Past Event: Oden Institute Seminar

Power Scaling Highly Coherent Fiber Amplifiers

Jacob Grosek, AFRL Directed Energy Directorate, Laser Division, Modeling & Simulation Kirtland AFB, NM

Abstract

The Air Force is currently interested in highly coherent, high-power laser systems amenable for use on airborne platforms. Fiber lasers have emerged as excellent candidates for this task, in part, because multiple fiber amplifiers can be readily beam combined (coherently or spectrally) to further increase the output power of the system. However, for simplicity and for minimal size and weight characteristics, it is still important to maximize the power out of each fiber amplifier. In high-power operation, fiber amplifiers suffer from the onset of optical nonlinearities and deleterious thermal effects. Finding state-of-the-art mitigation techniques that can suppress these pernicious issues is accomplished most cost effectively through high-fidelity computer modeling and simulation. This presentation will explore the physics behind high-power fiber amplifiers, the trade-offs associated with overcoming optical nonlinearities and thermal effects, and some of the current computer modeling efforts at the Air Force Research Laboratory. Bio Jacob Grosek graduated from the University of Washington (Seattle) in 2013 with a doctorate in Applied Mathematics. Since then he has been working for the Laser Division of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM where he builds computer models for high-power fiber laser systems with the intent of overcoming detrimental nonlinear and thermal issues that inhibit further power scaling.