Broadband Fiber Optic Components for DoD Applications based on Tellurite Glass Fibers

Development of passive optical fibers and fiber-based components for transport and distribution of laser energy between optical components and around an optical platform would be a great advance in laser and optical system design. Particularly compelling would be fibers and fiber-based functional elements capable of transmitting laser power with low loss over a wide wavelength range from UV to LWIR. NP Photonics proposes to develop ultra-wide wavelength covering fiber-based optical components, such as fiber combiners, based on our novel tellurite glass fiber. This fiber material has low loss transparency over a wide range from 400 nm to 5000 nm, and can be used to couple laser power from semiconductor, solid state, and fiber lasers into a single fiber aperture, and in turn serve as multiplexing and de-multiplexing elements. The advantages of the proposed fiber combiner are: all-fiber format, low loss, ultra-wide wavelength coverage, high beam quality, high reliability, and robustness.