Areté Athermal Fiber Isolator

High power fiber isolators are critical components for continued power scaling of fiber lasers. These components have traditionally suffered from low peak and average power handling, and isolators suitable for use in the 2?m waveband further suffer from poor performing magneto-active materials. Areté’s approach for a 2?m fiber isolator will utilize a novel Faraday rotator design that will provide enhanced material cooling and support large mode areas, providing greater performance under high peak and average power operation. Such a design will better overcome shortcomings of available Faraday materials. Areté’s Phase I plan will develop a full multi-physics model of the optical isolator which will be supplemented by laboratory testing of key material parameters. The performance of Areté’s novel Faraday isolator will be benchmarked against performance of conventional designs. Phase I will culminate in the delivery of an opto-mechanical design, such that a high TRL prototype can be delivered in a Phase II effort.