrangement of the gain optical fiber and the array arrangement of other optical fiber devices, so that the integration level of the lasers can be greatly improved, and the volume and the weight of the lasers can be greatly reduced; the array formed by the input and output fibers of the optical fiber device of the embodiment is laid out from outside to inside and from inside to outside by means of the S-shaped arrangement of the gain fibers, so that the fibers in each laser and the fibers between the lasers are not overlapped with each other, the influence of the failure of one laser on other lasers is avoided, and the stability of the laser array is improved; in the embodiment, the optical fiber coupling semiconductor laser array and the pumping beam combiner array are arranged on the same plane, so that the number of optical fibers and the number of optical fiber connection points of the plane where the gain optical fibers are arranged can be greatly reduced, the process difficulty of actual welding operation and optical fiber layout is reduced, and the production efficiency is improved; in the embodiment, the cladding light filter array output optical fiber is connected with the laser signal beam combiner input optical fiber, so that multiple paths of laser can be combined into one beam through the laser signal beam combiner to be output, the multimode laser output with higher power can be realized on a single structure module, and the volume and weight of the multimode laser with power through a plurality of modules in the prior art are greatly reduced.

It will be evident to those skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the details of the foregoing illustrative embodiments, and that the embodiments of the present invention are capable of being embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the embodiments being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein. Any reference sign in a claim should not be construed as limiting the claim concerned. Furthermore, it is obvious that the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the singular does not exclude the plural. Several units, modules or means recited in the system, apparatus or terminal claims may also be implemented by one and the same unit, module or means in software or hardware. The terms first, second, etc. are used to denote names, but not any particular order.

Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used for illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention and not for limiting, and although the embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the above preferred embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that modifications or equivalent substitutions can be made on the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.